NCAA Bracket Prediction - 1 Mar

There was a lot of action around the bubble this week, with the Big 10 losing two teams from the field, as Indiana and USC fell out, while the SEC swapped one Tiger for another, Auburn for Missouri. TCU and VCU joined the field in place of the Big 10 droppers, while San Diego State looked like they would move into the field after defeating Utah State, only to fall to New Mexico a couple days later. Here is my full current bracket:

	MIDWEST			SOUTH
1	Michigan		1	Duke
16	UMBC/Howard		16	Bethune-Cookman/Morehead St
8	Clemson		8	Iowa
9	Texas		9	Georgia
5	Arkansas		5	St. John’s
12	Liberty		12	Yale
4	Kansas		4	Vanderbilt
13	Stephen F Austin		13	High Point
6	Saint Mary’s		6	Utah State
11	New Mexico/Ohio State		11	Santa Clara
3	Illinois		3	Iowa State
14	Troy		14	Navy
7	BYU		7	Kentucky
10	UCLA		10	SMU
2	Florida		2	Nebraska
15	Austin Peay		15	East Tennessee State
	EAST			WEST
1	UConn		1	Arizona
16	Portland State		16	Long Island
8	Miami		8	Saint Louis
9	UCF		9	NC State
5	Texas Tech		5	Tennessee
12	South Florida		12	Miami (OH)
4	Alabama		4	Virginia
13	Utah Valley		13	UNC Wilmington
6	Louisville		6	North Carolina
11	Belmont		11	TCU/VCU
3	Michigan State		3	Gonzaga
14	Hawaii		14	North Dakota State
7	Wisconsin		7	Villanova
10	Texas A&M		10	Missouri
2	Houston		2	Purdue
15	Merrimack		15	Wright State

Last Four Byes

UCLA

Texas A&M

Missouri

Santa Clara

Last Four In

New Mexico

Ohio State

TCU

VCU

First Four Out

Auburn

Indiana

San Diego State

Virginia Tech

Next Four Out

USC

Seton Hall

California

Tulsa

Teams by Conference

SEC - 10

Big 10 - 9

ACC - 8

Big 12 - 8

Big East - 3

WCC - 3

MWC - 2

Atl 10 - 2

NBA Rankings - 28 Feb

The hottest team of the past month has been the Cleveland Cavaliers, who won 8 in a row to start February, before losing 3 of 4 in the past week, with all 3 losses coming by single digits on the road. The coldest team of February has been Phoenix, who lost 7 of 11, and earned two of those wins on buzzer-beaters against inferior teams, though injuries to their two best players have had an impact. Here are my full current rankings and playoff picks:

				Record		Proj
Rank	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L	Seed
1	1	Oklahoma City	-9.525	46	15	63	19	W1
2	3	Detroit	-6.13	44	14	61	21	E1
3	4	San Antonio	-6.108	43	16	59	23	W2
4	5	Boston	-5.744	39	20	54	28	E2
5	2	Houston	-4.817	37	21	53	29	W3
6	6	New York	-4.413	38	22	52	30	E3
7	11	Cleveland	-3.893	37	24	51	31	E4
8	9	Denver	-3.568	37	23	50	32	W4
9	7	Minnesota	-3.149	37	23	50	32	W5
10	12	Miami	-2.039	31	29	44	38	E7
11	10	Golden State	-1.98	31	28	44	38	W8
12	13	Toronto	-1.65	34	25	47	35	E5
13	15	Charlotte	-1.519	29	31	41	41	E9
14	8	Phoenix	-1.389	34	26	46	36	W6
15	14	Philadelphia	-1.071	33	26	45	37	E6
16	17	Orlando	-0.289	31	27	43	39	E8
17	16	LA Lakers	0.295	34	24	46	36	W7
18	19	LA Clippers	0.3034	27	31	40	42	W10
19	18	Atlanta	0.3937	30	31	40	42	E10
20	20	Portland	0.8552	29	31	41	41	W9
21	21	Memphis	2.5486	22	36	31	51
22	24	Milwaukee	2.6673	26	32	36	46
23	23	Dallas	3.8414	21	38	28	54
24	22	Chicago	4.022	24	36	32	50
25	25	New Orleans	4.6003	18	42	26	56
26	27	Utah	6.3265	18	41	25	57
27	26	Brooklyn	6.9164	15	44	21	61
28	28	Indiana	7.2123	15	45	20	62
29	29	Sacramento	8.2522	14	47	20	62
30	30	Washington	9.4463	16	42	20	62

Playoff Picks

Play In

(7) Heat over (8) Magic

(9) Hornets over (10) Hawks

(9) Hornets over (8) Magic

(8) Warriors over (7) Lakers

(9) Trail Blazers over (10) Clippers

(7) Lakers over (9) Trail Blazers

First Round

(1) Pistons over (9) Hornets in 6

(2) Celtics over (7) Heat in 6

(3) Knicks over (6) 76ers in 6

(4) Cavaliers over (5) Raptors in 6

(1) Thunder over (7) Lakers in 4

(2) Spurs over (8) Warriors in 6

(3) Rockets over (6) Suns in 6

(4) Nuggets over (5) Timberwolves in 7

Second Round

(1) Pistons over (4) Cavaliers in 6

(2) Celtics over (3) Knicks in 7

(1) Thunder over (4) Nuggets in 5

(2) Spurs over (3) Rockets in 7

Conference Finals

(1) Pistons over (2) Celtics in 7

(1) Thunder over (2) Spurs in 6

NBA Finals

(1) Thunder over (1) Pistons in 6