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Seeding the Field

Saturday, March 5, 2005; Page D05

A weekly look into the crystal ball at who will qualify and where they'll go in the 65-team NCAA men's tournament:

Syracuse Regional

1. North Carolina

^_____Power Conferences^_____

Who's in and who's out among the teams from the power conferences:

ACC (3)

Locks: North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke.

Bubble: Maryland, Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Virginia Tech, Miami.

Big East (5)

Locks: Boston College, Connecticut, Syracuse, Villanova, Pittsburgh.

Bubble: Notre Dame, Georgetown, West Virginia.

Big Ten (3)

Locks: Illinois, Michigan St., Wisconsin.

Bubble: Minnesota, Indiana.

Big 12 (4)

Locks: Kansas, Oklahoma St., Oklahoma, Texas Tech.

Bubble: Texas, Iowa State, Texas A&M.

Conference USA (3)

Locks: Louisville, Charlotte, Cincinnati.

Bubble: DePaul, Alabama-Birm., Houston, Marquette.

Pacific-10 (3)

Locks: Arizona, Washington, UCLA.

Bubble: Stanford, Arizona State.

Southeastern (5)

Locks: Kentucky, Alabama, LSU, Florida, Mississippi St.

Bubble: Vanderbilt.

^_____Top 7 Mid-Majors^_____

These seven teams from mid-major conferences should be going to the NCAA tournament, even if they don't win automatic bids:

1. Gonzaga (23-4): The Bulldogs could claim an NCAA No. 2 seed by winning West Coast Conference tournament.

2. Utah (24-4): Loss at New Mexico could really hurt the Utes' NCAA seeding.

3. Southern Illinois (25-6): The Salukis are trying to improve NCAA seed to avoid second-round game against Illinois.

4. Pacific (24-2): The Tigers have won 20 straight entering today's finale at UC Riverside.

5. Nevada (22-5): The Wolf Pack has won nine in a row and 12 of 13.

6. Vermont (21-6): The Catamounts could ease a lot of anxiety by winning America East tourney.

7. Saint Mary's (Calif.) (24-7): Six of the Gaels' past seven games decided by five points or fewer; they won four.

^_____Men's Basketball Basics^_____

• Scoreboard
• Statistics
• Schedules
• Area Colleges Section
• Men's Basketball Section

^_____Georgetown Basics^_____

• Section
• Announcements, results
• Area Colleges Page

^_____Maryland Basics^_____

• Announcements, results

2. Boston College

3. Louisville

4. Michigan St.

5. Alabama

6. Nevada

7. Wisconsin

8. UCLA

9. Georgetown

10. Maryland

11. Iowa St.

12. DePaul

13. Holy Cross

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