College football is over.
Two months remain of the regular season in college basketball.
Only a handful of conference games have been played.
The SEC-Big 12 Challenge is the top remaining non-conference event.
RELATED: Who is in the tournament? Check out Andy Katz's Power 36
Resumes are being formed. Opportunities are shrinking for a number of teams. The pressure is on.
The NCAA tournament selection committee will have plenty of data to peruse. But the new word is quadrant. Road and neutral-site wins/games are more important than ever.
These are the RPI quadrant parameters to remember:
| Quadrant 1 Home: 1-30 Neutral: 1-50 Away: 1-75 |
Quadrant 2 Home: 31-75 Neutral: 51-100 Away: 76-135 |
Quadrant 3 Home: 76-160 Neutral: 101-200 Away: 136-240 |
Quadrant 4 Home: 161 and above. Neutral: 201 and above Away: 241 and above |
So let’s play some predictions using the official NCAA RPI of the likely teams in the field.
There are 36 at-large berths. But there will be multiple berths out of the ACC, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, SEC, Pac-12 and American. Let’s give the WCC and the A-10 two bids for now. That would mean there would be a total of 45 teams that would make the field out of this list.
Here are the top 68 in the RPI through Jan. 7.
The most important quadrants are the first two so those are the ones listed. For the purposes of this snapshot, I will tag each team with a projection label of being safe, stable, unlikely, TBD or nope.
There are a number of lower-profile teams sandwiched among elite teams. That’s why the numbers are not the sole tool for a bid. Some of the rankings may surprise some people for teams in the top 25 or the Power 36 while other teams in the top 68 in the RPI have no shot of being at-large candidates.
This is a fluid situation and will change daily. But as the season heads into the meat of the conference season, this should give everyone a good idea of where their respective team stands.
| Rank | Team (Overall Record) | Quadrant 1 Record | Quadrant 2 Record | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke (13-2) | 3-0 | 5-2 | Safe |
| 2 | Virginia (14-1) | 2-1 | 2-0 | Safe |
| 3 | Xavier (15-2) | 2-2 | 4-0 | Safe |
| 4 | Seton Hall (14-2) | 3-1 | 2-0 | Safe |
| 5 | Clemson (14-1) | 2-1 | 3-0 | Safe |
| 6 | Villanova (14-1) | 2-1 | 3-0 | Safe |
| 7 | Oklahoma (12-2) | 2-2 | 1-0 | Safe |
| 8 | North Carolina (12-4) | 3-3 | 1-0 | Safe. |
| 9 | Arizona State (13-2) | 3-2 | 3-0 | Safe |
| 10 | Tennessee (10-4) | 2-4 | 3-0 | Safe |
| 11 | Kansas (12-3) | 4-2 | 2-1 | Safe |
| 12 | Kentucky (12-3) | 0-3 | 5-0 | Safe |
| 13 | Auburn (14-1) | 3-1 | 2-0 | Safe |
| 14 | West Virginia (14-1) | 3-1 | 3-0 | Safe |
| 15 | Purdue (15-2) | 4-1 | 2-1 | Safe |
| 16 | Nevada (15-3) | 1-2 | 3-0 | Stable |
| 17 | Arkansas (11-4) | 2-4 | 1-0 | Safe |
| 18 | TCU (13-2) | 2-2 | 3-0 | Safe |
| 19 | Wichita State (13-2) | 1-2 | 5-0 | Safe |
| 20 | Rhode Island (11-3) | 1-3 | 1-0 | Stable |
| 21 | Texas Tech (14-1) | 2-1 | 2-0 | Safe |
| 22 | Miami (13-2) | 3-0 | 0-1 | Safe |
| 23 | Michigan State (15-2) | 1-2 | 2-0 | Safe |
| 24 | Arizona (12-4) | 3-2 | 1-2 | Safe |
| 25 | Ohio State (13-4) | 1-3 | 3-1 | Safe |
| 26 | Butler (12-5) | 2-4 | 2-1 | Safe |
| 27 | Florida State (12-3) | 2-2 | 1-1 | Safe |
| 28 | Texas A&M (11-4) | 3-2 | 1-1 | Safe |
| 29 | Buffalo (9-5) | 0-3 | 1-2 | Nope |
| 30 | Missouri (10-4) | 2-2 | 1-1 | TBD |
| 31 | Syracuse (12-4) | 1-1 | 1-3 | TBD |
| 32 | Louisville (11-4) | 0-4 | 0-0 | TBD |
| 33 | Middle Tennessee (10-4) | 0-2 | 1-1 | Unlikely |
| 34 | Cincinnati (14-2) | 4-2 | 2-0 | Safe |
| 35 | Creighton (13-3) | 1-2 | 3-1 | Safe |
| 36 | Saint Mary's (15-2) | 1-1 | 1-0 | TBD |
| 37 | Notre Dame (12-3) | 2-1 | 1-0 | Stable |
| 38 | Georgia (11-3) | 2-1 | 3-1 | Stable |
| 39 | Michigan (13-3) | 1-2 | 1-1 | Stable |
| 40 | Temple (7-8) | 2-4 | 2-1 | Nope |
| 41 | Lipscomb (8-5) | 0-4 | 1-1 | Nope |
| 42 | St. Bonaventure (11-4) | 3-1 | 1-1 | Stable |
| 43 | Marquette (11-5) | 1-4 | 3-1 | TBD |
| 44 | UCLA (12-4) | 1-2 | 1-1 | TBD |
| 45 | Boise State (12-3) | 0-2 | 2-0 | TBD |
| 46 | Providence (11-6) | 3-2 | 0-3 | TBD |
| 47 | Washington (12-4) | 2-2 | 1-2 | TBD |
| 48 | Florida (11-4) | 3-3 | 1-0 | Safe |
| 49 | Maryland (13-4) | 1-4 | 1-0 | TBD |
| 50 | Wyoming (10-5) | 0-3 | 4-0 | Nope |
| 51 | Alabama (9-6) | 2-2 | 2-3 | TBD |
| 52 | Western Kentucky (10-5) | 1-1 | 1-2 | Nope |
| 53 | Houston (12-3) | 2-1 | 1-1 | TBD |
| 54 | San Diego State (9-4) | 1-2 | 2-0 | Nope |
| 55 | William & Mary: (9-4) | 0-3 | 0-0 | Nope |
| 56 | USC (11-6) | 1-3 | 1-1 | TBD |
| 57 | St. John's (9-6) | 0-4 | 1-1 | Nope |
| 58 | UCF (12-4) | 1-3 | 3-1 | TBD |
| 59 | Texas (10-5) | 2-2 | 3-3 | Stable |
| 60 | UC Davis (8-5) | 0-3 | 1-2 | Nope |
| 61 | Utah (10-5) | 1-4 | 1-0 | Nope |
| 62 | New Mexico State (11-3) | 1-1 | 0-1 | Nope |
| 63 | South Dakota State (10-5) | 1-4; | 2-1 | Nope |
| 64 | South Carolina (9-5) | 0-3 | 2-2 | Nope |
| 65 | Gonzaga (14-3) | 2-3 | 2-0 | Safe |
| 66 | Mississippi State (12-2) | 1-1 | 0-1 | Nope |
| 67 | Elon (9-6) | 0-1 | 1-3 | Nope |
| 68 | SMU (12-5) | 1-2 | 3-2. | TBD |
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.
