Bracketology 2012: With St. Bonaventure's Win, Washington's Tournament Lives Hanging By A Thread

With the St. Bonaventure Bonnies dismantling the Xavier Musketeers 67-56 to take the title in the Atlantic 10 Championship game Sunday afternoon, the chances of the Washington Huskies making the 2012 NCAA tournament became that much worse, leaving them dangerously close to falling off the bubble.

Washington was looking great in the Pac-12 Championship until they fell apart late in the game against the Oregon State Beavers Thursday, leaving them on the outside looking in in most bracketologists predictions, including SB Nation's Chris Dobbertean.

The selection committee for the tournament usually shines in the favor of regular season conference champions, especially from the big six conferences, which is one big thing they have going for them. But with their weak schedule (no victoires over teams with an RPI of 50 or higher) and high number of other schools with similar outputs, you can easily make a case for them not making the tourney as well.

With the Selection Show only a few hours away, just where will the Huskies end up? The NCAA or NIT tournament?

For more discussion on the Huskies, head over to the UW Dawg Pound. For more on Bracketology and college basketball in general make sure you check out SB Nation's dedicated college basketball hub. Pretty please. With sugar on top.

After their one point loss to the Colorado Buffaloes sealed their 2012 Pacific Life Pac-12 Tournament fate, the Oregon Ducks became another victim of the fickle beast that is conference tournament week.

a 22-9 season including 13-5 in conference is good enough to make Oregon around the 10th team outside of the tournament in almost everyone's bracket. They have a RPI of 62 according to ESPN, more than half their wins coming on the road and all under the guidance of first year coach Dana Altman. An 11-5 record over their last 15 games, and a single point from Colorado will more than likely keep them from the dance. As is life.

Oregon's season will not be over though as they will be assuredly heading to the NIT this season, though I'm sure they'd like to be playing elsewhere. Their squad will return a number of players next season and have the experience of this season's success under their belt. Hopefully it can get them into the Dance next season.

For more on the Ducks, head over to Addicted to Quack to get in on the discussion and get your voice heard. For more on bracketology and the NCAA Tournament in general, please make sure to check out SB Nation's dedicated NCAA basketball hub.

Chris Dobbertean has been bust crunching the numbers and getting the order set for his latest bracketology for the 2012 NCAA Tournament, and unfortunately for the greater Northwest area their teams are dropping like flies as the possible squads making the big dance may have whittled down to just one.

That one team would be the Gonzaga Bulldogs, who remain a lock to make the tournament in the latest bracket. Interestingly enough they've fallen two spots since our last bracket was published, dropping from the No. 6 seed previously down to a No. 8 seed currently, possibly signaling a bit of a lack in confidence in the Bulldogs this season.

As for the Washington Huskies, their loss to Oregon State in the Pac-12 tournament will likely be the deal-sealer on their cinderella status, currently sitting as one of the 'next four out' sitting behind seven other teams that would make the tourney ahead of them. What a difference a game makes.

For more on bracketology and the NCAA tournament in general, please check out SB Nation's dedicated college basketball hub.

The Washington Huskies NCAA Tournament lives are hanging by a thread. By many accounts, their loss in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament to Oregon State has sealed their fate as a Dance snub and if the selections were made right now, it might not go Washington's way. That said, there are still some moving parts out there and Percy Allen of the Seattle Times' Husky Hoops blog compiled a list of teams to root for today and tomorrow in the hopes the Dawgs can somehow sneak in.

Per Allen:

--- Saint Louis and Xavier: They meet today in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10. It doesn't really matter who wins, although a Billikens' victory may provide a residual boost for UW. Whoever emerges must knock off No. 4 seed St. Bonaventure on Sunday in the title game. The Bonnies are 88 in the RPI and would steal a berth from a bubble team such as UW.

UPDATE - Xavier got the win this afternoon, and will move on to play St Bonaventure on Sunday. You must now root for the Musketeers to beat St Bonaventure tomorrow.

--- Long Beach State: The 49ers play UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. Saturday for the Big West Tournament title. Initially I thought a Gauchos win would be advantageous for Huskies because they could claim a victory against a NCAA tournament-bound team. However, LBS is 37 in the RPI and if it loses, it will likely steal an at-large berth.

Watch for that tonight.

--- Vanderbilt: The Commodores play Ole Miss at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in the SEC Tournament semifinals. According to Lunardi, the Rebels are the sixth team outside the NCAA tournament and need a pair of wins to steal a spot into the dance.

UPDATE - Vanderbilt got the win, 65-53. Nice.

--- Arizona: I've reversed my thinking on this after a little more study. If the Wildcats beat Colorado in today's Pac-12 Tournament title game, which begins at 3 p.m., then it helps Washington's strength of schedule and gives the Huskies two wins against a team going to the NCAA tournament.

UPDATE - In progress now - Arizona leads Colorado 22-21 with five minutes in the half.

Make sure you continue to follow this StoryStream for more on Washington's bid to make it into the NCAA Tournament.

The Washington Huskies once looked like a team certain to go dancing at the 2012 NCAA Tournament, but back-to-back bad losses to the UCLA Bruins and Oregon St. Beavers have put their chances in serious jeopardy. Now the Pac-12 regular season champions are going to be doing some serious nail biting on Selection Sunday. With no games left to play, the Huskies have done all they can do to improve their resumé.

There is no doubt that UW sit squarely on the bubble. Just how much of a bubble team are they? Get this: in one bracket, they are included among the final four teams IN the tournament. In another, they are among the first four teams OUT of the dance.

This is why we love March Madness.

If you go by the eye test, the Huskies certainly pass. They feature two potential lottery picks in their starting lineup, have the size to matchup with just about any program in the nation and can score the ball at a high rate. When one takes a look at their body of work and a few of their computer numbers, Washington isn't nearly as attractive as other teams.

As for the projected bracket that has Washington in, Joe Lunardi of ESPN has the Huskies as a 12-seed playing in the play-in game to reach the first round. Chris Dobbertean of SB Nation has UW just missing the field of 68 in his latest update.

Selection Sunday is set to unveil the brackets at 3:00 p.m. PT.

For more on the Huskies, visit UW Dawg Pound. To talk all-things Pac-12 Tournament, head on over to Pacific Takes.

The Washington Huskies couldn't make it past their first game in the 2012 Pac-12 Tournament, despite being the top seed and the regular-season conference champs. With the loss, they may have seen their hopes for the 2012 NCAA Tournament go up in smoke. With Friday's elimination of the Oregon St. Beavers, area fans are faced with the possibility that they may be watching the NCAA Tournament without a rooting interest.

Percy Allen of the Seattle Times reports that Washington coach Lorenzo Romar appeared KJR-AM Fiday morning to discuss the loss and he is not confident about the Huskies' chances of reaching the Tournament.

"The conference that you're in is irrelevant," Romar said. "They look at our body of work. the only argument is we won our league. There's other leagues that the winner wins the league with maybe 25 wins and they don't get invited to the big dance because the body of work of the entire league wasn't where it should be. Unfortunately for us, they're going to look at that entire body of work of the league and it could hurt us."

But all is not lost ... or at least, not yet. Bud Withers at the Seattle Times provided a handy guide to teams that Huskies fans Huskies fans need to be rooting for over the weekend. Here's a sampling:

Long Beach State. Pull for the guy, Dan Monson, who took the Washington job then bailed on it back in 2002. The 49ers are a big threat to make it at-large, so you don't need a Big West interloper winning that tournament.

It's a good read and well worth checking out. And it would be nice to have a reason to cheer for the Huskies (by proxy) for at least a few more days.

To discuss Washington's NCAA Tournament hopes with Husky fans, check out UW Dawg Pound. To talk about the NCAA tournament bracket, head to Blogging the Bracket.

The Washington Huskies are one of the weakest big conference champions in a long-time. Although they finished 14-4 in the Pac-12, they were projected as a lower seed for most of the past few weeks (Washington was an 11 seed according to Joe Lunardi and Chris Dobbertean of SB Nation).

They did themselves no favors on Thursday. Washington's loss to Oregon State will put them right back on the bubble, and they'll have to sweat out Selection Sunday. Washington has only one win against a top 50 RPI team (Oregon) with seven losses , the Huskies went 6-8 on the road. The loss revealed all the usual deficiencies: An inability to run halfcourt offense, Tony Wroten dominating the ball, and Lorenzo Romar not doing a great job adjusting within the game.

If Washington does make it, they might need to play an extra game. The Pac-12 had only a remote chance of being a one-bid league, but the loss by the Huskies might have greatly aided those chances.

To discuss Washington's NCAA Tournament hopes with Husky fans, check out UW Dawg Pound. To talk about the NCAA tournament bracket, head to Blogging the Bracket.

The Seattle area has a rich tradition of basketball excellence and two of their teams are sitting right on the verge of a bid to play in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. For the Gonzaga Bulldogs, the team may have just lost a heartbreaker in overtime of the WCC Championship, but just about all bracket projections have 'Zaga dancing next week. As for the young Huskies, the team has plenty of work to do despite their regular season Pac-12 championship.

According to the latest Bracketology projections from Blogging The Bracket, Gonzaga will be a six-seed in 2012. This would drop the Bulldogs a spot from their previously projected five seed from over the weekend. As for the Huskies, they are projected to be an 11 at the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

GU has no games remaining on their schedule, but Washington still has their conference tournament to play. The Pac-12 was pretty weak this season, but anything could happen in Los Angeles. A first round exit would likely knock UW out of the picture, and they should probably advance all the way to the championship game to feel good about their chances come Selection Sunday.

The final brackets will be unveiled on Sunday, March 11 at 3 p.m. PT.

For more on the Huskies and to discuss their NCAA Tourney chances, check out UW Dawg Pound.

One loss can mean everything at this stage in the season, especially when it comes to where a team will be seeded and in what region.

Just ask the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

The Zags started Monday morning as a no. 6 seed in the Midwest region, according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi in his then-latest Bracketology. But after losing to St. Mary's in the West Coast Conference championship game in a heartbreaking thriller, the Zags have moved down a seed and switched regions altogether.

Lunardi's latest predictions have the Zags in the South region as the no. 7 seed facing the Connecticut Huskies in the first round with the Ohio State Buckeyes possibly lurking as a second round matchup. The Zags went from facing Southern Mississippi to facing a perennial power. Crazy what a day can do.

Meanwhile, the Washington Huskies saw no movement from their no. 11 seed but the Pac-12 tournament will have a lot to say about where they end up.

Both SB Nation's Chris Dobbertean and ESPN's Joe Lunardi have the Gonzaga Bulldogs as a no. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The only difference is they have the Bulldogs in different regions.

Dobbertean has the Bulldogs in the West facing Southern Mississippi in their first round matchup, while Lunardi has the Bulldogs in the Midwest facing a very intriguing Harvard team. Either way, it's safe to say the Bulldogs are in no matter what happens in their conference championship game against St. Mary's.

Washington, on the other hand, is fighting to stay where Dobbertean and Lunardi currently have them. Dobbertean has the Huskies as a no. 11 seed in the Midwest playing Wichita State in the first round, while Lunardi has the Huskies as the same seed only in the West against Vanderbilt.

One thing is for certain, it looks like people see the Bulldogs and Huskies in the same light.

ESPN's Joe Lunardi's newest Bracketology has been released and both the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Washington Huskies are securely in the tournament - for now.

The Bulldogs may have had their streak of conference championships snapped by St. Mary's, but that doesn't mean they won't be embarking on what has become an annual excursion into the NCAA Tournament. As currently situated, Lunardi has the Bulldogs as the no. 7 seed in the East Region, playing a struggling but dangerous UConn team in the first round.

Meanwhile, the Huskies are on the rise and sit as the no. 10 seed in the West Region with New Mexico in the first round. If the Huskies could pull off the upset, Missouri would await them in the second round which would be a tough way to try to get into the Sweet 16.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are losing their footing. The Washington Huskies are starting to find theirs.

Washington has put themselves at the top of the bubble after another crucial home sweep, including a critical win against Arizona. While Washington is far from out of trouble, they're in a far better spot than they were a week ago as Joe Lunardi's last team in. Lunardi has them as an eleventh seed, facing New Mexico, then the winner of Marquette/Belmont.

Gonzaga slipped when they lost a road contest to USF, which dropped them to a seventh seed and ever closer to the 8th/9th seed of death that kills so many teams. The Bulldogs can prop themselves right back up if they're able to beat BYU on Thursday though.

Oregon is hovering as one of the first four out. But the Ducks can't rest easy unless they win out.

To talk Gonzaga basketball and their place in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, head to The Slipper Still Fits. To learn more about Washington basketball and whether they deserve to make it, check out UW Dawg Pound. To talk Oregon basketball, go to Addicted to Quack.

In a typical year, the Washington Huskies and the Oregon Ducks would be regular at-large Pac-12 teams in the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, the conference profile is so weak thanks to some bad teams at the bottom and their lame out-of-conference showing. Thus the Pac-12 is not likely to have more than one at-large team.

Joe Lunardi of ESPN released his latest bracketology, and both Washington and Oregon are stuck on the outside. Washington is one of the first four out as the 70th team, and Oregon is one of the last four out (the 76th team). Oregon probably has no margin for error--they need to win almost all their remaining games or capture the Pac-12 tournament. Washington has a better shot, but they almost certainly need to beat Arizona at home to ensure they get in without winning the tournament title.

To read more about Lunardi's bracketology, click here.

To talk about Washington basketball, head on over to UW Dawg Pound. To talk about Oregon basketball, check out Addicted to Quack.

The Washington Huskies are firmly, securely, without a doubt - on the bubble.

The Huskies, who were in last week's SB Nation Bracketology, fell out of the tournament this time around, finding themselves on the Last Four Out list and among a group of five teams to fall out of the tourney in this week's edition.

Meanwhile, Gonzaga is the no. 6 seed in the South Region. As currently situated, a tough 6-11 matchup with Minnesota awaits them with the possibility of having to play a talented UNLV team in the second round and North Carolina in the Sweet 16. Needless to say, that would shape up as one of the toughest routes for any team to make it to the Elite 8.

Gonzaga is 20-4 and on a three-game winning streak with five games remaining on its conference schedule. The Huskies are 17-8 and have won four of their last five but the one loss was a 25-point drubbing at the hands of the Oregon Ducks.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are in great shape to make it to March Madness once again. Gonzaga is now 16-3 with a big game with BYU coming up. Joe Lunardi of ESPN has its latest bracketology projections out, and Gonzaga is now a sixth seed. They would end up in the Midwest Bracket, where they would face Saint Louis.

Interestingly, Dana Altman has the Oregon Ducks back in contention after four straight victories, beating the Arizona and the Los Angeles schools. Oregon is the first of the next four out, making them the 73rd school overall. You'd have to imagine if Oregon can keep on their winning ways, they have a good shot to make it to March Madness, although in the Pac-12 they'll need to put up as impressive a resume as possible.

For more of Joe Lunardi's bracket at ESPN, click here.

To talk about Gonzaga basketball, head on over The Slipper Still Fits. To discuss Oregon basketball, go to Addicted to Quack.