Our 2012 Bracketology picks are starting to really getting rolling here at Bankroll Sports, and we are making our best guesses right now as to how the NCAA Tournament brackets are going to pan out if the Selection Committee had to make its decisions right now for which teams are going to get into the dance!

Note: Italic represent projected conference winner, automatic bid

1 Seeds – Kentucky Wildcats, Syracuse Orange, Missouri Tigers, Kansas Jayhawks

The only real change here is that Kansas has moved onto the top line. The Jayhawks are really playing well right now, and though those two victories against Baylor don’t look as good now as they did before, there is no doubting that this is a deserving team to be on the top line. Missouri isn’t quite a lock, but its position is getting stronger with seemingly each passing week. Barring total collapses though, Kentucky and Syracuse are sure to be on the top line come Selection Sunday.

2 Seeds – Duke Blue Devils, Michigan State Spartans, Ohio State Buckeyes, North Carolina Tar Heels

More moving all over the No. 2 line right now. Duke and North Carolina are representing the ACC, while Michigan State and OSU are getting the nod from the Big Ten here. Many think that Sparty’s road win against the Buckeyes might be worthy of moving them onto the top line. We know that it was a long time ago, but we have a hard time justifying how comparable teams from the ACC that have arguably played a tougher top end of their schedules that both have wins over MSU wouldn’t have at least as good, if not a better argument to be a No. 1 seed. Neither team from the ACC is deserving to be a No. 1 right now in our eyes, but if Duke beats Florida State this week in Tallahassee, we might be humming a different tune.

3 Seeds – Georgetown Hoyas, Marquette Golden Eagles, Florida State Seminoles, Florida Gators

There is a huge drop off after we talk about the two big boys from the Big East to the rest of the pack. Any number of teams could be on the No. 3 line at this point. Florida State is hot, and a win this week over Duke could get this team to a tremendous seed in the dance. Florida clearly isn’t as good as Kentucky is, but at 21-6 and playing decent ball, that resume is a heck of a lot stronger than a lot of teams that aren’t playing nearly as well. Georgetown and Marquette are both great teams in the almighty Big East, and though this conference isn’t nearly as good top to bottom as it usually is, it is still a conference that is going to take just a herd of teams to the dance floor in March.

4 Seeds – Michigan Wolverines, Wisconsin Badgers, Louisville Cardinals, Baylor Bears

Baylor’s loss to Kansas State is the one that really makes us shake our head. We understand losses to Kansas (twice) and Missouri (twice), but KSU is a totally different story. Too many more losses, and all of a sudden, we might be talking about a middle of the bracket team. Michigan and Wisconsin are clearly starting to separate themselves as the third and fourth best teams in the Big Ten with Indiana showing some chinks in its armor down the stretch. Louisville almost quietly has 21 wins this year, and it just seems to be coming up just short of a number of big wins when push comes to shove.

5 Seeds – Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Indiana Hoosiers, Wichita State Shockers, Temple Owls

Notre Dame is one of the hotter teams right now in the Big East, and Head Coach Mike Bray and company deserve to be rewarded and likely will be by the Selection Committee as long as the Irish don’t fall apart down the stretch. Indiana’s loss to Iowa was puzzling, and we have to wonder whether this is a team that is just playing over its head right now. Wichita State scored the huge BracketBusters win on the road against Davidson over the weekend, and there is really no way that we see this team falling from this line at this point with one of the best rankings for a mid-major in the nation. Temple, once a team considered a potential bubble team, suddenly has a sparkling resume. This Top 20 RPI with wins over Duke and Wichita State just cannot be ignored and will be rewarded. We hope that the Selection Committee does its job and gives the Owls a shot at a big time seed.

6 Seeds – UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, Creighton Blue Jays, Vanderbilt Commodores, New Mexico Lobos

Vanderbilt had to wonder whether it was going to be okay for the dance or not, but the team has come back with a pair of big road wins, including a victory that might ultimately be what knocks Ole Miss to the wrong side of the bubble when push really comes to shove. Meanwhile, New Mexico clearly becomes a lock for the dance after crushing a great UNLV team in the Pit, but there is nothing to really take away from the Rebs either, especially with some of the big time wins (North Carolina!) on their schedule. We might be shafting Creighton just a bit, especially after the Blue Jays knocked off Long Beach State in BracketBusters.

7 Seeds – Murray State Racers, San Diego State Aztecs, St. Mary’s Gaels, Gonzaga Bulldogs

This is the consummate mid-major line, and it is proof of how bad some of the bubble teams really are this year from the power conferences. St. Mary’s has now had two questionable slips, and it could really hurt the WCC this year. The loss against Murray State was the win that probably makes sure that the Racers are okay, but we still really don’t see how they are going to be a very high seed now that their undefeated season has come to a close. Gonzaga didn’t play in BracketBusters, and it might prove to be a bad call, especially if BYU comes into the Kennel and pulls off the upset this week. San Diego State’s three straight losses all of a sudden brings this team into some question, though we still think that there is no way that the Aztecs get left home.

8 Seeds – Virginia Cavaliers, Saint Louis Billikens, Kansas State Wildcats, Harvard Crimson

These No. 8 seeds wouldn’t be all that great if this is how things were to pan out. Kansas State, a consummate bubble team for quite some time, looks okay right now after taking down Baylor, and as long as the Bears don’t slip out of the RPI Top 25, that should be a victory that carries the Wildcats to the dance without any further unsightly defeats. Virginia’s great non-conference record just hasn’t panned out that well in a weakening ACC. Meanwhile, Saint Louis is putting together a resume that might rival that of Temple’s soon, though the Billikens don’t quite have the same computer numbers or a win over a team like Duke. Harvard had better win the Ivy League, or it won’t be dancing this year, though at least for the moment, this is a team with some real quality that can’t be ignored.

9 Seeds – California Golden Bears, Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, Memphis Tigers, Iowa State Cyclones

Iowa State has some great computer numbers, and its win over Kansas is great. This is a pretty weak resume aside from this, but the Cyclones do have the wins to get in the dance at this point on a very weak bubble. Case in point: Memphis and Southern Miss almost seem like locks to go dancing at this point from Conference USA… Cal now has 22 wins, and though there might not be another team in the Pac-12 that looks that great right now, the Golden Bears probably won’t have anything to worry about come Selection Sunday.

10 Seeds – Washington Huskies, Alabama Crimson Tide, Purdue Boilermakers, Mississippi State Bulldogs

And this is where the questions start to really get asked… Alabama has been playing without some of its best players due to suspension, and it has certainly shown, and its SEC West mates from Mississippi State aren’t in much better shape without a ton of great quality wins and a brutal schedule down the stretch. Washington is on the uptick, and we would have a hard time envisioning the NCAA Tournament without the Huskies if they can get to 22 or so wins. Purdue needs to make sure that it gets at least two more conference wins. Three will make it safe in all likelihood.

11 Seeds – Cincinnati Bearcats, BYU Cougars, West Virginia Mountaineers, Arizona Wildcats

Generally speaking, 20 wins in the Big East, and you’re in pretty darn good shape. The Bearcats are nearly there, but many think that they are still going to be a bubble team without a few more wins. We tend to disagree. Instead, we think that a WVU team that really hasn’t had an impressive victory in a month might be in some more trouble. Arizona is headed the right direction and won’t be punished by a loss to Washington on the road. The Cougars have a chance to stamp a third bid for the WCC to the NCAA Tournament for sure this week when they travel to Gonzaga for the first time as members of their new conference.

12 Seeds – Xavier Musketeers, Seton Hall Pirates, NC State Wolfpack, South Florida Bulls, Texas Longhorns, Miami Hurricanes

Bubbles will be busting on this line, and there are teams that all have some cracks in their resumes. Texas, as of Monday, still has no big wins to its credit but does have some great computer numbers. Seton Hall is definitely slipping in the wrong direction but did pick up a few wins to at least sneak closer to 20 triumphs. It’ll likely take 21-22 to get the Pirates in. South Florida has really come out of nowhere to get in the bubble discussion, and we think that it will get the job done with two more wins in conference. There’s something about 12 wins in the Big East that just screams “NCAA Tournament” to us. Xavier is a very iffy team right now. The Musketeers have middling RPI numbers in the 50s and just five road wins on the year, though the OT win against Dayton probably knocked the Flyers out of the dance. Still, there are two big road tests left at UMass and Saint Louis, and without at least one win in those games, the X-Men are going to enter the A-10 tourney in some trouble. NC State is probably the most controversial team that we have in the field right now, but we still think that in the end, even without a signature win, 22 wins for the Wolfpack will get the job done and send them dancing. Miami is definitely a controversy as well, but the Canes and that win at Duke really look good right now in spite of a very suspect record.

13 Seeds – Drexel Dragons, Iona Gaels, Long Beach State 49ers, Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders

All four of these teams are going to be clamoring for a bid to the dance if they don’t win their conference titles, but we just don’t see it happening for any of them. Iona probably has the best case after beating Nevada in BracketBusters, while Long Beach State, in spite of its No. 1 SOS in non-conference play, doesn’t really have a quality victory and was probably knocked out of at large potential after getting beaten in a close tussle by Creighton. The top three teams in the Colonial all won their BracketBusters battles, though Drexel clearly had the best of the bunch with the win on the road in convincing fashion over Cleveland State. These three are all going to have gripes to go dancing, though we just aren’t sure that any of them are going to make the cut when push comes to shove. MTSU has a lot of wins, though those wins aren’t really of that much quality at this point. Still, all four teams, assuming that they do win their conferences, are going to be the types of teams that no one wants to see in their brackets.

14 Seeds: Nevada Wolf Pack, Davidson Wildcats, Belmont Bruins, Oral Roberts Golden Eagles

Dangerous teams are all over the place here on the No. 14 line right now. Oral Roberts is possibly the weakest of the bunch, as the rest of these teams at least at some point thought that they had at-large potential. Belmont had a great non-conference SOS, but the team wasn’t helped by a rather pathetic A-Sun this year. Seven losses, though several of them of quality, just won’t be enough to get the Bruins into the dance without the A-Sun’s auto bid. Nevada probably lost any chance that it had of being an at large bid when it was beaten by Iona in BracketBusters, while Davidson is still a team that could be holding on to very slim at large hopes in spite of some shaky computer numbers.

15 Seeds: Valparaiso Crusaders, Akron Zips, Long Island Blackbirds, Weber State Wildcats

All of these teams definitely have one thing in common, and that is that they all are going to be very dangerous teams if they go dancing. LIU Brooklyn has the potential to be a real pain to a team that is forced into a fast paced game against it. Akron and Valpo are both relatively hot right now as well. Weber State is a team that knows how to win, but there isn’t all that much there in terms of quality victories. Still, just having a winning culture tends to go a long way for some of these mid-majors against major conference schools that have suffered setbacks recently in their conference tournaments and in conference play down the stretch.

16 Seeds: Stony Brook Seawolves, UNC Asheville Bulldogs, Bucknell Bison, Savannah State Tigers , Texas-Arlington Mavericks, Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils

The most interesting team in this bunch is Savannah State, which has been known for being one of the worst teams in D-I college basketball for quite some time. The Tigers are on a roll, but it is still a roll that is going on in the MEAC. It won’t be enough to keep them out of the play-in games, but just getting into the dance would be rather impressive. For the most part, these are the projected regular season conference champs that are just hoping to move up thanks to some other upsets in conference tournaments, though none of them are by any means locks to win their conferences’ automatic bids.

Bubbles Busted – St. Joseph’s Hawks, Connecticut Huskies, Northwestern Wildcats, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Illinois Fighting Illini, George Mason Patriots, VCU Rams, UCF Knights, Colorado State Rams, Colorado Buffaloes, Oregon Ducks, LSU Tigers, Arkansas Razorbacks, Loyola Marymount Lions

Going conference by conference, we can plainly see that the conferences that are losing are in the Big Ten and the Colonial. In the end, the SOS numbers for George Mason and VCU are both brutal in the 200s, and very few teams are going to really be able to survive computer numbers like that in virtually any situation. St. Joe’s has some iffy computer numbers, but on this weak bubble, if the Hawks can get into the low-20s in wins, it has a chance at dancing, though it is very unlikely. In the Big Ten, we just don’t trust these teams. Northwestern has some good computer numbers, but in the end, it is just 6-8 in conference. Illinois might not even deserve a spot on this list any longer after its terrible run, and the argument might be made that Iowa has a better resume than it does. Minnesota’s 17 wins are great, but 5-9 in conference play just won’t get the job done. Colorado and Oregon are the next team in the pecking order in the Pac-12, though neither resume clearly looks all that stellar at the moment, while Stanford has an outside chance of dancing without the Pac-12 title. LSU and Arkansas have become fringe bubble teams with some surprisingly okay computer numbers, though the Hogs have to win on the road at some point, or the Selection Committee will clearly hold that 0-8 road record against them. UCF has come up just short of some big time wins, and it probably has to either win at Memphis or go on a great run in the C-USA tourney to put on its dancing shoes in what has amounted to be a tumultuous season. Loyola Marymount is the surprising team that has been added to the list of bubble teams, but after winning on the road at St. Mary’s by two touchdowns and then smacking Valpo in BracketBusters, the Lions definitely at least have a case, especially with the strength of the rest of the WCC.

1. 2012 NIT Bracketology: NIT Picks & Preview (Updated 2/20)
2. 2012 NCAA Tournament Odds, Odds To Win 2012 NCAA Championship
3. 2012 Presidential Election Odds: Barack Obama 2012 Reelection Odds
4. 2012 Sprint Cup Odds – Odds To Win the 2012 NASCAR Championship
5. 2012 NBA Finals Odds with Preview & NBA Free Picks
6. 2012 Superbowl Odds: 2012-2013 Super Bowl Odds – Superbowl 47