If we’re heading towards the end of the football season, that means that it is time to start talking about the 2012 brackets! Here at Bankroll Sports, we are discussing our current 2012 Bracketology picks and trying to figure out which teams are going to be on which lines for the 2012 NCAA Tournament if it were to start right now!

Note: Italic represent projected conference winner, automatic bid

1 Seeds – Kentucky Wildcats, Syracuse Orange, Duke Blue Devils, Ohio State Buckeyes

There is very little debate right now about Syracuse and Kentucky as top seeds. There are any combination of teams that could be on the No. 1 line right now as well. We still tend to think that even with three losses, the Selection Committee would see the Buckeyes in great shape thanks to having a tremendously talented team and one that could go a long way once again in the NCAA Tournament. Don’t be shocked if this is actually what ends up happening come Selection Sunday.

2 Seeds – Baylor Bears, Missouri Tigers, Kansas Jayhawks, North Carolina Tar Heels

Carolina is the team that is sliding after getting just absolutely trounced by Florida State last weekend. Baylor just suffered its first loss, which in our eyes, takes it off of the No. 1 line considering how weak the schedule really has been for the Bears. However, Kansas moves up onto the 2 line after winning that game against Baylor, though we think that it has to be careful this weekend against Texas. Missouri has a great record, but we still aren’t all that sure that the Tigers are going to be strong enough to hang in the Top 10 in the country for the rest of the Big XII campaign.

3 Seeds – Michigan State Spartans, Connecticut Huskies, Georgetown Hoyas, Florida Gators

The debate here would be whether the Gators would be worthy of being this high in the bracket or not. Right now, we tend to think that, in spite of the fact that their losses are a bit ugly, that they would get the nod. UConn and Georgetown, of course get higher bids because of the fact that they are from the Big East, while Michigan State has just been rolling every since suffering two losses early in the season to UNC and Duke. Even with the loss to Michigan this week, we still think that Sparty would be on the 3 line if the dance started today.

4 Seeds – UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, San Diego State Aztecs, Creighton Blue Jays, Indiana Hoosiers

Holy mid-majors, Batman! UNLV and San Diego State are definitely worthy of being called majors at this point though, as they have been stalwarts in the Mountain West for a number of years. These two programs are just fantastic, and with as strong as their RPIs and SOSs are, they are both deserving of good seeds in the dance. We think that Creighton will be rewarded for its rich history and the fact that the Valley is as strong as it has been in years. Indiana is sliding, and keeping it as a No. 4 seed might be a tad high, but we do think that wins over teams like Ohio State and Kentucky are worthy of keeping the Hoosiers right here on the 4 line.

5 Seeds – Murray State Racers, Michigan Wolverines, Seton Hall Pirates, Vanderbilt Commodores

Michigan’s win over Michigan State this week was huge, and it helps remove most of the doubts as to whether the Wolverines will be in good shape for the dance this year or not. Murray State is the team that no one wants to put on their bracket. We think that they are worthy of a Top 5 seed, but most don’t, and that will probably include the Selection Committee. Vandy gets the benefit of the doubt of playing in the rough SEC East, while the same could be said for a Seton Hall team that we are puzzled as to why it isn’t ranked in the Top 25 in the country.

6 Seeds – Gonzaga Bulldogs, St. Mary’s Gaels, Virginia Cavaliers, West Virginia Mountaineers

It’s not often that you can say that a loss helps out a team, but the way that UVA lost at Duke might go a long way towards proving that this team is legitimate. Gonzaga and St. Mary’s basically have the exact same resumes right now, and this year, with good victories out of conference for both and the addition of the normally highly ranked BYU Cougars to the WCC, both should have no problems dancing this year.

7 Seeds – Louisville Cardinals, Illinois Fighting Illini, Marquette Golden Eagles, Harvard Crimson

It is going to be very hard to justify putting Harvard in the top half of the bracket this year, knowing that any losses in the Ivy League are going to be damning, but this is a team that does have some big time ‘W’s this year to fall back on. Louisville and Marquette are both starting to fall victim to the Big East blues, and conference problems are starting to plague the Illini as well. All three teams really need to get back in shape in a hurry.

8 Seeds – Mississippi State Bulldogs, Xavier Musketeers, Wisconsin Badgers, Purdue Boilermakers

Do we have the X-Men rated too highly in this field at this point? Many would argue that they maybe shouldn’t even deserve to be in the dance right now. Still, we believe in the Musketeers when they are at full strength, something that they haven’t always been this year due to suspensions. Purdue and Wisconsin are basically the same team at this point, and Mississippi State is definitely reeling after losing to Ole Miss on Wednesday.

9 Seeds – Wichita State Shockers, Alabama Crimson Tide, Stanford Cardinal, Florida State Seminoles

The Pac-12 really might be a one-bid league this year, and if that’s the case, the Cardinal, in spite of their 15-3 record, had better make sure that they build upon this resume in a big time way before the Pac-12 Tournament. Alabama was a bubble team last year that probably got hosed, but this year, at least for the time being, it is okay. Florida State seems to be on the bubble every year, but the win over North Carolina in such convincing fashion might go a long way towards keeping the Noles safe. Wichita State should be fine as long as it doesn’t lose too many conference games this year as the second team out of the Valley.

10 Seeds – Kansas State Wildcats, Texas Longhorns, Dayton Flyers, California Golden Bears

Richard Solomon being ruled academically ineligible isn’t good for the Golden Bears, who could have a tough time justifying a spot on the dance floor without the Pac-12′s automatic bid. Texas can’t win a big time game, but it gets another chance this week at home against Kansas. Dayton might be one of the teams that ends up in bad shape because the A-10 beats itself up this year.

11 Seeds – Iona Gaels, Northwestern Wildcats, St. Louis Billikens, New Mexico Lobos

We’ve hit the mid-major line, and that means that there are a lot of teams from this point on down that are really hoping that these teams make the NCAA Tournament. Iona has a great resume to date and some solid wins, and Davidson has a rare upset at Kansas to its resume. St. Louis was once a Top 25 team in the nation. Northwestern hasn’t been dancing in ages, but a solid year in the Big 10 will change all of that. New Mexico’s loss to San Diego State on Wednesday didn’t help matters, and now, it is back firmly on the bubble once again in our eyes.

12 Seeds – BYU Cougars, Temple Owls, Cincinnati Bearcats, Iowa State Cyclones, Memphis Tigers, Minnesota Golden Gophers

Any of these six teams could be play-in game material right now, as we really don’t think any of them have that great of a resume. Cincinnati’s win against UConn probably makes it the best of the bunch, while Memphis’ loss to UCF probably puts it in the worst shape. Minnesota’s ugly 2-4 record in the Big Ten had better improve, as it won’t be dancing if it finishes up with a losing record in conference play and an early exit in the conference tournament. Temple is riding right now on the back of its one major win over the Dookies.

Southern Miss might have the best resume right now in Conference USA, which is saying something with four teams that hope to go dancing. At just 12-6, there isn’t much margin for error for the Tigers, who badly need to win some more games. They would be lucky to be in one of the play-in games right now.

14 Seeds: Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders, Cleveland State Vikings, George Mason Patriots, Long Beach State 49ers

At some point, all four of these teams either have thought or will think that they have a shot at going dancing. Long Beach State played an absolute horror of a schedule to start off the season, and it gets a major pass for some of its defeats. George Mason was the first of these Cinderella sweethearts to make it in the dance, and Head Coach Paul Hewitt has experience in the Final Four as well with Georgia Tech from back in the day. This is a formidable set of foes foe certain.

15 Seeds: LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds, Nevada Wolf Pack, Bucknell Bison, Weber State Wildcats

Some nice records here, but aside from that, there isn’t a heck of a lot to look forward to in terms of upset picks. LIU Brooklyn at least tried to run like the dickens against North Carolina last year, but it just didn’t work out all that well. Perhaps that tourney experience can help the Blackbirds this year against the right matchup.

16 Seeds: Stony Brook Seawolves, UNC Asheville Bulldogs, Akron Zips, Norfolk State Spartans, Texas-Arlington Mavericks, Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils

Mississippi Valley State is almost sure to finish with a below-.500 record, but so is everyone else in the MEAC… Texas-Arlington would be dancing for the first time, while other teams like Stony Brook and UNC Asheville would just be happy to stay out of the play-in games. None of these teams are serious contenders to beat the top seeds, as the bottom of the dance right now looks to be as weak as ever.

First Four Out – NC State Wolfpack, Notre Dame Fighting, Marshall Thundering Herd, Colorado State Rams

The truth of the matter is with as many mid-majors as there are that could steal bids, all of these teams are in some trouble right now. Marshall and Colorado State will have their chances in their conference tournaments, while both NC State and Notre Dame both could become those teams that play their way into the field of 68 due to their conference opponents, or they can just continue to lose the important games and drift into oblivion and fall straight into the NIT.

Handicapping the teams that are going to get into the NCAA Tournament is tough as it is, but here at Bankroll Sports, we are taking aim at some NIT Bracketology as well. Check out the teams that could be in the NIT and get a 2012 NIT Tournament preview with our March Madness picks!

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Before we begin, here’s how the NIT works. There are 32 teams that make it into the field, and before there are any other teams that are put into place, any team that won its conference regular season crown but didn’t make it into the NCAA Tournament gets an automatic spot. That’s what makes NIT Bracketology so tricky, is that we never know who is really going to be in the field of 65 in terms of the bubble, and we don’t know how many spots are going to be available for the tournament. Top seeds in conference tournaments didn’t fare all that well last year, and as a result, there were only about half the spots in the NIT to fill with other teams.

In order to do NIT Bracketology, we have to assume that we are going to see the top seeds in each of the conference tournaments earn bids to the NCAA Tournament, leaving all 36 slots open, though we know in actuality, that won’t be the case.

Last Six Teams In NCAA Tournament
BYU Cougars
Temple Owls
Cincinnati Bearcats
Iowa State Cyclones
Memphis Tigers
Minnesota Golden Gophers

Note: These are the last eight teams that we have in the NCAA Tournament, and we figure if they are bounced out of the dance that they will automatically drop into the NIT

And now, we will go by conference to show who is on the bubble and who is in good shape right now in each of the conferences. We are also skipping leagues that won’t have a team make it to the NIT unless there is a regular season conference winner that fails to make the NCAA Tournament.

Atlantic 10
Likely NIT Bound Right Now: Massachusetts Minutemen, La Salle Explorers
NIT Bubble: Duquesne Dukes, Richmond Spiders, St. Joseph’s Hawks
La Salle has an NCAA Tournament type of resume this year, which should at least put the Explorers in the postseason. We’re not all that sure about the rest of this conference beyond UMass though, and even the Minutemen could find themselves on the wrong side of the NIT bubble if things don’t improve and if the bubble shrinks. That 11-0 home record speaks volumes, though. Richmond and St. Joe’s really need to get a move on to get back into the NIT discussion.

ACC
Likely NIT Bound Right Now: NC State Wolfpack, Maryland Terrapins, Miami Hurricanes, Virginia Tech Hokies
NIT Bubble: Wake Forest Demon Deacons
We’re still trying to figure out how Maryland got left home from the NIT last season… This year, the Terps will be just fine. Virginia Tech and NC State are going to bounce back and forth all season long between the NCAAs and the NIT, but they’ll both be in one of these two tournments. Wake Forest needs to finish above .500 and needs probably a total of seven conference wins to be in NIT consideration.

Big 12
Likely NIT Bound Right Now: Oklahoma Sooners, Texas A&M Aggies
NIT Bubble: Oklahoma State Cowboys
Oklahoma and A&M would almost certainly be in the NIT right now if the tournament was selected today. Okie State would need to get above the .500 barrier to avoid the drop into either the CBI or the CIT. Iowa State could drop into the NIT with some more bad form as well, as could Texas, but aside from that, the Big XII looks pretty darn cut and dry.

Big East
Likely NIT Bound Right Now: South Florida Bulls, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Pittsburgh Panthers
NIT Bubble: Providence Friars
The argument could be made that every team that finishes at least .500 in the Big East should be in the NIT, but save for South Florida and Notre Dame, there really aren’t any teams that are in good shape right now. Even Pitt might fall clear out of the NIT if it doesn’t get its act in gear, though we still think that this team will get its act together at some point and move on from this 0-6 start to the season. Rutgers has played some darn good basketball of late, and it has the potential to win this tournament from a middling seed if given the chance.

Big 10
Likely NIT Bound Right Now: None
NIT Bubble: Nebraska Cornhuskers, Iowa Hawkeyes
We think that the Big 10 is in good shape right now in terms of dancing, as we hink that the biggest bubble teams, Northwestern and Minnesota are both getting into the field. That really isn’t going to leave much in terms of teams for the pickings for the NIT, because we really don’t think that Iowa or Nebraska, in spite of the fact that both beat Top 25 teams in the last week, are really NIT material yet.

Colonial
Likely NIT Bound Right Now: Drexel Dragons, VCU Rams
NIT Bubble: Georgia State Panthers, Old Dominion Monarchs
Though VCU’s resume isn’t nearly as good as it was a season ago, we do think that the Rams are going to comfortably be in the postseason of some sort. Drexel is a team that is seemingly in this tournament as a middling seed every year. Of course, ODU feels like a team that should be in the NIT with a 6-1 start to the conference slate as well. George Mason which is currently the top seed in the league, would drop into the NIT as a lock as well if it didn’t win the regular season conference title.

Conference USA
Likely NIT Bound Right Now: Marshall Thundering Herd, UCF Knights
NIT Bubble: None
UCF probably moved itself off of the bubble and put itself into the NIT by beating Memphis on Wednesday night. Marshall, though leads Conference USA right now, we are assuming will not end up that way, which would leave either Southern Miss or Memphis, both of which we have in the dance if it started today, winning the regular season conference crown.

Horizon League
Likely NIT Bound Right Now: None
NIT Bubble: UW-Milwaukee Panthers OR Cleveland State Vikings
We really don’t like the chances for the Horizon League this year in the NIT if whichever one of these teams ends up as the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament wins the auto bid to the NCAAs. Cleveland State has the better resume right now than Milwaukee does, but neither one is really all that great. The winner of this conference will go dancing, and it seems as though no one else will be here in the NIT unless it is the No. 1 seed and doesn’t mak the tourney.

Missouri Valley Conference
Likely NIT Bound Right Now: Northern Iowa Panthers
NIT Bubble: Drake Bulldogs, Illinois State Redbirds, Missouri State Bears
We see all of this talk that Lunardi has about Missouri State being a potential tourney team in spite of an 11-9 record, and we just don’t buy it. Teams like that don’t often even get into the NITs, as they get overlooked for teams that just have more wins. NIU is in fine shape for the NIT, and it should be a lock for the postseason in some respect. We think that at least one of Drake, ISU, or SMS will come to the field of 32 when it is said and done as long as the field doesn’t shrink that much.

Mountain West
Likely NIT Bound Right Now: Wyoming Cowboys
NIT Bubble: None
If you’re going under the assumption that four teams are going dancing from the MWC (and right now, we are), there might not be a lot more for the NIT to decide upon. Wyoming will win 22 or 23 games this year, and that will be good enough to get it into the NIT in all likelihood, and though everyone in this conference might finish above .500 when it is said and done, without a team like Air Force really going on a run, this is, at best, a one bid league to the NIT.

Pac-12
Likely NIT Bound Right Now: Washington Huskies, Oregon Ducks, Arizona Wildcats
NIT Bubble: UCLA Bruins, Colorado Buffaloes, Oregon State Beavers
With the Pac-12 likely only guaranteeing itself one bid to the dance and probably getting no more than two, the question is raised whether there could be six or seven teams in the NIT. We tend to think that the prospects of UCLA if available are good, and after they played so well in this tournament last year, the Buffaloes have to be considered as an NIT candidate as well even though both resumes are lacking. Oregon and U-Dub have good histories, as does Arizona, which is why we think that all three teams are in right now.

SEC
Likely NIT Bound Right Now: Arkansas Razorbacks, LSU Tigers
NIT Bubble: Ole Miss Rebels, Auburn Tigers, Georgia Bulldogs
Unless the SEC really beats itself up this year, LSU and Arkansas seem like the two best candidates for the NIT. Georgia and the two other teams from the SEC West just don’t strike us as postseason contenders this year, but again, after watching Alabama do so well in this tournament last year, perhaps the NIT voters will be more inclined to welcome more teams to the SEC this year to the NIT than ever before.

Southern Conference
Likely NIT Bound Right Now: None
NIT Bubble: Davidson Wildcats OR Charleston Cougars
Davidson looks like a postseason team regardless of what goes down over the course of the next few weeks. It has a two game lead in the SoCon right now, and that would be good enough to give it the automatic bid here. If Charleston and Davidson both play well enough this year to finish with 20+ wins, both could head to the NIT, though any chances of an at-large bid from this conference really only seem to rest with Davidson.

Every single year in the NCAA Tournament, there are teams that come out of absolutely nowhere to pull off a huge upset or that unexpectedly end up in the Sweet 16 or even the Elite 8. Here are the Top 10 March Madness sleeper teams that are flying under the radar that you might need to be paying attention to once the dance gets started.

Wofford Terriers: The Southern Conference champs gained a lot of experience from last year in the NCAA Tournament, as they nearly took down the Wisconsin Badgers in the first round of the dance. Noah Dahlman was fantastic last season, but this year, he is doing even better, averaging right at 20 points per game. There are a ton of big guys on the inside for the Terriers to rely on, but they can really get up the court and scoot as well. Don’t be shocked if the BYU Cougars end up having their work cut out for them.

Oakland Golden Grizzlies: Depending on the matchup, the Golden Grizzlies could prove to be a real nightmare for a solid club as well. Oakland can shoot the daylights out of the building when given the chance, and it absolutely runs up and down the court for the full 40 minutes without any real exceptions. This is a team that is averaging 85.6 points per game this season, second in the nation. If big man Keith Benson gets off and running, the Grizz are hard to stop. Don’t believe us? Just ask the Tennessee Volunteers, who were beaten by these guys at home earlier this season.

Washington Huskies: Okay, so the Huskies really aren’t a “shocking” team to pull off a first round victory, but this is definitely a club that can make some real noise and come out of a No. 8 seed or so to do some tremendous damage. U-Dub underachieved all season long, and it really has to come to life in the Pac-10 Tournament the rest of the way to instill some more confidence in us, but Isaiah Thomas is fantastic, and Matthew Bryan-Amaning is certainly a force on the inside. Head Coach Lorenzo Romar’s team has a sneakily solid defense in spite of some shoddy numbers, and it all could equal another nice run in the dance.

Old Dominion Monarchs: Defense, defense, defense. That’s the motto for an ODU team that snared the automatic bid from the Colonial League. We have to remember that the CAA has produced a Final Four team before when the George Mason Patriots got the job done a few years ago, so this definitely wouldn’t be unprecedented. The only problem that this mid major has is that it has already proven to some of the best teams in the land that it can play at a very high level, and it isn’t sneaking up on anyone.

VCU Rams: Sometimes, teams that really don’t expect to get into the NCAA Tournament end up making some real magic happen. VCU was the third team out of the Colonial League this year, and it might really make some teams nervous. Does this sound familiar? Remember the George Mason Patriots from a few years ago? That was a team that many thought didn’t belong in this field out of the CAA, and they ended up in the Final Four.

Long Beach State 49ers: The 49ers are a No. 15 seed, but they are for real and have some legitimate sharpshooters on this team. All five starters are back from last year’s team that was considered an up and coming team that lost in the Big West Final to UC Santa Barbara, and now, all five are averaging double digits in scoring. This is a team that can rebound, can shoot, can slash, and can defend. Sure, the level of competition hasn’t been great, but if there’s a team that can come out of absolutely nowhere to pull off a shocker, this is the one.

Belmont Bruins: You don’t win 30 games on accident. The Bruins did just that this season in an Atlantic Sun conference that proved to be a lot better than people really though. Sure, the bottom of this conference stunk, but when you looked at the teams that were in this tournament, squads like Jacksonville, East Tennessee State, and Lipscomb were at least serviceable teams. The Bruins averaged 80.4 points per game this season, and they shot 38.1 percent from beyond the arc. When everyone on your team can shoot, you’ve got a really great thing going, and that’s exactly what Belmont will bring to the table as a No. 13 seed or so.

Missouri Tigers: Just like Washington, Mizzou isn’t the team that you think about when you’re thinking of a sleeper team, but one look at the projected March Madness brackets show that the Tigers are probably going to be one of these pain in the butt seven or eight seeds that could wreck your entire bracket. It’s really, really hard to prepare for the full court press that this team brings to the table in such a short period of time, and especially if a No. 1 or No. 2 doesn’t have fantastic ball handlers or a heck of a lot of experience, there is a real chance at this team to go far. Head Coach Mike Anderson knows what it takes to go far in this tournament, as this has been a Sweet 16 team a number of times in the past. Don’t be shocked if it happens again.

Butler Bulldogs: Why can’t last year’s Cinderella be this year’s Cinderella? Butler has really proven to be a great story over the course of the last two years. This is a program that is rich with history and tradition in this tournament, and now it has a Final Four run on its resume as well. Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack know what they’re doing, and though the Dogs aren’t sneaking up on anyone this year, this team knows exactly what it coming. The Horizon League was very, very tough this season, and Butler did very well just to survive.

Bucknell Bison: If you want your team that is going to really have the chance to do some major damage for a long time in this tournament, Bucknell is your squad. Look no further than this stat: The Bison shoot 40.6 percent from long range. Bryson Johnson and Bryan Cohen will shoot it from anywhere on the court, and GW Boon can knock down a ton of long balls as well. The Bison still have some work to do to win the Patriot League, but if they do, they are going to provide a tremendous fight for at least one, and maybe several teams along the way, just like the Cornell Big Red did last season.

The NCAA Tournament Brackets were just released, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are complaining about the teams that were left out of the field as opposed to those that are in.

The biggest complaint that we have is the fact that the Alabama Crimson Tide are out of this field. Actually, it’s not that the Tide aren’t in, but that the Georgia Bulldogs are in — and in comfortably at that.

Sure, we know that Georgia had a great body of work on this season. A win over the Tennessee Volunteers on the road was great, as was one at home against the Kentucky Wildcats, and there were also wins against one of the last teams in the field, the UAB Blazers, and one over one of the first teams left out, the Colorado Buffaloes. Alabama though, had two wins over Georgia in the last eight days, and it has the same win at Tennessee and a home win against Kentucky. Sure, there was a downfall for the lack of a non-conference schedule for the Crimson Tide, but geez… how can you say that the Tide are out and the Bulldogs are a No. 10 seed!?!?!?!

We’ve already mentioned Colorado, and we’re trying to figure out what in the heck the Buffs are doing out of the field of 68. Okay, sure, there were losses to Iowa State, Oklahoma, and San Francisco, but aside from that, all of the other losses for this team were very acceptable. On top of that, there were wins against NCAA Tournament teams like Missouri, and oh yeah… three wins against Kansas State. You beat a No. 6 seed three times and win 23 games, and you don’t end up going dancing? There’s definitely something wrong with this system.

The biggest snub for a mid major was the St. Mary’s Gaels. The Gaels won the regular season title in the West Coast Conference thanks to a road victory over the Gonzaga Bulldogs. They also had a win against St. John’s, a win against Mississippi State, and a credible loss against BYU by just one point. For a team that had just one bad loss over the course of the season, this just doesn’t make any sense, especially since the Gaels were in the NCAA Tournament last season… and in the Sweet 16 for good measure…

Head Coach Seth Greenberg and his Virginia Tech Hokies were left home once again this season from the NCAA Tournament, and it feels like just an annual trip into the NIT is awaiting again. There were 21 total wins, 11 of which came in conference play. There was a win over the Duke Blue Devils, as well as two against the Florida State Seminoles and one against the Maryland Terrapins. The win against the Penn State Nittany Lions also looks better and better by the day. We know that the Clemson Tigers got in, something that we think was deserving, but the Tigers only had one RPI Top 50 win for the year, and that came against… yep… These Hokies…

We’re not complaining about the Boston College Eagles being left behind, as they just really didn’t deserve it in the whole grand scheme of things. Nor are we really all that concerned about the fact that the Missouri State Bears being left home, as they really shot themselves in the foot at the end of the MVC Tournament. Same with the Harvard Crimson with the Ivy League.

So who should have been left home? Geez, what gives with the VCU Rams? Don’t get us wrong. We loved the Colonial League this year. Finishing fourth in the CAA was nothing to write home about, though, especially with 11 total losses. This team lost four teams in its last five games of the season, and the only win in there was a BracketBusters showdown against Wichita State. Losses to Northeastern, Georgia State, South Florida… But that wasn’t the worst, though.

The Rams also had a loss to the UAB Blazers this season. Now, that’s a great win for the Blazers, right? Sure. Of course, we’re not so sure about UAB’s resume. This was the biggest WTF moment for us in the entire bracket revealing. The Blazers might have won the Conference USA regular season title, but losses against ECU, Southern Miss, Tulsa, twice to Memphis, Georgia, and Arizona State are certainly nothing to be proud of. The best win of the bunch here was probably the one against VCU, unfortunately. Kent State… Arkansas… Whatever.

(Printable March Madness Brackets; PDF – GIF) If you’re looking for the best March Madness bracket tips, you’ve certainly come to the right place! Here at Bankroll Sports, we’ve got all of the ins and outs covered for the hot tips that you need to look out for to make your bracket a winning one.

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The first and most obvious thing to remember when you are filling out your brackets is that there are going to be upsets. There will be at least one No. 12 beat a No. 5, and there will probably be at least one No. 13 or higher that takes down a Top 25 foe. Tens knocking off sevens are commonplace, and they’re even favored from time to time on the March Madness odds. Simply just trying to fill in chalk along the way probably isn’t going to win you too many NCAA Tournament bracket contests.

But how do you pick out those upsets? Look for some teams that have legitimate stars. The Wofford Terriers, the winners of the Southern Conference have a huge man in the paint they rely on named Noah Dahlman. Sure, Dahlman wouldn’t be expected to average 20.0 points per game over a 30 game schedule in the Big East, but players like this find ways to lead their teams in single games. Seeing a man like Dahlman going up against an undersized team could be just the mismatch that you’re looking for.

You also have to consider home court advantage. The Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels are most likely going to be playing their first two games in Charlotte, NC. Needless to say, the Cameron Crazies are going to be out en masse, and any potential “neutral court advantage” that the little guys could be getting would be swallowed up by the ACC fans on Tobacco Road. This will happen all across the country, so be sure to look out.

In events where there is no home court advantage, fans generally want to see upsets. That means that No. 13 seeds that are on runs are going to sway the crowd on their side until they are finally squashed… unless they can withstand that pressure from the big boys… the deeper into the game the mid majors hang around, the more and more dangerous that they become.

Also, you have to remember that three point field goals are incredibly important. They’re the great equalizer for a lack of talent. Teams that can stroke three balls like none other tend to stick around longer in this tournament than most. Just look at the Cornell Big Red last season, as the Ivy League champs shot over 40 percent from beyond the arc for the season. Other times, it doesn’t take a full team, just a player or two. Case in point, Ali Farokhmanesh from last season with the Northern Iowa Panthers. He single handedly dragged down the top team in the country, the Kansas Jayhawks.

Though we all love Cinderella stories, we know that more often than not, when it comes down to the Final Four, you’re going to see the big time teams floating around. The way you pick those teams out is really simple. You need to find deep teams with at least 1-2 superstars that can take over games. However, be forewarned that a man like Kemba Walker for the Connecticut Huskies probably isn’t dominating the entire NCAA Tournament. A game or two, ok. But not the whole way. Well rounded teams with a star or two tend to do a heck of a lot better, just like the Duke Blue Devils did last season with Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler, and Jon Scheyer.

And that brings us to our final March Madness tip. We absolutely love teams with experience in this tournament. The Florida Gators have five returning starters. The Blue Devils have back two of their three studs from last year’s title team. The Butler Bulldogs are bringing back most of the team that was in the finale last season. The Michigan State Spartans, even though they have had a terrible year, have a ton of pieces from the puzzle from the Final Four team of two years ago…

Just keep these NCAA Tournament bracket tips in mind, and you’ll be sure to clean up in your 2011 NCAA Tournament free bracket contests this year!

List of Current Odds to Win The NCAA Tournament Can Be Found Below!

The NCAA Tournament is through its first round, and there has been plenty of madness to go around.

The Big East has taken a major, major hit, as only Villanova, Syracuse, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh remain from a conference which had eight bids (seven of which were Top-6 seeds) at the start of this tournament. Survival also wasn’t easy for the Wildcats, who went from +800 at the outset of March Madness to +2500 after narrowly beating lowly #15 Robert Morris on Thursday afternoon.

Many find the #10 seed in this bracket, the St. Mary’s Gaels to be a team to watch out for. The South Region is probably the weakest region left, and if there is a #10 seed that can come out of nowhere and go to the Final Four, this may be it. C Omar Samhan was mired in foul trouble for the majority of the Gaels’ game against the Richmond Spiders on Thursday afternoon, but he still picked up 29 points and 12 rebounds. St. Mary’s has a team that can stroke the three-ball like none other in the country (41.2%), and that has led it into the Round of 32 in the dance.

There are a few other teams that may be worth taking a flier on because of the strength (or lack thereof) of their upcoming games. The #3 New Mexico Lobos may be an underdog to the #11 Washington Huskies on Saturday, but catching a #3 seed at +6600 after one round seems just too good to pass on. HC Steve Alford’s club may have struggled just a bit with their #14 seed in the first round of this tournament, but make no mistake about it. This is a team that can play with anyone in America. A potential date with #2 West Virginia is going to be difficult, but at these types of odds, the Mountain West regular season champions are going to be worth a look.

On the other side of the bracket, things appear to be set up quite nicely for the #2 Ohio State Buckeyes in the Midwest. Yes, Ohio State knows that two rounds from now, it is probably going to have to face #1 Kansas, but #3 Georgetown and #7 Georgia Tech have both already been dismissed from this tournament, which really could set up the stage for an easy waltz for the Bucks to the Elite 8. Considering grabbing their stock at +1400 while that number is still available, because they clearly have better than a one in 14 chance of winning this tournament right now.

All that the chalk holding up in the West Bracket did was set up the stage for Syracuse to continue to march on. No one expects #8 Gonzaga to give the ‘Cuse a game, and with Vanderbilt already dismissed from this region, a trip to the Elite 8 seems like a formality. Yes, there are four very nasty teams sitting on the other side of this bracket, but the Orange are going to be favored no matter who they play, and if they reach the Elite 8, having +700 on a #1 seed at that stage is having a fantastic price.

Current March Madness Odds @ 5Dimes Sportsbook(as of 3/20/10):
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Kansas +250
Kentucky +475
Syracuse +700
Duke +750
West Virginia +1200
Ohio State +1400
Kansas State +1500
Villanova +2500
Baylor +3000
Pittsburgh +4500
Michigan State +4500
Butler +4500
BYU +4500
Wisconsin +5500
Maryland +5500
Tennessee +5500
New Mexico +6600
Texas A&M +6600
Purdue +7500
Xavier +7500
California +7500
Washington +7500
Gonzaga +8000
Missouri +10000
Georgia Tech +10000
Wake Forest +12500
St. Mary’s +12500
Northern Iowa +15000
Cornell +15000
Old Dominion +20000
Murray State +22500
Ohio +25000

Someone’s going to have to forgive Big East Commissioner John Marinatto if this is what he looks like after yesterday’s NCAA Tournament games from his conference.

It’s bad enough that that’s Buzz Williams, the head coach of the Marquette Golden Eagles, who crashed out of the dance in their most predictable fashion: losing by two points practically at the buzzer. It was par for the course for a team that only suffered one loss by double digits all year long and lost six games in conference by less than a touchdown.

An 11 seed (as the Washington Huskies were) from a power conference (even though there’s a debate about just how “powerful” the Pac-10 was this year) isn’t the end of the world. Upsets happen all the time like that this time of year, and the Big East knew that it wasn’t going to have an 8-0 first round of this tournament in all likelihood.

Even losing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish wasn’t all that big of a deal to the Big East. After all, the Irish were probably the weakest of tournament teams out of this conference, and they were still adapting to a new system and life where their best player (Luke Harangody) was coming off of the bench and not starting.

Notre Dame was probably an overrated #6 seed playing against an Old Dominion squad that was probably an underrated #11. So it was par for the course for the luck of the Irish to run out late in the game against the Monarchs, and again, it wasn’t that big of a deal or that black of an eye to take.

Now… Villanova…. You’re a significantly, significantly different story.

Once upon a time a threat to take over the #1 spot in the AP Poll, the Villanova Wildcats entered this tournament looking to make amends for a bad showing in the Big East Tournament, which wrapped up after just one game following a loss to the aforementioned Golden Eagles. Surely, there was no way that there was even a remote struggle coming for a team that was going to be on the #1 line of the tourney if not for that late season swoon, right?

Wrong.

Nova was acting like a defeated team before it even stepped anywhere near the court in Providence on Thursday. HC Jay Wright benched both G Corey Fisher and G Scottie Reynolds at the outset of the game for a violation of team rules. His Cats fell behind Robert Morris, the Northeast Conference champions early. No big deal, right?

It is a big deal when you’re still behind by nine points late in the game! However, thanks to officiating that allowed the Wildcats back into the game and some great free throw shooting from Reynolds (who had better have had a great day from the charity stripe after going 2/15 from the floor and 1/8 from downtown), somehow, the Cats clawed their way into overtime. From there, they asserted themselves, and finally downed the scrappy Colonials.

It was all over the news during the 2:30 games as well as in that break between the morning and afternoon sessions. Everyone was talking about how Villanova is done and how St. Mary’s is going to pick it off on Saturday and that that was that for the Big East giants.

That statement might’ve been almost right… But maybe that was that for the Big East period.

Hey Georgetown Hoyas, all you had to do was go out and take care of an Ohio Bobcats team that was probably overrated as a #14, as it was the #9 seed in its own lousy conference during the year and really beat no one of any real note outside of the MAC this year. You could’ve restored order in your own conference.

Instead, you fell behind by double digits in the first half, played a miserable defensive game, and ultimately crashed out of the tourney in the most embarrassing way possible.

It’s not even like the Hoyas can say that they were just a victim of the proverbial “March Madness.” This wasn’t a situation where Vanderbilt was in, where it just got unlucky with a crazy shot at the end of the game. There were no crazy shots. There was just sheer domination.

So now, the Big East enters its second day of basketball, and Syracuse, West Virginia, Louisville, and Pittsburgh will hope to make a better impression on the college basketball world than what their conference brethren did yesterday.

The lesson learned, though, is that the big, bad Big East might not be quite as big and bad as we once thought.

(2010 NCAA Tournament Printable Brackets; PDF – GIF) The field of 65 has been set as the NCAA Tournament is about set to begin on Thursday! Here at Bankroll Sports, we’re going to take a look at some of the tournament-long props that you can invest in at BetUS Sportsbook. (100% Deposit Bonus by clicking This Link)

We’ll have a look at your March Madness prop sheet on a daily basis in this tournament, as we analyze the best ways to boost your bankrolls for the rest of the three-week spectacle.

Prop Bet #1 – Total Number of Games Won by the Pac-10 – Over/Under 1.5: Boy, doesn’t it feel like a slam dunk that a conference that normally has a ton of entrants in it is going to find a way to win two measly games out of 64? Not this year. Both Washington and Cal were subjected to three games in as many nights in the Pac-10 Tournament, and both must be on incredibly tired legs. The Golden Bears really don’t have a great chance at grabbing more than one victory, as they have to deal with Duke in the second round of the tournament if they can beat Louisville, a team that many think can do some real damage in the dance. The only other option for the Pac-10 is its conference champion, Washington. U-Dub was a fringe bubble team at best before winning the conference, and now it’s being asked to beat a Marquette team which may be the most underrated squad in the entire country. If by chance the Huskies survive as the #11 seed in the South, they’ll have to play Baylor, largely considered one of the most talented teams in the nation. Seeing one of these two teams get a win seems like a reasonable option, but two is a bit far-fetched and zero is much more reasonable. Even if the two do split in Round 1, neither one is likely to be a favorite in the second round, so laying -150 chalk is a good option for a prop that may be a winner by the end of the day on Friday.

Selection: Pac-10 Under 1.5 Wins (-150) at BetUS Sportsbook. (100% Deposit Bonus by clicking This Link)

Prop Bet #2 – Will a #14, #15, or #16 seed win a game?: The odds in this one look to be stacked a bit against you from the get-go, but let’s take a closer look at this virtual 12-team play or fade parlay. Since the expansion of the tournament to 64 teams in 1985, there have only been four #2 seeds out of 100 that have been defeated. Fifteen of the 100 #14s advanced to round two (and for what it’s worth, two of those made it to the Sweet 16). History will tell you that, if all things are considered equal, there are 19 times in 25 tournaments, or once every 1.3 tournaments that this happens. So, everyone is going to promptly jump on the “no” in this prop at even money and think that they’re getting a steal, and then complain when some unlikely #15 seed blows up their bet. Don’t be fooled! The #14s this season are all very, very dangerous clubs, and for our money, we think the #3s are especially weak. The odds say that someone big is going down at some point early in this tournament. Bank on the madness that is March to claim a huge scalp on one of the first two days.

Selection: Yes (-130) at BetUS Sportsbook. (100% Deposit Bonus by clicking This Link)

Prop Bet #3 – Total Games Won by Atlantic 10 Teams – Over/Under 2.5 Wins: There’s a reason that the A-10 is favored in all three of its first round games this year. The Temple Owls, Richmond Spiders, and Xavier Musketeers not only have first round winning abilities, but in the event that even two of them get upset in Round 1, any of the three can also roll to the Elite 8 and make this prop a winner for you the hard way as well. Temple is especially dangerous in a very defensive mini-bracket in Jacksonville, and if it can survive a first round date with Cornell, we like this team’s chances of making it to the Sweet 16. That would leave either a victory for the Spiders against a St. Mary’s team that might not have been in the NCAA Tournament without the WCC crown, or one for Xavier over what has to be a very, very tired Minnesota team which played four games in as many nights at Conseco Fieldhouse last week.

Selection: A-10 Over 2.5 Wins (-140) at BetUS Sportsbook. (100% Deposit Bonus by clicking This Link.)