February 7 Update: An Already Outdated Bracket Prediction

Earlier this week I posted my first non-automated bracket prediction of the year on the Bracket Prediction page.  I did it mostly so I could get a feel for the geographic placement of teams and how the first round host sites are going to work out.  Last year all but one of the host schools (Ohio State) made it to the tournament, which added some structural complexity to the guesswork of bracket making. This year, at least at the time I made my picks this week, it was looking like there will be three missing host schools (UCLA, Washington, Toledo).

However there could be more open sites.  Iowa State is going through a sustained and inexplicable suck-freefall.  After demolishing Texas Tech on January 8th inside Hilton Coliseum in Ames, the Cyclones were at 14-0, ranked 11th in the AP poll, and were very much being talked about as a team that could beat Baylor for the Big 12 regular season championship.  Since then the team has gone 2-6 and has fallen out of the polls. On Wednesday the Cyclones lost to TCU in Ames in another lackluster performance that had fans pleading for voodoo priests to remove the curse on their team.  Because of that loss, for the first time all season, the S-Factor shows Iowa State out of the tournament. 

Iowa State will host some first and second round games in March.  Hopefully the Cyclones will bounce back, show some backbone and be able to drain some shots in some of the many tough Big 12 games they've got left on their schedule.  Because if not, the Cyclones are going to be watching from the sidelines.

Now in:
St. Bonaventure
Marquette
Georgia Tech
Wisconsin-Green Bay

Now out:
Iowa State
Oklahoma :(
Iona
Youngstown State

ACC Teams:
(1) Notre Dame
(1) Duke
(2) North Carolina State
(4) Maryland
(5) Syracuse
(7) North Carolina
(11) Georgia Tech

AAC Teams:
(1) Connecticut
(2) Louisville

Atlantic 10 Teams:
(8) Dayton
(9) St. Bonaventure

Big East Teams:
(6) St. John's
(8) DePaul
(11) Marquette

Big Ten Teams:
(3) Penn State
(5) Iowa
(6) Purdue
(7) Nebraska
(8) Michigan State
(10) Michigan
(11) Indiana

Big 12 Teams:
(3) Baylor
(4) West Virginia
(4) Oklahoma State
(7) Texas

PAC 12 Teams:
(1) Stanford
(3) Arizona State
(9) California
(10) USC

SEC Teams:
(2) South Carolina
(2) Tennessee
(3) LSU
(4) Vanderbilt
(5) Kentucky
(5) Texas A&M
(9) Florida
(10) Georgia

West Coast Teams:
(6) Gonzaga
(6) St. Mary's
(10) San Diego

MAC Teams:
(9) Bowling Green
(11) Central Michigan