I thought this would be a fun exercise to keep track of with about 2 1/2 weeks left in the regular season/conference tournaments. I'll be keeping track of LOCKS, WORK TO DO, & WIN Conference Tournament(WINCT) to secure a bid.
Of note, to be considered a LOCK, it means you have the ability to lose out the regular season, and your first conference tournament game, and still get an at-large. Some of these teams MIGHT be able to do that, but I'm not 100% sure they'd get in.
Here's the list:
Big 12:
LOCKS: Kansas, Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas, Iowa State
WORK TO DO: TCU, Oklahoma, Kansas State
WINCT: WVU
B1G:
LOCKS: Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan State
WORK TO DO: Rutgers, Michigan, Indiana
WINCT: PSU, NW, MD, Minn, Neb
SEC:
LOCKS: Auburn, UK, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, LSU
WORK TO DO: South Carolina, UF, Miss St, Texas A&M
WINCT: Vandy, Ole Miss, Missouri, UGA
Big East:
LOCKS: Providence, Villanova, UConn, Creighton
WORK TO DO: Marquette, Seton Hall, Xavier
WINCT: SJU, Butler, DePaul, Georgetown
ACC:
LOCKS: Duke
WORK TO DO: ND, UNC, Miami, Wake Forest
WINCT: UVA, VT, Cuse, BC, UL, FSU, Pitt, Clemson, NCSU, GT
Pac 12:
LOCKS: Arizona, UCLA, USC
WORK TO DO: Oregon
WINCT: Colorado, WSU, UW, Stanford, ASU, Utah, Cal, Oregon State
Others:
LOCKS: Gonzaga, Colorado State, St. Mary's, Murray State
WORK TO DO: Houston, Memphis, SMU, Boise State, Wyoming, SDSU, UNLV, San Francisco, BYU, Davidson, VCU, Dayton, Loyola Chicago, North Texas, Belmont
Assuming a LOCK wins their respective conference tournament, there are 33 teams for 24 spots.
Conferences to keep an eye on as far as "bid thieves": AAC, Mtn. West, A-10, OVC.
