Predicting the Field

When the Selection Committee puts together their field they first start by ranking teams on an S-curve from 1-68.  After that each team is placed into regions in attempt to give the higher seeded teams favorable courts to play on all the while keeping each region is fair.  Below is my S-curve ranking (I'm going to go out on a limb and predict Ohio St. beats Penn St. today in the Big Ten Final).  Further explanation and a bracket will follow.

1. Ohio St.	2. Kansas	3. Duke	4. Pittsburgh
8. Connecticut	7. San Diego St.	6. North Carolina	5. Notre Dame
9. Texas	10. BYU	11. Louisville	12. Florida
16. Wisconsin	15. Syracuse	14. Kentucky	13. Purdue
17. St. John's	18. Arizona	19. Vanderbilt	20. West Virginia
24. Xavier	23. Texas A&M	22. Kansas St.	21. Cincinnati
25. Temple	26. Georgetown	27. UNLV	28. Washington
32. Gonzaga	31. George Mason	30. Florida St.	29. UCLA
33. Missouri	34. Utah St.	35. Marquette	36. Old Dominion
40. Tennessee	39. Villanova	38. Butler	37. Richmond
41. Illinois	42. Michigan St.	43. Michigan	44. Colorado
48. Penn St.	47. Virginia Tech	46. St. Mary's	45. Clemson
49. Alabama	50. Memphis	51. Belmont	52. Oakland
56. Morehead St.	55. Bucknell	54. Indiana St.	53. Princeton
57. Akron	58. N. Colorado	59. Wofford	60. Long Island
64. UNC-Asheville	63. Boston	62. UC-Santa Barbara	61. St. Peter's
65. Hampton	66. AR-Little Rock	67. Texas-San Antonio	68. Alabama St.

  The teams in bold are the teams bubble teams I believe will be selected. Now, just because a team falls in as a 5 on the S-curve doesn't mean they'll be given a 5 seed.  There are regulations the committee must follow. For example no teams from the same conference can meet prior to the sub-regional final. This year that will be impossible due to the Big East having 11 teams in the field but you won't be seeing #4 Kentucky and #5 Vanderbilt duke it out to make the Sweet 16. If a team lines up in a way that would break this rule the committee will first try to place the worse seeded team in a different region. If this is still not possible then that team will swap seeds where the next available spot is.  With that being said, the most difficult thing to predict is which region each team will be seeded. Here's my two cents:

1 SEEDS
Ohio St. (East)
Kansas (Southwest)
Duke (Southeast)
Pittsburgh (West)
2 SEEDS
Notre Dame (East)
North Carolina (Southwest)
Connecticut (Southeast)
San Diego St. (West)
3 SEEDS
Florida (East)
BYU (Southwest)
Louisville (Southeast)
Texas (West)
4 SEEDS
Kentucky (East)
Wisconsin (Southwest)
Syracuse (Southeast)
Purdue (West)
5 SEEDS
Vanderbilt (East)
Saint John's (Southwest)
Vanderbilt (Southeast)
Arizona (West)
6 SEEDS
Kansas St. (East)
Cincinnati (Southwest)
Texas A&M (Southeast)
Xavier (West)
7 SEEDS
Washington (East)
UNLV (Southwest)
Temple (Southeast)
Georgetown (West)
8 SEEDS
Gonzaga (East)
George Mason (Southwest)
UCLA (Southeast)
Florida St. (West)
9 SEEDS
Marquette (East)
Utah St. (Southwest)
Missouri (Southeast)
Old Dominion (West)
10 SEEDS
Richmond (East)
Villanova (Southwest)
Butler (Southeast)
Tennessee (West)
11 SEEDS
Michigan (East)
Colorado (Southwest)
Michigan St. (Southeast)
Illinois (West)
12 SEEDS
Clemson (East)
Memphis (Southwest)
Penn St. vs. Saint Mary's (Southeast)
Alabama vs. Virginia Tech (West)
13 SEEDS
Morehead St. (East)
Belmont (Southwest)
Oakland (Southeast)
Bucknell (West)
14 SEEDS
Indiana St. (East)
Akron (Southwest)
Princeton (Southeast)
Northern Colorado (West)
15 SEEDS
Boston (East)
UNC-Asheville (Southwest)
Wofford (Southeast)
Long Island (West)
16 SEEDS
Alabama St. vs. Texas-San Antonio (East)
Hampton vs. Arkansas-Little Rock (Southwest)
Saint Peter's (Southeast)
UC-Santa Barbara (West)

Don't get too hung up on the regions. Placing teams in regions is a science I'm still struggling to grasp. Instead pay more attention to the sub-region each team is placed in and hope your team gets a favorable match-up.