Editor's note: Teams preceded by their conference name are expected to win their league's automatic bid.

March 23, 2003/Storrs, Conn.
(1) Connecticut vs. (16) ATLANTIC SUN/Jacksonville State
(8) HORIZON/Wisconsin-Green Bay vs. (9) Michigan
March 22, 2003/Eugene, Ore.
(5) Georgia vs. (12) Wake Forest
(4) Arizona vs. (13) BIG WEST/UC Santa Barbara
March 23, 2002/Cincinnati
(3) Mississippi State vs. (14) IVY/Harvard
(6) Ohio State vs. (11) Georgetown
March 23, 2003/Manhattan, Kan.
(7) Cincinnati vs. (10) SOUTHERN/Chattanooga
(2) Kansas State vs. (15) PATRIOT/Holy Cross

Team	Thumbs Up	Thumbs Down
1. Connecticut	55-game winning streak	11th in strength of schedule
2. Kansas State	12-game winning streak	Single loss vs. only Top-10 foe
3. Mississippi State	5-3 road record	4-3 vs. RPI Top 50
4. Arizona	Two wins vs. RPI Top 25	3-4 vs. RPI Top 50
5. Georgia	No. 29 in RPI	One win vs. RPI Top 50
6. Ohio State	9-1 in last 10 games	72nd in strength of schedule
7. Cincinnati	4-2 vs. RPI Top 100	One loss to sub-100 RPI team
8. Wisconsin-Green Bay	6-1 road record	95th in strength of schedule
9. Michigan	Eighth in SOS	1-3 in Big Ten
10. Chattanooga	Has won seven straight	83rd in strength of schedule
11. Georgetown	No. 32 in RPI	0-3 vs. RPI Top 50
12. Wake Forest	35th in SOS	1-4 ACC record
Note: SOS refers to strength of schedule; teams expected to be invited solely by virtue of their conference's automatic bid are not included in this analysis.

Charlie Creme was a writer and editor at Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook for 11 years. Click here to send him a question about his bracket projections.