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

March 23, 2003/Lubbock, Texas
(1) Texas Tech vs. (16) SOUTHLAND/Stephen F. Austin
(8) Washington vs. (9) Iowa
March 22, 2003/Boulder, Colo.
(5) Villanova vs. (12) Louisville
(4) Illinois vs. (13) OVC/Eastern Kentucky
March 22, 2002/West Lafayette, Ind.
(3) Purdue vs. (14) MAAC/Siena
(6) South Carolina vs. (11) BYU
March 22, 2003/Stanford, Calif.
(7) Xavier vs. (10) Hawaii
(2) Stanford vs. (15) AMERICA EAST/Maine

Team	Thumbs Up	Thumbs Down
1. Texas Tech	Three wins vs. RPI Top 25	None
2. Stanford	Four wins vs. RPI Top 25	30th in strength of schedule
3. Purdue	6-0 vs. Top 50	33rd in strength of schedule
4. Illinois	Four wins vs. RPI Top 50	Lost two of last three
5. Villanova	8-2 in last 10 games	45th in strength of schedule
6. South Carolina	Four wins vs. RPI Top 50	60th in strength of schedule
7. Xavier	24th in strength of schedule	1-2 vs. RPI Top 50
8. Washington	7-2 vs. RPI Top 100	90th in strength of schedule
9. Iowa	22nd in strength of schedule	9-5 overall; lost three of four
10. Hawaii	25th in strength of schedule	No wins vs. RPI Top 50
11. BYU	6-4 vs. RPI Top 100	82nd in strength of schedule
12. Louisville	8-2 in last 10 games	1-4 road record
Note: 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.