This guy (Dick Vitale) will likely be upset about something later tonight. Check out ESPN's coverage to see what is irritating him. Courtesy of deadspin.com.

The day has come, sports fans. It’s time for bracketologists around the country to put together their final bracket projections and then tune in to CBS at 6:00 tonight to watch the unveiling of our 2010 field of 65. Today marks the beginning of a three-week process that will end in one team winning the national championship. So for one last time…who’s going to be in? Who’s going to be left shaking their heads and muttering “what-if”s? Here’s my final diagnosis:

1: Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, Duke

2: Ohio State, Kansas State, West Virginia, Villanova

3: Purdue, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Wisconsin

4: New Mexico, Temple, Baylor, Georgetown

5: Maryland, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Butler

6: Gonzaga, Richmond, Texas A&M, BYU

7: Xavier, Texas, UNI, UNLV

8: UTEP, Clemson, Cal, Marquette

9: St. Mary’s, Oklahoma State, Old Dominion, Notre Dame

10: Louisville, Florida State, Mizzou, San Diego State

11: Wake, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Washington

12: Cornell, Siena, Minnesota, Florida

13: Murray State, New Mexico State, Oakland, Ohio

14: Houston, Wofford, Sam Houston State, Montana

15: UC Santa Barbara, Morgan State, North Texas, Vermont

16: Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Winthrop, Lehigh, Robert Morris, East Tennessee State

Underlined = Automatic Bid

First Four Out: Mississippi State, Utah State, Illinois, Ole Miss

Others Outside Looking In: URI, Arizona State, Seton Hall

By Conference:

-          Big East (8)

-          Big Twelve (7)

-          ACC (7)

-          Big Ten

-          Mountain West (4)

-          SEC

-          Atlantic Ten (3)

-          Conference USA (2)

-          Pac Ten (2)

-          WCC (2)

-          WAC

-          All others (1)

Now it’s my responsibility to explain some of my decisions. I’ll answer four major questions that you bracketologists out there may want to ask me.

1. Why is Duke my 4^th number one seed as opposed to teams like Ohio State or West Virginia?

It’s a very close call, but the blue devils deserve the designation. First, I think that often we think a little bit too much about the number one seeds, as there is very little difference in the quality of competition they will have to face when compared to a two seed. That said, Duke’s overall body of work is best. To me, the seven losses that Ohio State has garnered is too many for a team that is being designated a top four team in the country. While some may argue that a few of those losses came while star Evan Turner was injured, every game must be taken into account. When looking at West Virginia, it is necessary to recognize that they did not even win their own conference’s regular season title, finishing two games behind Syracuse. That would be forgivable if their non-conference schedule was particularly impressive, but it is not. Their only victories of note outside of Big East play were against Texas A&M (good win) and Ole Miss (probably not even a tournament team).

2. Why did I leave Utah State out?

Utah State’s strength of schedule is atrocious. Their Western Athletic Conference is embarrassingly bad, and they couldn’t even get through its postseason tournament successfully (they lost to New Mexico State). If they had put together a solid non-conference schedule, complete with a few signature victories, they would be in. However, their only really strong win was against BYU. Additionally, six of their seven losses came in games against sub-par teams, and a couple of them were not even close contests. The Aggies had an okay year, but in my mind, they fall just short.

The Golden Gophers of Minnesota should be smiling tonight. Courtesy of sportslogos.net.

3. Why did you put Minnesota in but leave Mississippi State out?

As many of you may know, both Minnesota and Mississippi State had the chance to clinch automatic bids today in conference tournament finals. Mississippi State lost a heartbreaker to likely number-one seed Kentucky in overtime, while Minnesota was blown out by Ohio State. Many will, therefore, say that Mississippi State played hard “when it counted” while Minnesota “ran out of gas.” What those people fail to remember is that the NCAA basketball season is almost five months. It does not come down to one day. Minnesota’s overall package is significantly stronger than Mississippi State’s. They have signature victories against Butler ,Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan State, and Purdue (all possible top-five seeded teams), while Mississippi State’s can only similar victory came against Vanderbilt. To me, Minnesota’s argument for tournament inclusion is way stronger than that of Mississippi State.

4. Where’s URI?

In the end, I don’t think URI put together a strong enough package to be included by the selection committee. Though they looked like a solid pick a few short weeks ago, their late-season swoon proved to be too much. As Providence is definitely on the outside looking in, it appears that the state of Rhode Island will once again be without a tournament representative.