Time for TourneyBubble to weigh in on who are the pretenders and who are the contenders in this year's Bubble pool. Every team on the bubble techincally has a "case". You can refer to a team passing the "eye test", which apparently, if you are Seth Davis or pretty much anyone who works at ESPN not named Joe Lunardi, means you see them on television alot and they look good in their uniforms.

 I'm sure UNC would pass Digger Phelps idea of what an "eye test" is. I mean afterall, they did beat Texas a few months ago and they look really good when they dunk the ball in transition. Plus Roy Williams in their coach and they are in the ACC, hell they could be a Final 4 team.

 So with that in mind, I am going to use my own biased standards to decide who I think should be in or out. I'm not going to use any criteria.....no RPI's, no SOS, nothing other than what I think should happen according to what I've seen with my own two eyes. If Andrew Katz and Hubert "I've never watched a mid-major team in my life" Davis can do it, why can't I?

So without further ado.....here are the "outs"......the teams I think are overrated, unworthy or just plain piss me off and I don't want them in the tourney.

First and foremost, Maryland. Yeah, they will get in, but I hate them. Gary Williams will be lucky to avoid a mid-major beatdown in the first round. As most of you know, Vasquez is easily our least favorite player in college basketball. The sooner Maryland's season is over, the better.

 Now for the real list.......

 Illinois....another worthless Big 10 team being propped up by ESPN because they aren't a mid-major and because of a couple of their "big wins". Completely ignoring the fact they've had about 15 chances for "big wins" this year and only have 3 or 4, they still just don't pass the mustard test (this is where I'd rather smear mustard on my chest like John Belushi in Animal House than watch Illinois play basketball). Sorry Illinois, you should be enjoying the NIT.

 For that matter, you can take Minnesota with you. A 30 point loss in the second to last game of the season to Michigan? Consider me impressed! What am I talking about, of COURSE you should be in, you play in the Big 10 and you beat Butler in November. Change Minnesota to a "lock".

Anyone from the Pac-10 because you all suck. Seriously, I hated the Pac-10 for so long, it just became second nature, now I just pity them. No BS, the CAA is a better league than the Pac-10 this year. Can we take away the Pac-10's auto tourney birth, they just absolutely suck. California might get a bid, not because they deserve it, but because they are the best team in the worst major conference in History. Seriously, if the Pac-10 sends 1 team to the tournament despite the MASSIVE advantage the NCAA has given them as a "BCS" conference, they really should just be forced to fold up shop and quit playing basketball for the next 10 years. Like Champ Kind, they might want to sit the next couple plays out.

 Florida, they'll probably get in, but I don't think they should. Why you ask? They just aren't that good. They won 2 good games OOC, Mich. St. and Florida St. They didn't win one good road game OOC. They lost to Richmond and Xavier at home, they lost to South Alabama at home and Syracuse. Not only that, they have exactly 1 good win the SEC, Tenn. at home. They lost to Kentucky, got swept by Vandy, and lost their road game at Tenn. Their best road win of the ENTIRE SEASON is at Ole Miss, another crappy SEC team that doesn't deserve to be in the NCAA tourney. Like I said, I'm sure they will probably get in, but at least I'll have fun rooting against them in the tourney.

 Notre Dame, UCONN, Cincy......let's just call them the 3 headed bid stealing monster from the Big East. None of them have done anything distinguishable to earn a bid. Notre Dame has won 2 good games in a row after losing 7 of their last 10 including awful losses to Rutgers and Seton Hall and even losing to St. John's at home. Just terrible. Of course Digger Phelps probably thinks they are a lock. UCONN is the only one of these teams that has a decent case because they played a really tough non-conference schedule.....oh wait, no, they didn't play a single game on the road in the OOC portion of their schedule until a mid-January road clash with Michigan (which they freaking lost). Not a single F'ing road win OOC!!! How is that possible? They should be banned from the NCAA tournament simply for that fact. Of course they won't be, which is why the NCAA sucks. Cincy isn't even worth discussing.

 Now that we have that out of the way, let's focus on the teams that should be in. First, let's start with the mid-majors:

Utah State......To quote Team America.........I like these guys, they have balls......I like balls. They didn't play a very tough OOC schedule either, much like the big boys in the Big East, but its not because they didn't want to, its because no one will play them, especially in Logan. I'm sure the BCS homers will say that I am giving them a pass, and I am, because I like them. They shoot over 40% from the 3 point line as a team, have a great coach and have this guy as a fan......I'll be rooting for them in the NCAA tourney.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SxKTB6jSlc&feature=PlayList&p=63AFE9D4E8EE3BFE&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2

Old Dominion.....I am a ridiculous homer, I admit that, but even with that said, ODU deserves a bid for being the complete opposite of most BCS Bubble teams. Unlike UCONN or most BCS teams, ODU went on the road early, played very tough competition and really tested itself. They took a few lumps, but they played nearly all their toughest games on the road. Richmond, Dayton, Georgetown, Missouri, Miss. ST. were all played away from Norfolk. In Norfolk, however, they handled business, going undefeated at home and beating the liked of Marshall and Charlotte, the latter by 33 points. Not that great of wins you say? Well much like Utah State, ODU and most other CAA teams have a VERY tough time getting good competition from BCS conferences to come on the road and play them. Clemson, VT, Gtown and Depaul are the only BCS schools I can remember in the last 5 or so years coming into the Ted. They won their conference, they won on the road, they went undefeated at home and they played the 7th toughest OOC schedule in the country.....what else do you want from a mid-major that is already at a disadvantage. Fine, I guess we will have to win the CAA tourney as well.

 St. Mary's.......another team much like Utah State that can't get the big boys to come play them. The Pac-10 won't go into Gael country and with good reason, the Gael's would have smacked around pretty much any Pac-10 team they would have played at home this year. Omar Samhan is a great player and he deserves at least one shot at an NCAA tournament game. So they didn't get a win over Gonzaga, neither did Wisconsin, Illinois, Cincy or Memphis. They should still be in the NCAA tourney because I'd rather watch them play than any team from the Big 10 not named Purdue.

 Murray State.....do they deserve an at-large? Probably not, but they are 28-4 and I'd rather see them in than most of the teams I just mentioned. 28-4, even in a crappy conference and against a weak OOC schedule is still 28-4. But yeah, they better win their conference tourney just to make sure.

There you have it, the first round of who should be in and who should be out. More to come later with better looks at the SEC, MWC, A-10, ACC and Big 12.