2003 NCAA Tourney Breakdown

Time to dial the Hair Gel Wayback Machine to 2003, a.k.a. the Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade show. I don't have any animosity toward Kentucky--I think they're an enviable program who's usually pretty fun to watch--but seeing D-Wade single-handedly destroy them in the Elite 8 was one of the most gratifying experiences in my life.








2003

Midwest
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Kentucky	SEC	29-3	Tournament Champion
#2	Pittsburgh	Big East	26-4	Tournament Champion
#3	Marquette	C-USA	23-5	At-Large
#4	Dayton	A-10	24-5	Tournament Champion
#5	Wisconsin	Big 10	22-7	At-Large
#6	Missouri	Big 12	21-10	At-Large
#7	Indiana	Big 10	20-12	At-Large
#8	Oregon	Pac-10	23-10	Tournament Champion
#9	Utah	MWC	23-7	At-Large
#10	Alabama	SEC	17-11	At-Large
#11	Southern Illinois	MVC	24-6	At-Large
#12	Weber State	Big Sky	25-4	Tournament Champion
#13	Tulsa	WAC	22-9	Tournament Champion
#14	Holy Cross	Patriot	25-4	Tournament Champion
#15	Wagner	NEC	21-10	Tournament Champion
#16	IUPUI	MCC	19-13	Tournament Champion

West
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Arizona	Pac-10	25-3	At-Large
#2	Kansas	Big 12	23-7	At-Large
#3	Duke	ACC	24-6	Tournament Champion
#4	Illinois	Big 10	24-6	Tournament Champion
#5	Notre Dame	Big East	22-9	At-Large
#6	Creighton	MVC	29-4	Tournament Champion
#7	Memphis	C-USA	23-6	At-Large
#8	Cincinnati	C-USA	17-11	At-Large
#9	Gonzaga	WCC	23-8	At-Large
#10	Arizona State	Pac-10	18-11	At-Large
#11	Central Michigan	MAC	23-6	Tournament Champion
#12	Milwaukee	Horizon	23-7	Tournament Champion
#13	Western Kentucky	Sun Belt	23-8	Tournament Champion
#14	Colorado State	MWC	17-13	Tournament Champion
#15	Utah State	Big West	22-8	Tournament Champion
#16	Vermont	Am. East	19-10	Tournament Champion

East
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Oklahoma	Big 12	24-6	Tournament Champion
#2	Wake Forest	ACC	24-5	At-Large
#3	Syracuse	Big East	24-5	At-Large
#4	Louisville	C-USA	24-6	Tournament Champion
#5	Mississippi State	SEC	21-9	At-Large
#6	Oklahoma State	Big 12	20-9	At-Large
#7	St. Joseph's	A-10	23-6	At-Large
#8	California	Pac-10	21-8	At-Large
#9	N.C. State	ACC	18-12	At-Large
#10	Auburn	SEC	19-11	At-Large
#11	Penn	Ivy	22-5	Regular Season Champion
#12	Butler	Horizon	24-5	At-Large
#13	Austin Peay	OVC	20-7	Tournament Champion
#14	Manhattan	MAAC	23-6	Tournament Champion
#15	East Tennessee State	Southern	17-10	Tournament Champion
#16	South Carolina State	MEAC	20-10	Tournament Champion

South
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Texas	Big 12	22-6	At-Large
#2	Florida	SEC	24-7	At-Large
#3	Xavier	A-10	25-5	At-Large
#4	Stanford	Pac-10	23-8	At-Large
#5	Connecticut	Big East	21-9	At-Large
#6	Maryland	ACC	19-9	At-Large
#7	Michigan State	Big 10	19-12	At-Large
#8	LSU	SEC	21-10	At-Large
#9	Purdue	Big 10	18-10	At-Large
#10	Colorado	Big 12	20-11	At-Large
#11	UNC-Wilmington	CAA	24-6	Tournament Champion
#12	BYU	MWC	23-8	At-Large
#13	San Diego	WCC	17-11	Tournament Champion
#14	Troy	Atlantic Sun	25-5	Tournament Champion
#15	Sam Houston State	Southland	21-6	Tournament Champion
Play-in	UNC-Asheville	Big South	20-10	Tournament Champion
Play-in	Texas Southern	SWAC	18-12	Tournament Champion

Blogger started crapping out about 5 teams into posting the team RPI links, so you'll just have to make do with the conference links.

Last teams in: BYU, Butler (12 seeds); Southern Illinois (11 seed)
Worst RPI's in: N.C. State (#53), Indiana (#47)
Best RPI's left out: UNLV (#40), Seton Hall (#42)

Conference RPI standings (number of bids received)
1. SEC (6)
2. Big 12 (6)
3. ACC (4)
4. Big East (4)
5. Big 10 (5)
6. Mountain West (3)
7. Pac-10 (5)
8. Conference USA (4)
9. Atlantic 10 (3)
10. West Coast (2)

Mid-Major Involvement
For purposes of consistency, regardless of the conference ranks, we'll regard the ACC, Big 10, Big XII, Pac-10, Big East, and SEC as the "power conferences." Although the Missouri Valley rates very well in comparison to those teams, until Bradley gets to the Final Four or something, they're still a mid-major.

Power Conference Automatic Bids: 6
Mid-Major Automatic Bids: 24
Power Conference At-Large Bids: 11
Mid-Major At-Large Bids: 24

TEAM MOST LIKE IOWA:

BIG 10:
5. Michigan (17-13, 10-6) (RPI: 65)

As I've said before, this would have been the perfect opportunity to see if Iowa merited a shot at the NCAA's--had they not shit the bed in Happy Valley, of course. Alas, Michigan was ineligible for postseason play, and like so many diapers on astronauts, our dreams were soiled.

Lastly: Welcome to all you Big Ten Wonk readers! Although I'll be covering the tournament extensively in my own right and you're more than welcome to participate with me, I recommend that you spend the lion's share of your Internet browsing time at the Wonk. He is the UNC-Chapel Hill to my UNC-Asheville. If Asheville was nothing but Pat Harty's mugshot over and over.