2004 NCAA Tourney Breakdown

Before we go any further, does anyone else remember BYU's old logo?


Deepthroat Jones calls Provo home.

2004

Atlanta
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Duke	ACC	27-5	At-Large
#2	Mississippi State	SEC	25-3	At-Large
#3	Texas	Big 12	23-7	At-Large
#4	Cincinnati	C-USA	24-6	Tournament Champions
#5	Illinois	Big 10	24-6	At-Large
#6	North Carolina	ACC	18-10	At-Large
#7	Xavier	A-10	23-10	Tournament Champions
#8	Seton Hall	Big East	19-9	At-Large
#9	Arizona	Pac-10	20-9	At-Large
#10	Louisville	C-USA	20-9	At-Large
#11	Air Force	MWC	22-6	At-Large
#12	Murray State	OVC	25-5	Tournament Champions
#13	East Tennessee State	Southern	24-5	Tournament Champions
#14	Princeton	Ivy	19-7	Regular Season Champions
#15	Monmouth	Northeast	21-11	Tournament Champions
#16	Alabama State	SWAC	16-14	Tournament Champions
Phoenix
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Stanford	Pac-10	29-1	Tournament Champions
#2	Connecticut	Big East	27-6	Tournament Champions
#3	North Carolina State	ACC	20-9	At-Large
#4	Maryland	ACC	19-11	Tournament Champions
#5	Syracuse	Big East	21-7	At-Large
#6	Vanderbilt	SEC	21-9	At-Large
#7	DePaul	C-USA	21-9	At-Large
#8	Alabama	SEC	17-12	At-Large
#9	Southern Illinois	MVC	25-4	At-Large
#10	Dayton	A-10	24-8	At-Large
#11	Western Michigan	MAC	26-4	Tournament Champions
#12	BYU	MWC	19-8	At-Large
#13	UTEP	WAC	22-7	At-Large
#14	Louisiana-Lafayette	Sun Belt	18-8	Tournament Champions
#15	Vermont	America East	22-8	Tournament Champions
#16	UT-San Antonio	Southland	16-12	Tournament Champions
East Rutherford
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Saint Joseph's	A-10	27-1	At-Large
#2	Oklahoma State	Big 12	26-3	Tournament Champions
#3	Pittsburgh	Big East	28-4	At-Large
#4	Wake Forest	ACC	19-9	At-Large
#5	Florida	SEC	20-10	At-Large
#6	Wisconsin	Big 10	24-6	Tournament Champions
#7	Memphis	C-USA	21-7	At-Large
#8	Texas Tech	Big 12	22-10	At-Large
#9	Charlotte	C-USA	21-8	At-Large
#10	South Carolina	SEC	23-10	At-Large
#11	Richmond	A-10	20-12	At-Large
#12	Manhattan	MAAC	24-5	Tournament Champions
#13	VCU	CAA	23-7	Tournament Champions
#14	Central Florida	Atlantic Sun	24-5	Tournament Champions
#15	Eastern Washington	Big Sky	16-12	Tournament Champions
#16	Liberty	Big South	17-14	Tournament Champions
St. Louis
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Kentucky	SEC	26-4	Tournament Champions
#2	Gonzaga	WCC	27-2	Tournament Champions
#3	Georgia Tech	ACC	23-9	At-Large
#4	Kansas	Big 12	20-8	At-Large
#5	Providence	Big East	20-8	At-Large
#6	Boston College	Big East	23-9	At-Large
#7	Michigan State	Big 10	18-11	At-Large
#8	Washington	Pac-10	19-11	At-Large
#9	UAB	C-USA	20-9	At-Large
#10	Nevada	WAC	22-8	Tournament Champions
#11	Utah	MWC	23-8	Tournament Champions
#12	Pacific	Big West	23-7	Tournament Champions
#13	UI-Chicago	Horizon	24-7	Tournament Champions
#14	Northern Iowa	MVC	20-9	Tournament Champions
#15	Valparaiso	MCC	17-12	Tournament Champions
Play-in	Florida A&M	MEAC	14-16	Tournament Champions
Play-in	Lehigh	Patriot	18-10	Tournament Champions

I don't know what happened to the nice pretty colors and formatting for this year's tourney table, but the good news is that all the lame wikipedia links (because you really needed to know the history of the Ohio Valley Conference) have been replaced with the RPI data from that season. Who loves ya, baby??

(Note: A huge tip of the hat to the thoroughly indispensable kenpom.com for easily the biggest clearinghouse of RPI data in all of the internets.)

Last teams in: UTEP (13-seed), BYU (12-seed)
Worst RPI's in: Washington (#60--uh, what??), Air Force (#70--WHAT???!!)
Best RPI's out: LSU (#38), Utah State (#43), Georgia (#48)

The only team of the best RPI's out with a halfway legitimate gripe is the 24-3 USU Aggies--they were done in by losing in the first round of the Big West to Cal State-Northridge, who is awful. LSU limped into the tourney with a 4-6 in their last 10, and Georgia was a middling 16-13 on the year.

Conference RPI Standings (number of bids received)
1. ACC (6)
2. SEC (6)
3. Big East (6)
4. Big XII (4)
5. Conference USA (6)
6. Big 10 (3)
7. Mountain West (3)
8. Atlantic 10 (4)
9. Pac-10 (3)
10. WAC (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 usually 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: 22
Mid-Major At-Large Bids: 13

TEAM MOST LIKE IOWA

ATLANTIC 10:
2W. George Washington (18-11, 11-5) (RPI: 74)

You probably know the drill by now: Horrid non-conference affair (G-Dub's non-conf RPI: 142; actually lost to Appalachian State), followed by a very good showing in a mediocre conference. Their fate was sealed when Xavier buried them in the second round of the A-10 tourney.