2022 Field Of 64 Projections: May 26
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Here are the latest projections, assembled by our Kendall Rogers, Aaron Fitt and Mark Etheridge
AT-LARGE PICTURE
• There was just one at-large change from our Sunday projection, and that’s Alabama moving in and bumping out UTSA as a fourth Conference USA team as a result. The Crimson Tide entered the week from a position of weakness, but have won the first two games at the SEC tournament to improve their aggregate SEC to 14-17, along with a seven-spot increase in the RPI to 41. Alabama has passed up Ole Miss in the postseason pecking order with the two teams having the same aggregate record, the two teams having similar RPIs, and of course, Alabama having a road series sweep over the Rebels earlier this season. Both teams, though, still need as few stolen bids as possible to make the tournament.
• UTSA is still sitting at 48 in the RPI and has yet to play at the Conference USA tournament because of weather. The Roadrunners’ positioning could change if they start the conference tournament in solid fashion. Stay tuned.
• Another change from our Sunday projection, Pennsylvania moves from the automatic bid, which went to Columbia, to the at-large ladder. Penn still needs a ton of luck to make the postseason field, but it does have an RPI of 55 — just five spots behind UConn — along with some solid early-season accomplishments, including a road series win over Texas A&M and a pair of wins over College of Charleston.
AT-LARGE LADDER
Here are the last four teams in the field, along with the first four teams out of the latest projection.
LAST FOUR IN:
61. Alabama
62. Ole Miss
63. Old Dominion
64. Clemson
—
FIRST FOUR OUT:
65. UTSA
66. Iowa
67. San Diego
68. Pennsylvania
NATIONAL SEED/HOST PICTURE
• There were no significant changes in the top eight pecking order. The only change was a quick flip of Texas A&M and Louisville because of the Cards’ loss at the ACC tournament. A&M has yet to play at the SEC tournament and will face Florida on Thursday, weather permitting.
• In terms of regional hosts, we have two changes in today’s iteration: Texas and East Carolina moved in as Top 16 seeds and hosts, while Oregon and Oklahoma State moved out. ECU won the American regular season crown, won its first game at the American tournament and is up to 18 in the RPI with an impressive 20-12 record vs. RPI Top 100. As for the Longhorns, they shutout Oklahoma State on Wednesday and vaulted to 15 in the RPI with 14 RPI Top 50 wins.
• Oregon and Oklahoma State are certainly not out of the regional hosting mix just yet. Other teams to keep an eye on Thursday include LSU, North Carolina, Florida, Texas State, Oklahoma and Texas Tech.
STOLEN BID WATCH
• Thursday is a much busier day from a scheduling standpoint, but there were no stolen bid alerts/upsets on Wednesday. Grand Canyon was trailing Abilene Christian in the middle innings, but finished strong and defeated the Wildcats.
| KNOXVILLE | STATESBORO | |
| 1 Tennessee* (1) | 1 Georgia Southern (16) | |
| 4 Coppin State* | 4 Campbell* | |
| 2 Wake Forest | 2 Georgia | |
| 3 Wofford* | 3 Georgia Tech | |
| BLACKSBURG | CHARLOTTESVILLE | |
| 1 Virginia Tech* (2) | 1 Virginia (15) | |
| 4 Maine* | 4 Columbia* | |
| 2 Vanderbilt | 2 Oklahoma State | |
| 3 West Virginia | 3 Old Dominion | |
| STANFORD | GREENVILLE | |
| 1 Stanford* (3) | 1 East Carolina* (14) | |
| 4 Long Island* | 4 Davidson* | |
| 2 UC Santa Barbara* | 2 North Carolina | |
| 3 Ole Miss | 3 Arizona | |
| CORVALLIS | AUSTIN | |
| 1 Oregon State (4) | 1 Texas (13) | |
| 4 North Dakota State* | 4 McNeese* | |
| 2 Gonzaga* | 2 Arkansas | |
| 3 Grand Canyon* | 3 Clemson | |
| CORAL GABLES | AUBURN | |
| 1 Miami (5) | 1 Auburn (12) | |
| 4 Florida A&M* | 4 College of Charleston* | |
| 2 Florida | 2 Coastal Carolina | |
| 3 Connecticut* | 3 Florida State | |
| COLLEGE PARK | FORT WORTH | |
| 1 Maryland* (6) | 1 TCU (11) | |
| 4 Fairfield* | 4 UNLV* | |
| 2 Texas Tech | 2 Texas State | |
| 3 Liberty* | 3 Dallas Baptist* | |
| COLLEGE STATION | SOUTH BEND | |
| 1 Texas A&M (7) | 1 Notre Dame (10) | |
| 4 Army* | 4 Ball State* | |
| 2 Oklahoma | 2 UCLA | |
| 3 Louisiana Tech | 3 Rutgers | |
| LOUISVILLE | HATTIESBURG | |
| 1 Louisville (8) | 1 Southern Miss* (9) | |
| 4 Wright State* | 4 Belmont* | |
| 2 Oregon | 2 LSU | |
| 3 Alabama | 3 NC State | |