Busting Brackets
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Busting Bracketology 2.0: ACC and Big 12 in command

By Doug Winkey

Mar 18, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; General view of chairs with "The Road to the Final Four" logo and NCAA logo prior to the second round of the 2015 NCAA Basketball Championship at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 18, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; General view of chairs with "The Road to the Final Four" logo and NCAA logo prior to the second round of the 2015 NCAA Basketball Championship at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 12, 2015; Berkeley, CA, USA; St. Mary’s Gaels guard Emmett Naar (3) drives in against California Golden Bears guard Sam Singer (2) during the second half at Haas Pavilion. The California Golden Bears defeated the St. Mary’s Gaels 63-59. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 12, 2015; Berkeley, CA, USA; St. Mary’s Gaels guard Emmett Naar (3) drives in against California Golden Bears guard Sam Singer (2) during the second half at Haas Pavilion. The California Golden Bears defeated the St. Mary’s Gaels 63-59. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

12 Seeds: Arkansas-Little Rock, Valparaiso, San Diego State, Saint Mary’s

Valparaiso are still one of the most visible mid-major contenders this year, even after dropping a home game to Wright State. They remain number one in the Horizon League at 11-2, 1.5 games ahead of Wright State and Oakland. Alec Peters remains the big show for the Crusaders, but will need to shoot better than 33% from range in the team’s final four games to secure the Horizon’s automatic bid.

San Diego State has a stranglehold on the Mountain West. The Aztecs have a conference record of 12-1, which is good for a 3.5 game lead over second place New Mexico. SDSU still ranks near the bottom of national offensive statistics, but owns the 5th best defense nationally at 60.2 ppg.

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Saint Mary’s is a strong contender to be the West Coast Conference’s at-large bid. They are one game back from Gonzaga at 11-3. The Gaels hold quality wins over Gonzaga, and BYU, but do hold two odd losses to Pepperdine. I, for one, hope that Saint Mary’s gets in so America can watch Emmett Naar‘s 51% three-point stroke. He doesn’t shoot a lot, but the sophomore from Sydney is an impressively accurate shooter.

Arkansas Little-Rock still sits two games up on the rest of the Sun Belt at 12-2. They have six games left, three each at home and away. Texas-Arlington is the only team left that has a winning record, so it’s almost a sure thing that we’ll see the Trojans and their number one defense (58.6 ppg) in March.

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