Top-ranked Wake Forest is now No. 1 in the latest RPI index of NCAA Division I men’s programs released on Monday.
In the second index released in October, Indiana, not top-ranked and undefeated Wake Forest, was No. 1. St. John’s remains No. 2.
The 48-team field will consist of 22 conference champions and 26 at-large selections. Based on the current RPI index, a huge number of teams are on the bubble, ie they are borderline to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament if they don’t win their conference titles.
On Monday, the day after the end of the regular season, the NCAA will announce the selection of the 26 at-large teams to go along with the 22 automatic qualifiers.
TOP 25
1 Wake Forest ACC
2 St. John’s Big East
3 Indiana Big Ten
4 Maryland ACC
5 Akron Mid-American
6 Michigan Big Ten
7 Loyola (Md.) MAAC
8 Notre Dame Big East
9 UC Santa Barbara Big West
10 Creighton Missouri Valley
11 *North Carolina ACC
12 Northwestern Big Ten
13 *Louisville Big East
14 Michigan St. Big Ten
15 *UC Davis Big West
16 South Florida Big East
17 *Duke ACC
18 Virginia ACC
19 Drake Missouri Valley
20 Boston College ACC
21 Dartmouth Ivy
22 *California Pacific-10
23 Tulsa Conference USA
24 UC Irvine Big West
25 Harvard Ivy
BUBBLE TEAMS
(Teams on the bubble to receive at-large bids if they don’t win their conference championships.)
26 UIC Horizon
27 *Connecticut Big East
28 Boston U. America East
29 Oakland Summit
30 William & Mary CAA
32 Buffalo Mid-American
33 Ohio St. Big Ten
34 Massachusetts Atlantic 10
35 St. Louis Atlantic 10
36 Wisconsin Big Ten
37 *Syracuse Big East
38 Campbell Atlantic Sun
39 Penn Ivy
40 Holy Cross Patriot
41 *Brown Ivy
42 Fairleigh Dickinson Northeast
44 Butler Horizon
45 DePaul Big East
46 *Providence Big East
47 Siena MAAC
48 *SMU Conference USA
49 *Northeastern CAA
50 UNC Wilmington CAA
*Eliminated from contention for conference title.
AUTOMATIC BIDS
31 UCLA Pacific-10
43 Denver MPSF