Who to root for (Day 8)

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I hate to say it, but I think Penn has fallen to a 15 seed. They are only ahead eight other conference leaders/winners in the RPI. That means that the Quakers will have to jump ahead of two other teams in the eyes of the selection committee if they hope to get a 14 seed. The only team even close to Penn in the RPI, however, is Pacific (they're 98th). Still, Pacific has a better tournament resume than Penn with a better quality win (Texas A&M) and fewer bad losses.

That loss at Princeton is really going to come back to hurt this team in the seeding, even if it was a meaningless game. Still, a 14 seed is certainly not out of the question. Here's who you should root for if you want that 14 seed to become more of a possibility:

Penn's projected seed: 15
Conference leaders/winners behind Penn in the RPI: 8
Penn's RPI ranking: 99th

Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament
Who are we kidding? This is the ACC. Whoever wins this will be ranked well ahead of Penn, even if No. 12 Wake Forest wins the automatic bid. Root for anyone in today's opening round games.

Atlantic 10 Tournament
It was a great day for Penn opponents St. Joe's, Temple and Fordham. They all won in yesterday's opening round games, giving Penn a slight boost in the RPI. Root for No. 9 Temple to shock No. 1 George Washington and No. 5 St. Joe's to beat No. 4 St. Louis. Unfortunately, at least one Penn opponent will lose today, as No. 6 Fordham plays No. 3 La Salle. Root for anyone in that game.

Big East Tournament
Cheer for No. 2 Villanova to beat No. 10 Rutgers tonight. That will help give Penn's RPI another boost.

Big Sky Tournament
No. 2 Montana beat No. 1 Northern Arizona tonight to take the conference title. The Grizzlies should be ranked ahead of Penn in the field of 65.

Big Ten Tournament
This tourney kicks off today with opening round games in Indianapolis. Root for anyone here because every team will be seeded ahead of Penn.

Big 12 Tournament
The Big 12 Tourney starts today in Dallas. Root for No. 5 Colorado (a Penn opponent from earlier this season) to beat No. 12 Baylor. A win by the Buffs could give the Quakers another little RPI boost.

Big West Tournament
Root for anyone in today's second round games. The big game comes tomorrow when No. 1 Pacific plays. If they go down, that could give Penn the bump up to a 14 seed.

Conference USA Tournament
Root for No. 10 SMU to beat No. 2 UAB, No. 11 Southern Miss to beat No. 3 UTEP, No. 8 Tulane to shock No. 1 Memphis and No. 5 Central Florida to beat No. 4 Houston.

Mid-American Conference Tournament
Penn fans should root for three upsets today: No. 7 Toledo over No. 2 Northern Illinois, No. 6 Western Michigan over No. 3 Akron and No. 8 Buffalo over No. 1 Kent State.

Mid-eastern Athletic Conference Tournament
Gil Jackson's Howard team fell to No. 1 Delaware State last night. Now you can root for anyone for the rest of this tournament.

Mountain West Conference Tournament
This tourney gets back under way today in Denver. Root for anyone because any team that wins this is going to be seeded higher than Penn.

Northeast Conference Tournament
Congrats to No. 3 Monmouth, who punched a ticket to the Big Dance tonight with an upset of No. 1 Fairleigh Dickinson. They will be seeded behind Penn in the field of 65.

Pac-10 Tournament
Root for the two Oregon schools today. No. 7 Oregon takes on No. 2 Washington today and No. 9 Oregon State plays No. 1 UCLA.

Southeastern Conference Tournament
Root for anyone here. Whoever wins this will be seeded higher than Penn.

Southland Conference Tournament
Root extremely hard for No. 1 Northwestern State to fall to No. 6 Lamar tonight. Should Northwestern State go down, that will also really solidify Penn's chances for a 14 seed.

Southwestern Conference Tournament
Cheer for anyone here. The winner of this conference will be seeded below Penn in the field of 65.

Western Athletic Conference Tournament
Root for No. 8 Idaho to upset No. 1 Nevada, No. 7 San Jose State to defeat No. 2 Utah State and No. 7 Boise State to beat No. 3 Louisiana Tech. Also, cheer for No. 4 Hawaii (a Penn opponent) to beat No. 5 New Mexico State.