Bracket Big Board: Rite of spring, Izzo has Spartans vying for top seed

The Bracket Big Board takes into consideration past returns, current performance and expected future gains in determining who should be included among the field of 68 (31 automatic and 37 at-large bids). Essentially, the Bracket Big Board is a cheat sheet designed for amateur bracketologists if they were filling out a Tourney Pick 'Em '13 entry today. The Triple-B, the most accurate bracket predictor among macro-sites over the past five years, is updated every Monday until the dance card is unveiled March 17.

*For games played through Sunday, February 17
*RPI data provided by Rivals
*T50 = Record versus RPI top-50
*BL = Bad losses (dropped games to opponents with a 100+ RPI)
*Orange indicates teams moving up, blue moving down

On the Bubble: St. John's (15-10), Virginia (18-7), Kentucky (17-8), Alabama (17-8), Maryland (18-7), St. Mary's (21-5), Iowa (17-9), Boise St. (16-8), Southern Mississippi (20-6), Indiana St. (16-10)

Dropped Out: Kentucky, St. John's, St. Mary's, Indiana St., Loyola (MD), Bryant

Conference Breakdown: American East (1), ACC (4), Atlantic Sun (1), Atlantic 10 (6), Big 12 (6), Big East (8), Big Sky (1), Big South (1), Big Ten (7), Big West (1), Colonial (1), Conference USA (1), Horizon (1), Ivy (1), Metro (1), Mid-American (1), Mid-Eastern (1), Missouri Valley (2), Mountain West (4), Northeast (1), Ohio Valley (1), Pac-12 (6), Patriot (1), SEC (4), Southern (1), Southland (1), SWAC (1), Summit (1), Sun Belt (1), West Coast (1), WAC (1)

Follow the Bracket Noise on Twitter @YahooNoise

College basketball video from Yahoo! Sports:

Other popular content on Yahoo! Sports:
• Watch: Possible movers at NBA trade deadline
• Kobe, ex-Lakers remember Jerry Buss' lasting impact | Twitter reaction
• Manti Te'o, quarterbacks can't falter at NFL scouting combine
• Forde Minutes: College basketball coaches go a bit crazy