Another fun weekend of basketball. But that's not the biggest story. It's the reveal of the top 16 seeds as of now. Saturday at 12:30pm, the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee revealed those top teams and gave us a bit of a glimpse into what they think of teams now.
My reaction to their work was a favorable one. Probably because I had the exact same 1-3 seeds as they did. We differed on some 4 seeds but that's fine. All the ones I disagreed with were 5 seeds on my bracket. It's good to see that I am on the right track and thinking the same way as the committee with a month to go. Also, nice to see a bit of transparency. I know a lot will change before Selection Sunday but it was cool to see what they think of these teams so far.
MY PROJECTED FIELD OF 68
(changes in italics)
LOCKS: Added 3 teams to this list and deservedly so. Creighton has avoided the major pitfalls since losing one of their best players for the season. They have done enough work to claim this spot. Same goes for SMU, who cemented their spot with a home win vs. Cincinnati, snapping their long win streak. Finally, added Dayton who went on the road and beat a good Rhode Island squad.
These are in order so you know how I rank these teams right now.
These are in order so you know how I rank these teams right now.
LOCKS (26): Villanova, Gonzaga, Kansas, Baylor, North Carolina, Louisville, Oregon, Arizona, Florida State, Kentucky, Florida, Virginia, UCLA, Duke, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Purdue, Butler, Notre Dame, Maryland, Creighton, South Carolina, SMU, Xavier, Dayton
AUTOS: Made a few changes to this group after a week of play.
Teams that have clinched their berth will appear in bold
AUTOS (23): America East - Vermont, Atlantic Sun - Florida Gulf Coast, Big Sky - Weber State, Big South - UNC-Asheville, Big West - UC Davis, Colonial - UNC-Wilmington, Conference-USA - Middle Tennessee, Horizon - Valparaiso, Ivy - Princeton, MAAC - Monmouth, MAC - Akron, MEAC - NC Central, Missouri Valley - Wichita State, Mountain West - Boise State, Northeast - Mount St. Mary's, Ohio Valley - Belmont, Patriot - Bucknell, Southern - Furman, Southland - New Orleans, SWAC - Texas Southern, Summit - North Dakota State, Sun Belt - Arkansas State, WAC - New Mexico State
AT-LARGE: This group didn't do a ton of shuffling. Of course, it lost a few to the LOCKS category. Big move came from Northwestern, who took down Wisconsin and is in much better shape now. Indiana dropped out and Michigan is in after the Wolverines took down the Hoosiers in Bloomington. Michigan State also reappears for now while TCU drops out. Reminder, this is a very fluid group, especially in February.
These are in order, so the last four teams will be playing in the "First Four" in Dayton.
These are in order, so the last four teams will be playing in the "First Four" in Dayton.
AT-LARGE (19): Saint Mary's, USC, Oklahoma State, California, VCU, Iowa State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Syracuse, Rhode Island, Arkansas, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Kansas State, Michigan State, Tennessee, Miami (FL), Michigan, Seton HallBUBBLE WATCH
BUBBLE: Because I want to keep track of more teams as we move a month until Selection Sunday, I added some teams to the end of this group. By no means am I confident that any of those teams will play their way into the field but I wanted to monitor them for a bit and see what happens.
These are in order, so to figure out the first teams out, head to the final team from the AT-LARGE category and look for all the teams behind them.
BUBBLE (37): Saint Mary's, USC, Oklahoma State, California, VCU, Iowa State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Syracuse, Rhode Island, Arkansas, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Wichita State, Kansas State, Michigan State, Tennessee, Miami (FL), Michigan, Seton Hall, TCU, Illinois State, Indiana, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Marquette, Georgia, Clemson, Houston, Auburn, Ohio State, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Ole Miss, Providence, Nevada
These are in order, so to figure out the first teams out, head to the final team from the AT-LARGE category and look for all the teams behind them.
BUBBLE (37): Saint Mary's, USC, Oklahoma State, California, VCU, Iowa State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Syracuse, Rhode Island, Arkansas, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Wichita State, Kansas State, Michigan State, Tennessee, Miami (FL), Michigan, Seton Hall, TCU, Illinois State, Indiana, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Marquette, Georgia, Clemson, Houston, Auburn, Ohio State, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Ole Miss, Providence, Nevada
SEEDING
CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN
ACC (10), Big 12 (6), Big Ten (6), Big East (5), Pac-12 (5), SEC (5), Atlantic 10 (3), American (2), West Coast (2)
CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN
ACC (10), Big 12 (6), Big Ten (6), Big East (5), Pac-12 (5), SEC (5), Atlantic 10 (3), American (2), West Coast (2)
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