2017 Barnes Bracketology - Mar. 11

So much basketball ahead of us today and tomorrow. So many bids to give away. And so much to be decided. So less intro and more analysis of what's at stake.

Don't forget, I'm updating DAILY. And make sure you follow me on Twitter to get my real-time thoughts about the field as the games go on. 

MY PROJECTED FIELD OF 68
(changes in italics)

LOCKS: Added 2 more teams. Vanderbilt, which was already close but definitely in after beating Florida for a third time. Also added Middle Tennessee, who should be safely in even with a loss in the CUSA title game. As far as shuffling, Arizona and Duke keep moving up. Arizona is up to a 2 seed while Duke will be one with a win tonight (passing Louisville). I don't Arizona, Oregon or Duke can get to a 1 seed. The top 4 seeds as far as 16 teams are probably set except for maybe Cincinnati falling in favor of SMU or Notre Dame jumping in with a win vs. Duke tonight. We shall see.

These are in order so you know how I rank these teams right now.

LOCKS (41): Villanova, Kansas, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Oregon, Kentucky, Louisville, Arizona, Duke, Baylor, UCLA, Florida State, Florida, Purdue, Cincinnati, Butler, SMU, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Virginia, Minnesota, Iowa State, Saint Mary's, Wisconsin, Creighton, VCU, Dayton, Maryland, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Wichita State, South Carolina, Northwestern, Michigan, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, Miami (FL), Seton Hall, Michigan State, Providence, Middle Tennessee 


AUTOS: No changes here besides taking out Middle Tennessee as they have graduated to a LOCK.

Teams that have clinched their berth will appear in bold

AUTOS (21): America East - Vermont, Atlantic Sun - Florida Gulf Coast, Big Sky - North Dakota, Big South - Winthrop, Big West - UC Irvine, Colonial - UNC-Wilmington, Horizon - Northern Kentucky, Ivy - Princeton, MAAC - Iona, MAC - Akron, MEAC - NC Central, Mountain West - Nevada, Northeast - Mount St. Mary's, Ohio Valley - Jacksonville State, Patriot - Bucknell, Southern - ETSU, Southland - New Orleans, SWAC - Texas Southern, Summit - South Dakota State, Sun Belt - UT Arlington, WAC - Cal St Bakersfield

AT-LARGE: So Marquette and Xavier are as close to locks as you can get without being it but I'm leaving some wiggle room there. But both teams should feel good about being in the field. The last 4 teams on this list should not because of bid-stealers. Teams like Davidson (A10), Alabama (SEC), Marshall (CUSA), and UCF (AAC) are still alive and if they all win their conference tournaments, those are 4 spots taken from this group. So I can't lock these teams up just by principle. Again, I could probably do so with Marquette and Xavier and might come tomorrow but let me get one day to think about it. Oh, and also I added Kansas State and demoted Syracuse. Just think Syracuse's bad losses are going to keep them out.

These are in order, so the last four teams will be playing in the "First Four" in Dayton.

AT-LARGE (6): Marquette, Xavier, Rhode Island, Wake Forest, USC, Kansas State

BUBBLE WATCH

BUBBLE: So Syracuse has fallen into this group that is a whole bunch of teas that are done playing. Teams like TCU, Indiana, Georgia and California had chances for huge wins but all lost. So don't expect any movement here tomorrow. In my opinion, the final spots are really down to USC, Kansas State, Syracuse and Cal.

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 (14): Marquette, Xavier, Rhode Island, Wake Forest, USC, Kansas State, Syracuse, California, Illinois State, Georgia, TCU, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois

SEEDING

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN
ACC (9), Big East (7), Big Ten (6), Big 12 (6), SEC (5), Pac-12 (4), Atlantic 10 (3), American (2), West Coast (2)

(Click on bracket to enlarge)
EAST vs. WEST
MIDWEST vs. SOUTH

**Villanova is the overall top seed

Questions? Comments? Sound off on my Twitter or Facebook and I'll answer any questions. Last update comes TOMORROW!