2017 Barnes Bracketology - Mar. 9

It's been 3 days since I've done an update and let's be honest, not much has happened. So this is more of a courtesy update before what will be a very busy next few days. You will notice very minimal changes but a little analysis of what I'm thinking in terms of the field.

After this post though, 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: Literally did not move a team in this group because the majority have not played a game at all or if they did just one and beat a team they should have. But what is new is that I think the 1 seeds are locked up: Villanova, Kansas, North Carolina and Gonzaga. Nothing that happens in the next few days will change that. The 2 seeds are all but set as well but that's not absolute just yet.

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

LOCKS (36): Villanova, Kansas, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Louisville, Oregon, Baylor, Kentucky, Arizona, UCLA, Florida, Florida State, Duke, Purdue, Butler, Cincinnati, SMU, Virginia, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Dayton, Saint Mary's, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maryland, VCU, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Arkansas, Creighton, Wichita State, Virginia Tech, Northwestern, Miami (FL), Michigan 


AUTOS: Only one change here, which is in the Summit league. Expect some upsets though as the days go on. A few teams that I projected would clinch did exactly that.

Teams that have clinched their berth will appear in bold

AUTOS (22): America East - Vermont, Atlantic Sun - Florida Gulf Coast, Big Sky - North Dakota, Big South - Winthrop, Big West - UC Irvine, Colonial - UNC-Wilmington, Conference-USA - Middle Tennessee, 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: Again, did not move one team in this group but this is important to note. Syracuse lost in their first game of the ACC tourney, which does not bode well for them. That means teams below them have an opportunity to jump them. Same goes for Illinois State and Wake Forest, which are both done playing. Xavier is also on the edge. They avoided the upset to DePaul, which would have been devastating. What happens on Thursday and Friday will determine a lot in this group.

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

AT-LARGE (10): Seton Hall, Michigan State, Rhode Island, Providence, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Marquette, Syracuse, Xavier, Illinois State

BUBBLE WATCH

BUBBLE: The bubble has burst for two teams that were in this group. Clemson is gone after a loss to Duke. It's not a bad loss but they couldn't afford it. Same goes for Georgia Tech, who lost to Pitt. Now that actually was a bad loss. Both are NIT bound.

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 (17): Seton Hall, Michigan State, Rhode Island, Providence, Middle Tennessee Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Marquette, Syracuse, Xavier, Illinois State, USC, Kansas State, California, Iowa, Georgia, Illinois

SEEDING

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN
ACC (10), Big East (7), Big Ten (6), Big 12 (5), SEC (5), Atlantic 10 (3), Pac-12 (3), American (2), Missouri Valley (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. Next update comes TOMORROW!