- The NCAA men’s basketball committee’s initial top 16 ranking was quickly disrupted after half of the top 10 teams lost.
- Duke and Arizona are now strong contenders for the No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming tournament.
- UCLA has entered the projected tournament field, replacing rival Southern California after a key victory.
This past Saturday, the NCAA men’s basketball committee released its ranking of the top 16 teams, ostensibly providing a template to help professional and amateur observers visualize what the final bracket might look like in a few weeks. Within mere hours of that reveal, the template was effectively broken as half of the committee’s top 10 teams lost. As if we needed a reminder, this is why the term March Madness is so engrained in the sport’s vocabulary.
In any event, we’ve had to reexamine the committee’s order and come up with a new template for our latest bracket projection. Duke, now topping the USA TODAY Sports coaches poll, strengthened its case for the No. 1 overall seed with its neutral-site victory against Michigan. Arizona also has an argument, with its win at Houston adding to an impressive list of high-end triumphs away from home. Michigan remains well-positioned as a top regional seed. Iowa State holds down the fourth No. 1, as its recent decision against Houston helps offset Saturday night’s loss at Brigham Young.
Houston is still very much in the No. 1 conversation but remains a 2 for now after a loss to Kansas on Monday. We also differ with the committee on Florida, which was outside the top 10 but projects as a No. 2 seed in our bracket. Purdue and Connecticut round out the second line.
Illinois, which lost a third consecutive overtime contest, might have missed out on its shot at heading a regional and slips to the third line along with Nebraska, Texas Tech and Gonzaga. The middle portion of the bracket wasn’t drastically altered by the weekend’s results, but there was a change on the fringe of the at-large pool as UCLA, thanks to its buzzer-beater against Illinois, replaces rival Southern California in the field.
March Madness bracketology: NCAA Tournament projection
March Madness last four in
TCU, New Mexico, UCLA, Santa Clara.
March Madness first four out
Southern California, California, Virginia Commonwealth, San Diego State.
NCAA tournament bids conference breakdown
Multi-bid leagues: Big Ten (10), SEC (10), ACC (8) Big 12 (8), Big East (3), West Coast (3), Mountain West (2).