Bracketology: The projected field update entering Thursday’s games

As major conference tournaments are heating up, the bubble is taking center stage. Here is the Bracketology update entering Thursday.

Only one automatic big was given out last night, but there was lots of tournament action. Let’s take a peek at those games before getting into the projected field.

Tournament results from Wednesday:

• Mid-Major action
  • Patriot – Bucknell clinched the automatic bid by beating Lehigh.
  • Atlantic 10 – Massachusetts and Saint Louis were the victors on Wednesday.
  • Southland – Sam Houston and Lamar advanced to the second round.
  • MEAC – The top two seeds (NC Central and Norfolk State) moved on to the semifinals, which are not until Friday.
  • Sun Belt – Louisiana-Monroe, UL-Lafayette, and Troy advanced.
  • Conference USA – UT San Antonio, Rice, UAB, Marshall moved on.
  • Mountain West – Utah State, Air Force, San Diego State all got wins.
• Atlantic Coast Conference
  • Virginia took care of Pittsburgh and they are still alive.
  • Duke fended off Clemson to move on. They face Louisville in their next game.
  • Syracuse failed to secure a win in the tournament, falling to Miami. Can they find a way to get a bid on Sunday?
  • Wake Forest couldn’t get another big win, falling to Virginia Tech, but still likely in the field.
  • Big East
    • Xavier got a much-needed win over DePaul. They will face Butler next.
    • Saint John’s will get Villanova as Ponds carried them past Georgetown.
    • Big 12
      • Texas outplayed their in-state opponent Texas Tech in the first round. They will face West Virginia on Thursday.
      • TCU took care of Oklahoma and gets Kansas next.
      • Coastal Carolina beat South Alabama. They will now face top-seeded UT-Arlington.
      • Pac-12
        • Oregon’s first round opponent will be Arizona State, who defeated Stanford.
        • Cal hung on against Oregon State. They still need a deep run to go dancing.
        • Colorado moved past Washington State. Can they pull a cinderella in the conference?
        • Washington/USC
        • Big Ten
          • Penn State beat Nebraska in overtime. They will face Michigan State.
          • Rutgers knocked off Ohio State. They will be Northwestern’s opponent.

          With that, let’s move into the projected field. There were very few shakeups, as Syracuse was unable to secure a win in the ACC Tournament. If the Orange had beaten Miami, they would have moved into the projected field, but they remain OUT. It would not be a major surprise if the committee still found a bid for them, but the RPI says otherwise.

          Major conference tournaments are going to take center stage on Thursday because there are no championship games, but watch out for any potential bid-stealers flying under the radar.

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          Projected Field (includes results through March 8th)

          East

          — Buffalo

          1 Villanova
          16New Orleans/Mount St. Mary’s

          8 Oklahoma State
          9 Wichita State

          — Orlando

          4 Florida State
          13 Akron

          5 Cincinnati
          12 Nevada

          — Orlando

          6 Creighton
          11 Wake Forest

          3 Florida
          14 Florida Gulf Coast

          — Tulsa

          7 Dayton
          10 Marquette

          2 Baylor
          15 Northern Kentucky

          Midwest

          Tulsa —

          Kansas 1
          North Dakota/NC Central 16

          Virginia Tech 8
          Arkansas 9

          Milwaukee —

          Virginia 4
          Vermont 13

          West Virginia 5
          Texas-Arlington 12

          Sacramento —

          Saint Mary’s 6
          Vanderbilt/USC 11

          UCLA 3
          Bucknell 14

          Indianapolis —

          Wisconsin 7
          Seton Hall 10

          Louisville 2
          Iona 15

          West

          — Salt Lake City

          1 Gonzaga
          16 UC Irvine

          8 VCU
          9 Michigan

          — Greenville

          4 Duke
          13 East Tennessee State

          5 Minnesota
          12 Rhode Island/Illinois State

          — Milwaukee

          6 Maryland
          11 Middle Tennessee

          3 Butler
          14 CSU Bakersfield

          — Sacramento

          7 Miami
          10 Michigan State

          2 Oregon
          15Texas Southern

          South

          Greenville —

          North Carolina 1
          Jacksonville State 16

          South Carolina 8
          Northwestern 9

          Buffalo—

          Purdue 4
          Princeton 13

          Notre Dame 5
          NC-Wilmington 12

          Salt Lake City —

          SMU 6
          Providence 11

          Arizona 3
          Winthrop 14

          Indianapolis —

          Iowa State 7
          Xavier 10

          Kentucky 2
          South Dakota State 15

          Last Four In: Vanderbilt, USC, Rhode Island, Illinois State

          First Four Out: Kansas State, Illinois, Iowa, Syracuse

          Games to watch on Wednesday for Bracketology:

          • Tournament Play
            • 2nd round action in the SEC, Atlantic 10, Big Ten, and Southland.
            • ACC, MAC, Big East, Big 12, C-USA, Big West, Pac-12, Mountain West, Big Sky, WAC, and MEAC all play their quarterfinal games.
            • The American Tournament gets underway.
            • There are no championship games on Wednesday.
          • Bubble games to follow
            • Vanderbilt needs to win against Texas A&M.
            • Illinois has a solid opportunity against Michigan to get closer to the cutline.
            • The winner of Seton Hall against Marquette is a guaranteed lock. The loser will likely still be safe, but a win would be huge for both teams.
            • California and Utah both have a lot of work to do and play each other.
            • Iowa has a tough first round draw in Indiana, but it is a must-win.

            Next: 5 most underrated players in college basketball

            Four full days of action separate now from Selection Sunday and there will be an updated projected bracket every morning. For updates throughout each day, I will be on twitter (@hardwiredsports) throughout the weekend.