Bracketology 2019: Ohio State, Gonzaga rise in updated projected field
This past weekend yielded many shifts in my bracketology projected field. The bubble is shrinking but the teams are certainly tighter.
Bracketology season just continues to heat up. With only one month left until conference tournaments, now is the time that teams need to catch fire and assure their selection to the NCAA Tournament. Yet, that did not exactly occur as many teams on the bubble dropped major opportunities over the weekend to fall into even more precarious position.
And while there were several teams who moved up a couple of spots, our biggest jumpers were Gonzaga and Ohio State. Neither of these teams really snagged a resume-building win over the weekend but they were the two teams that benefitted the most from the results around them. Ohio State, for starters, was able to leap from our top No. 11 seed to our bottom No. 8 seed thanks to one victory and losses by just about everyone else around them. Gonzaga, on the other hand, was able to take advantage of both Michigan teams losing to snag the final No. 1 seed.
"Last Updated: Feb. 5, 2019 – 12:00 pm ET."
East Region
(1) Duke vs. (16) Prairie View A&M/Robert Morris
(8) Baylor vs. (9) Ole Miss
(4) Villanova vs. (13) Old Dominion
(5) LSU vs. (12) Belmont
(6) Maryland vs. (11) Texas
(3) Houston vs. (14) Northern Kentucky
(7) Florida State vs. (10) Nebraska
(2) Kentucky vs. (15) Princeton
South Region
(1) Virginia vs. (16) Norfolk State/Sam Houston State
(8) Ohio State vs. (9) TCU
(4) Nevada vs. (13) Vermont
(5) Iowa State vs. (12) Arizona State/Florida
(6) Mississippi State vs. (11) Lipscomb
(3) Kansas vs. (14) UC Irvine
(7) Oklahoma vs. (10) St. John’s
(2) Michigan vs. (15) Radford
Midwest Region
(1) Tennessee vs. (16) Rider
(8) Washington vs. (9) NC State
(4) Louisville vs. (13) New Mexico State
(5) Wisconsin vs. (12) VCU
(6) Buffalo vs. (11) Alabama
(3) Purdue vs. (14) Georgia State
(7) Cincinnati vs. (10) Indiana
(2) North Carolina vs. (15) Loyola-Chicago
West Region
(1) Gonzaga vs. (16) Lehigh
(8) Auburn vs. (9) Syracuse
(4) Virginia Tech vs. (13) Hofstra
(5) Texas Tech vs. (12) Minnesota/Temple
(6) Iowa vs. (11) UCF
(3) Marquette vs. (14) South Dakota State
(7) Kansas State vs. (10) Wofford
(2) Michigan State vs. (15) Montana
Bubble Breakdown
You can check out my complete bubble watch, which breaks down almost every team in at-large contention, from last week here.
First Four Byes: St. John’s, Texas, UCF, Alabama
Last Four In: Minnesota, Temple, Arizona State, Florida
First Four Out: Creighton, Butler, Utah State, Seton Hall
Next Four Out: Clemson, UNC-Greensboro, San Francisco, Davidson
Bids by conference (seeds in parenthesis)
Big Ten (10 bids): Michigan (2), Michigan State (2), Purdue (3), Wisconsin (5), Iowa (6), Maryland (6), Ohio State (8), Nebraska (10), Indiana (10), and Minnesota (12).
ACC (8 bids + 1 F8O): Duke (1), Virginia (1), North Carolina (2), Virginia Tech (4), Louisville (4), Florida State (7), NC State (9), Syracuse (9), and Clemson (N4O).
Big 12 (8 bids): Kansas (3), Texas Tech (5), Kansas State (7), Oklahoma (7), Baylor (8), TCU (9), and Texas (11).
SEC (7 bids): Tennessee (1), LSU (5), Mississippi State (6), Auburn (8), Ole Miss (9), Alabama (11), and Florida (12).
American (4 bids): Houston (3), Cincinnati (7), UCF (11), Temple (12).
Big East (3 bids + 3 F8O): Marquette (3), Villanova (4), St. John’s (10), Creighton (F4O), Butler (F4O), and Seton Hall (F4O).
Pac-12 (2 bids): Washington (8) and Arizona State (12).
dark. Next. Top-25+ power rankings
That concludes this edition of my bracketology projected field. I hope that your favorite team was able to secure a bid and there is still plenty of time left if your team did not. Whether or not your team will be able to get it done, though, remains to be seen.