With another pivotal weekend approaching, how is the NCAA Tournament shaking out? Check out this edition of our bracketology projected field.
We are just over a month away from Selection Sunday and that means that the bracketology season is heating up. Night in and night out, there is a monster game with bracketology implications and that is what makes this the most exciting time of year. Even those teams who are already safely in the NCAA Tournament field are constantly seeking out quality wins to bolster their seeding and potential for a deep run in March Madness.
Most importantly, though, the bubble is tremendous this year because of the unpredictability. Unlike some other years, bubble teams are struggling tremendously to win big games and therefore it is impossible to really determine who will make the field. Of course, it is possible that the field starts to solidify more over the coming weeks but this has the makings of one of the craziest conference tournament weeks in some time.
As a bracketologist, this year is extremely hard to determine what the committee will do. And that is not just because of the addition of the NET metric this season. Resumes are just all over the place when it comes to quadrant records, the eye test, and overall metrics that is hard to determine where each team should land. Yet, it is my job to create projected fields and here is where things currently stand.
Please remember that the goal of each of my bracketology fields is to predict what the selection committee would do so I try to eliminate as much bias as possible. I do this by using blind resumes for my first scrub of every field and then work from there while remaining objective.
This field is updated through games that were completed on Thurday, Feb. 14.
East Region
(1) Duke vs. (16) Monmouth/Robert Morris
(8) Ole Miss vs. (9) Texas
(4) Texas Tech vs. (13) New Mexico State
(5) Louisville vs. (12) Minnesota
(6) Maryland vs. (11) VCU
(3) Marquette vs. (14) Old Dominion
(7) Mississippi State vs. (10) NC State
(2) Michigan vs. (15) Texas State
South Region
(1) Tennessee vs. (16) Prairie View A&M/Norfolk State
(8) Ohio State vs. (9) Syracuse
(4) Villanova vs. (13) Hofstra
(5) Iowa State vs. (12) Belmont
(6) Florida State vs. (11) Lipscomb
(3) Purdue vs. (14) UC Irvine
(7) Cincinnati vs. (10) Oklahoma
(2) North Carolina vs. (15) Radford
Midwest Region
(1) Virginia vs. (16) Sam Houston State
(8) Wofford vs. (9) Baylor
(4) LSU vs. (13) Vermont
(5) Wisconsin vs. (12) Seton Hall/UCF
(6) Iowa vs. (11) Clemson
(3) Houston vs. (14) South Dakota State
(7) Washington vs. (10) St. John’s
(2) Kentucky vs. (15) Montana
West Region
(1) Gonzaga vs. (16) Bucknell
(8) Auburn vs. (9) TCU
(4) Nevada vs. (13) Yale
(5) Kansas State vs. (12) Butler/Temple
(6) Virginia Tech vs. (11) Indiana
(3) Kansas vs. (14) Northern Kentucky
(7) Buffalo vs. (10) Alabama
(2) Michigan State vs. (15) Loyola-Chicago
State of the Bubble
First Four Byes: Alabama, Clemson, Indiana, Minnesota
Last Four In: UCF, Seton Hall, Temple, Butler
First Four Out: Nebraska, Florida, Utah State, Arizona State
Next Four Out: Davidson, UNCG, Furman, Belmont (if not the auto-bid)
That concludes this edition of my updated bracketology field. Which teams are seeded too high or too low? Does one team deserve to get in over another? Let me know on Twitter! This should be a fun rest of the season and I am always happy to interact about college hoops or the bracket.