Bracketology 2019: Virginia snags top overall seed in projected field
Plenty of high-profile games took place during this past week that caused shifts in our bracketology projected field of 68. How did everything shake out?
Bracketology season is sizzling hot. With teams around the nation attempting to snag big wins every single night, the bracket shifts on seemingly a minute-by-minute basis right now. There are teams that are tightly packed together up and down the S-curve and that makes for some extremely exciting bracket tinkering. As always, my bracketology projected field of 68 is back with the weekend approaching. For those who are new to my field, this bracket is meant to predict what I believe the NCAA Tournament selection committee would do given the current situation rather than my own opinion on where the teams should be seeded based on my eye test.
Among other things, here is a quick breakdown of what occurred during the past few days. For starters, the best rivalry in all of college basketball was renewed when North Carolina went on the road and knocked off top-ranked Duke, who was admittedly without Zion Williamson for 39+ minutes. In terms of how that affected the field, this dropped the Blue Devils from top overall seed in my field as they were replaced by two-loss Virginia (yes, I know both losses were to Duke).
Additionally, Florida continued its rise with back-to-back road wins. They have quickly gone from sitting on the “outside looking in” to a fairly comfortable spot on the No. 10 line. Aside from the Gators, though, bubble teams everywhere seemingly do not want to play in the NCAA Tournament. Just about every bubble team is dropping major games and even some are getting upset and falling quickly from the field.
With the way that the bubble is shaping up, this could be the most hectic season I have had yet as a bracketologist (this is Year 5 for me, four on the bracket matrix). Now, without any further ado, let’s dive into my bracketology projected field heading into this weekend.
This field is updated prior to the games on Friday, Feb. 22.
South Region
(1) Virginia vs. (16) Prairie View A&M/St. Francis-PA
(8) Ole Miss vs. (9) Ohio State
(4) Texas Tech vs. (13) Vermont
(5) Maryland vs. (12) Temple/Butler
(6) Mississippi State vs. (11) Seton Hall
(3) Houston vs. (14) Old Dominion
(7) Washington vs. (10) Oklahoma
(2) Michigan State vs. (15) Loyola-Chicago
East Region
(1) Duke vs. (16) Norfolk State/Sam Houston State
(8) Auburn vs. (9) St. John’s
(4) Wisconsin vs. (13) Hofstra
(5) Iowa State vs. (12) Alabama/Clemson
(6) Nevada vs. (11) UCF
(3) Marquette vs. (14) South Dakota State
(7) Iowa vs. (10) NC State
(2) Kentucky vs. (15) Radford
West Region
(1) Gonzaga vs. (16) Canisius
(8) Baylor vs. (9) Syracuse
(4) LSU vs. (13) New Mexico State
(5) Louisville vs. (12) Lipscomb
(6) Kansas State vs. (11) VCU
(3) Purdue vs. (14) UC Irvine
(7) Cincinnati vs. (10) TCU
(2) North Carolina vs. (15) Montana
Midwest Region
(1) Tennessee vs. (16) Bucknell
(8) Wofford vs. (9) Texas
(4) Florida State vs. (13) Yale
(5) Villanova vs. (12) Belmont
(6) Virginia Tech vs. (11) Minnesota
(3) Kansas vs. (14) Texas State
(7) Buffalo vs. (10) Florida
(2) Michigan vs. (15) Northern Kentucky
State of the Bubble
Last Four Byes: Florida, Minnesota, UCF, Seton Hall
Last Four In: Temple, Butler, Clemson, Alabama
First Four Out: Utah State, Nebraska, Arizona State, Furman
Next Four Out: Georgetown, Indiana, Davidson, St. Mary’s
dark. Next. Bubble Watch Breakdown
That concludes this edition of my bracketology projected field. I hope that you enjoyed and that your favorite team was able to secure a spot. If not, there is still enough time to potentially make a run and win their respective conference tournament. The next update to my field will be posted on Tuesday, Feb. 26.