Busting Brackets
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Bracketology 2020: Way-too-early NCAA Tournament projected field

By Lukas Harkins

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - MARCH 20: A detailed view of a March Madness branded basketball is seen during a practice session before the First Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 20, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - MARCH 20: A detailed view of a March Madness branded basketball is seen during a practice session before the First Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 20, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – MARCH 31: Coach Calipari of UK speaks. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – MARCH 31: Coach Calipari of UK speaks. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

East Region

(1) Kentucky vs. (16) LIU Brooklyn/South Carolina State

(8) Saint Mary’s vs. (9) Houston

(4) Ohio State vs. (13) Missouri State

(5) Seton Hall vs. (12) New Mexico State

(6) VCU vs. (11) Syracuse/Arizona State

(3) Maryland vs. (14) Wright State

(7) Creighton vs. (10) Texas

(2) North Carolina vs. (15) UT Arlington

Kentucky is one of the top teams in the country year after year. Thanks to the superb recruiting efforts of head coach John Calipari, there is always a surplus of talent in Lexington and this often leads to very strong seasons. With regards to this coming campaign, the program will once again rely on freshmen for a bulk of minutes but they also boast one of the best returning guards in the country in Ashton Hagans. He should be one of the key leaders of the team while highly-touted recruit Tyrese Maxey will join him in the backcourt.

Maryland is another team to watch out for. Despite losing Bruno Fernando to the NBA, this team returns a ton of talent and this might just be the best roster that head coach Mark Turgeon has ever had. In addition to boasting a senior leader at point guard in Anthony Cowan, their quartet of talented sophomores are also returning with Jalen Smith and Eric Ayala leading the way. This team is still relatively young but has the talent to be extremely dangerous.

Lastly, Saint Mary’s is an incredibly difficult team to place. Throughout last season, the Gaels posted outstanding efficiency numbers but never really looked the part of an NCAA Tournament team and their resume was weak. They did wind up snagging the WCC auto-bid and now they will likely enter this season with high preseason metric rankings. Jordan Ford and Malik Fitts make up a dangerous duo but this team could either sit on the bubble all year long or launch into the nation’s top-15. They are really hard to gauge.

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