Bracketology 2020 Projected Field: Colorado rises, Virginia plummets
South Region
(1) Kansas vs. (16) Rider
(8) Georgetown vs. (9) Utah State
(4) Michigan vs. (13) New Mexico State
(5) Dayton vs. (12) St. John’s/Washington
(6) Colorado vs. (11) Minnesota
(3) Auburn vs. (14) Wright State
(7) Arizona vs. (10) Xavier
(2) Louisville vs. (15) Colgate
Kansas might have lost its most recent game but still lands on the No. 1 seed line. This is due to the fact that both of the Jayhawks’ defeats so far this season have come in very difficult Q1 games and they have plenty of high-quality victories to offset those. Kansas is defending at a very high level so far this season and you would be hard-pressed to find many duos better than Devon Dotson + Udoka Azubuike. Head coach Bill Self once again has a national title contender on his hands – that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Switching gears, Colorado came away with arguably the most important win of this past week. After starting the season a bit slow against mediocre competition, the Buffaloes secured their signature non-conference victory by taking down Dayton. This victory helped propel Colorado up to the No. 6 line rather than hovering closer to the early-season bubble. Tyler Bey, McKinley Wright IV, and D’Shawn Schwartz make up one of the most underrated trios nationally. This team can really defend.
Near the end of this region, Xavier is perhaps the toughest team to seed in the entire country. The Musketeers entered this season with high expectations and have largely lived up to those while jumping out to an 11-2 record. With that said, though, they are yet to play a single Q1 game in non-conference play and are just 3-2 in Q2. Xavier belongs firmly in the field compared to some of the early-season bubble teams and that should be evident once Big East play begins. This is a better team than its resume indicates.
Next. Week 8 National Power Rankings. dark
That concludes this week’s edition of my bracketology projected field of 68. Was your favorite team included? If not, it’s far from time to panic as it is still only December. There are plenty of games left for teams to make runs at reaching the field prior to Selection Sunday.