Bracketology 2020 Projected Field: Creighton, USC on the rise

Our first bracketology update for 2020 includes rises for Creighton and USC. How is the projected field shaking out with conference play beginning?

The 2019-20 college basketball season continues to progress and the projected NCAA Tournament field is starting to come into a bit more focus as a result. Teams are emerging as legitimate contenders for No. 1 seeds later in the season while several others are simply strengthening their cases for end-of-year consideration with some big-time wins. While it is still definitely way-too-early to put a ton of stock into bracketology predictions, it is a good way to analyze where each team stands *right now*.

After all, every single game matters to the selection committee. From November-through-March, teams across the country have their opportunities to build resumes worthy of consideration, selection, and seeding. By this point in the season, it is usually fairly clear which teams will be competing for at-large bids as the majority of the nation has already dropped enough questionable games to fall out of consideration. With this particular season in mind, there are no truly “elite” teams but the bubble is also very difficult to manage.

With that said, though, every team has played 10+ games already this season and there is enough data available to form a relatively solid projected field. KPI is the only committee-used metric that is yet to be released as the NET/BPI/SOR/KP/Sag are all completely available for public use. Additionally, teams have played enough games where the eye test is reasonable to draw conclusions from. The sample size for bracketology is growing by the day and that is evidenced by constant changes in my projected field.

Without any further ado, though, let’s dive into this week’s bracketology edition. As always, this field will include breakdowns of all four potential regions but will also dive into some bubble analysis.