Bracketology 2020 Projected Field: Creighton, Penn State keep rising

NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 12: Ty-Shon Alexander #5 of the Creighton Bluejays in action against Jared Rhoden #14 of the Seton Hall Pirates during a college basketball game at Prudential Center on February 12, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. Creighton defeated Seton Hall 87-82. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

3 of 5

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – JANUARY 29: Phinisee of the Hoosiers looks on. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

Midwest Region (Indianapolis, IN)

(1) Kansas vs. (16) Siena/Prairie View A&M

(8) Northern Iowa vs. (9) Purdue

(4) Butler vs. (13) New Mexico State

(5) Michigan State vs. (12) Stanford/Cincinnati

(6) Marquette vs. (11) Indiana

(3) Florida State vs. (14) Winthrop

(7) LSU vs. (10) USC

(2) Dayton vs. (15) UC Irvine

Northern Iowa has risen to No. 35 on the NET and warrants plenty of attention as a potential at-large team out of the Missouri Valley. The Panthers have only suffered three losses over the course of the entire season and can also boast a true road win over Colorado. The best that any team can do is win the games on their schedule and the fact of the matter is that Northern Iowa has done just that. The Panthers might not bring an overwhelming resume to the table but a three-loss team with a few quality wins deserves to be ahead of double-digit-loss high-major teams, in my opinion. We’ll see if UNI can keep winning and hang onto a spot in the projected field.

In contrast, Indiana has been trending in the wrong direction towards the cutline in recent weeks. The Hoosiers snagged a midweek home win over Iowa to remain in this projected field most recently but had dropped their previous four games. Indiana is among the lowest-ranked teams in the NET that I currently have in my field and that will hurt this team later in the year. Finding a way to move up in that metric will be crucial over the coming month.

Home/Bracketology