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Bracketology 2023 projected field: Alabama joins the No. 1 seeds

By Jason Burgess

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - APRIL 02: Exterior picture of the JW Marriott Hotel which has the entire bracket of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament hanging on its building on April 03, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - APRIL 02: Exterior picture of the JW Marriott Hotel which has the entire bracket of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament hanging on its building on April 03, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Xavier Musketeers guard Souley Boum Bracketology Creighton Bluejays At Xavier Musketeers Jan 11 0233
Xavier Musketeers guard Souley Boum Bracketology Creighton Bluejays At Xavier Musketeers Jan 11 0233 /

South Region (Louisville)

(1) Purdue vs. (16) Youngstown State/Southern
(8) Florida Atlantic vs. (9) West Virginia
(5) Duke vs. (12) Boise State
(4) Kansas State vs. (13) Dayton
(6) Rutgers vs. (11) Mississippi State/Central Florida
(3) Xavier vs. (14) UMass-Lowell
(7) Illinois vs. (10) New Mexico
(2) Tennessee vs. (15) Marshall

Purdue sits in the catbird seat in the South region with a 16-1 record entering the week. The Boilermakers are a one-point loss at home to Rutgers from being unblemished coming into the week. Five of their six quad 1 wins have come either on a neutral site or on the road, as have half of their 16 wins. All of the metrics love the Boilermakers with the result metrics ranking them 3rd and the predictive ones have them at an average of 6.6. Their remaining schedule is relatively favorable with Ohio State and their 21st NET ranking the highest team they have left to face, so the road to a No. 1 seed seems to be in the hands of Matt Painter’s team.

Outside the top four seeds in the South region danger abounds for Purdue. Teams like Duke, Rutgers (already beat them once) and Illinois are lurking as potential potholes for the Boilermakers. All three teams sit in the top 27 of the NET and the Blue Devils and Fighting Illini are arguably two of the more underperforming teams in the country to this point in the season. All three teams are capable of going on a run in this region which includes the chance to take out a No. 1 seed.

For me, the team to watch out of this region is Richard Pitino’s New Mexico Lobos. The 16-2 Lobos went undefeated in non-conference play but have gone 3-2 in league play with both losses to UNLV and Fresno State currently sitting as quad 3 losses. They have three guys, Jamal Mashburn, Jr., Jaelen House, and Morris Udeze all averaging over 15 points and shooting over 45% from the field. They like to play fast, averaging over 82 points per game but unlike a lot of teams that play fast, the three-point shot isn’t a big part of their arsenal even though they shoot it well at 35% but only 22% of their point distribution comes from the long ball.

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