Latest 2023 Bracketology Field of 68: Alabama new No. 1 overall seed

Who’s in? and who’s out?

First Four

The closer we get to March the more critical games become for teams that want to make the tournament but avoid a trip to Dayton for the First Four. This edition of the First Four sees Memphis and Kentucky as No. 11 seeds in the Midwest Region with the winner getting a matchup with No. 6 Creighton. The other Dayton matchup of at-large teams has No. 11 seeds Clemson and New Mexico doing battle for the right to face No. 6 Illinois in the West Region.

First four out

The four teams that just missed the cut this time are headlined by USC after their 2nd quad 3 loss of the season, this time to Oregon State. Next is a Mississippi State team that has come back to earth after their 12-1 start in non-conference play. The Bulldogs, even though they are 40th in the NET they have an SEC record of 5-7. The last two teams, Utah State and Oregon are both in the top-51 of the NET, but Utah State is a bit of a victim of the strength of the Mountain West with an 8-5 conference record, but the only loss to a non-tournament team was a loss at San Jose State on Saturday.

Next four out

The next four teams out are two teams from the ACC in Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, Micah Shrewsbury’s Penn State squad, and Seton Hall who suddenly find themselves on the edges of the at-large conversation in Shaheen Holloway’s first year. They rank 60th in the NET and have one-point quad-1 wins over Memphis and UConn and are tied with Huskies with an 8-7 league mark.

Four of the Pirate’s remaining five games are against Villanova and the three ranked teams as of Sunday, Providence UConn, and Xavier. The Pirates may hold their tournament destiny in their own hands and become a more prominent part of the at-large conversation.