Bracketology 2023: Latest field of 68 projections heading into March

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 8: The NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee meets on Wednesday afternoon, March 8, 2017 in New York City. The committee is gathered in New York to begin the five-day process of selecting and seeding the field of 68 teams for the NCAA MenÕs Basketball Tournament. The final bracket will be released on Sunday evening following the completion of conference tournaments. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) /

6 of 6

Bracketology North Carolina Tar Heels forward Armando Bacot Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports /

Who’s in? and who’s out?

First Four

Looking at who will be headed to Dayton in this edition will be a quartet of No. 11 seeds. First, Wisconsin and USC will tangle as a part of the East Region with the winner doing battle with the No. 6 seed TCU. The other First Four game will see Arizona State and Mississippi State as No. 11 seeds in the West Region in a game where the winner faces No. 6 Northwestern.

First four out

If you have the word “State” in your school name, right now you are likely really close to the cut line. For three of my first four teams out of the tournament that is the case. Oklahoma State, Penn State, and Utah State comprise 75% of the quartet that just miss out on making the field. The other is North Carolina which has gone from a No. 1 team in the country to being in need of a miracle to being on the brink of making the field thanks to a win over Virginia.

Next four out

The four teams with more significant work to do in order to make the field include New Mexico, Clemson, and Michigan. The fourth team is the one I am watching closest, the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Next. Latest top-25 power rankings. dark

Even though they have just five league wins, three of them have come against Iowa State, Texas, and Kansas State, which gets them into the conversation for an at-large bid when you play in the Big 12.

Home/Bracketology