Bracketology 2023: Final projected field of 68 ahead of Selection Sunday

The bracket banner is updated on the side of the J.W. Marriott with the results of the first day of games during the 2021 NCAA Division I basketball tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday, March 20, 2021. Mandatory Credit: Barbara Perenic/IndyStar via USA TODAY Sports /

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Bracketology Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports /

South Region (Louisville)

(1) Alabama vs. (16) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi/Texas Southern
(8) Illinois vs. (9) West Virginia
(5) Duke vs. (12) Charleston
(4) Indiana vs. (13) Yale
(6) Saint Mary’s vs. (11) Mississippi State
(3) Marquette vs. (14) Kennesaw State
(7) Kentucky vs. (10) Boise State
(2) Baylor vs. (15) Vermont

The South region will be held in Louisville and be headlined by the No. 1 overall seed, the Alabama Crimson Tide. Even though Nate Oats’ team has been put under a big microscope off the floor over the past month, on the floor they continue to roll (Tide) getting to the SEC finals by winning in the quarterfinals and semifinals by an average of 17 points. Alabama has 11 quad 1 wins after beating Missouri and they are a metric darling with all five metrics in the top three. The difference between them and Kansas for the top overall seed is razor thin, but in the end, it was Kansas’ loss in the Big 12 title game that gave Alabama the edge.

Baylor is the No. 2 seed in this region, which would be a track meet of a regional final between two teams in the top 20 in offensive efficiency. Big Ten semifinalist Indiana is also in this region as is one of the best defensive teams in the country, Saint Mary’s. The 26-7 Gaels fell in the WCC final to arch-rival Gonzaga, but this is a team who besides two late-season losses to the Bulldogs only allowed one opponent to score over 70 points all year long, 74 in an overtime loss to Loyola Marymount.

The team to watch in this region is No. 3 seed Marquette who cruised to the Big East title over Xavier Saturday night. The Golden Eagles are ranked No. 6 in the AP poll and rank in the top 20 in all the metrics with eight quad 1 wins. They seemingly haven’t gotten the pub that UConn, Xavier, and Creighton have in the conference because they are more blue-collar than flash, even though they are 6th in the country in both offensive efficiency and effective field goal percentage as well as being the No. 1 team in the country in two-point percentage at 59.2%.

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