Bracketology 2024:Houston, Purdue, UConn, and UNC land No. 1 seeds in the final field of 68 projection

It feels like it was just last week but so much has happened since the UConn Huskies took home the title in April. Once again, a deluge of schools, players, and coaches have changed places. That is all over now and the season is well underway and we now have enough data to start looking at teams and where they stand when it comes to the NCAA Tournament.

While there were still two and a half months until Selection Sunday when the first projection was released, it is now right around the corner. Some teams are building their resumes to be No. 1 seeds and national title contenders, while others are fighting to show they deserve an invitation. By this time in the season, while the guest list for the NCAA Tournament is far from finalized, it has been whittled down from the 350-plus hopefuls at which it started to an ever-shrinking number that is still hopeful.

The selection process is as transparent as it has ever been and because of that, we can gain insight into how the committee is thinking and what aspects of a team's resume they are valuing from year to year. Now that we are into the new year, there is enough of a baseline to begin building a field. With the New Year upon us, it is bracket time! Twice a month leading up to Selection Sunday, I will give you a look at what I think the bracket could look like up to that point by looking at resumes and metrics that the committee will use such as KenPom, KPI, and Strength of Record among others. The results, rankings, and metrics included in this column will be through Sunday of the previous week and the automatic qualifiers will be a conference’s top team in the NET When I begin building the bracket. With all of that being said, it’s bracket time, here is the latest bracket of the season.

Selection Sunday is here! Just like that four and a half months of basketball have come and gone, the time for talking and debating is over, and the bubble has not just shrunk, but nearly completely gone. Soon, all that will be left to do is to decide a champion on the floor. Before the field is announced, here is the final projection of the year.