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

West Region (Los Angeles)

1.) North Carolina vs. 16.) Montana State

8.) Northwestern vs. 9.) New Mexico

5.) Washington State vs. 12.) Grand Canyon

4.) Kansas vs. 13.) VCU

6.) Florida vs. 11.) UAB

3.) Creighton vs. 14.) Akron

7.) Utah State vs. 10.) TCU

2.) Arizona vs. 15.) Western Kentucky

A Tennessee loss in their first SEC tournament game coupled with North Carolina’s ACC tournament loss to N.C State means the final No. 1 seed in the final projection is up for grabs, and despite the loss the Tar Heels will remain the No. 1 seed in the West region over Iowa State. Both resumes are strong and both have their plusses and minuses when looking at a potential No. 1 seed and when it came down to it, Iowa State’s inferior non-conference slate was the difference for me. While North Carolina does have more losses than any of the other No. 1 seeds with seven, four of those losses have come by a total of 11 points. The Tar Heels will be even hungrier once the tournament starts considering the ACC Tournament didn’t go as scripted for the No. 1 seed.

The rest of the top half of the West region has a couple of teams that fought for the top spot occupied by North Carolina, No. 2 Arizona, and No. 4 Kansas. As if those two don’t make the Tar Heels’ path difficult enough, the No. 3 Creighton Bluejays have the potential to be a lethal offensive team capable of knocking off anyone, just ask UConn who got rocked by 19.

The No. 12 seed in the West region is the auto-bid winner from the Western Athletic Conference the Grand Canyon Antelopes. Even though their history at the Division I level isn’t extensive, they’re making their third appearance in the last four seasons under Bryce Drew. In their previous two trips to the dance, they lost by eight to No. 2 Iowa and 12 to No. 3 Gonzaga. This year’s team should improve their seeding immensely and will be a popular upset pick.