Auburn and Alabama remain the top two seeds in Jerry Palm’s bracket projection
• 2 min read
The latest NCAA Tournament bracket projection has been updated and there is no change on the top line from what the selection committee gave us Saturday. Auburn is still the overall No. 1 seed following the Tigers’ win at Alabama. The Crimson Tide remain second overall despite the loss. Duke and Florida round out the No. 1 seeds.
The first change from the committee’s bracket came from the game immediately after it was released. Wisconsin shot 72%(!) in the second half at Mackey Arena to beat Purdue 94-84. That dropped the Boilermakers down from a No. 2 seed to the No. 3 line and the Badgers moved up to a No. 2 seed.
The other top 16 teams to lose were No. 3 seeds Kentucky and Arizona and No. 4 seed Kansas. Each of those teams dropped a line as well. For the Jayhawks, that meant falling out of the top 16.
Bracketology top seeds
Check out Palm’s bracket and full field of 68 at the Bracketology hub.
Other teams on the move
- Memphis fell two lines to a No. 7 after losing at Wichita State. The Tigers picked up a handful of nice wins in nonconference play, but now have three Quad 3 losses among their five defeats. They do very poorly in the predictive metrics, where their average rank is 46. Their average rank in the others is 16. Since the committee tends to favor the predictive metrics when they come into play, Memphis could be an underseeded team when its name is called on Selection Sunday.
- There is a new team on the bubble this week that I never thought I’d see there this season. Two-time reigning champion UConn is now on the bubble after taking its second Quad 3 loss of the season at Seton Hall. If the Huskies beat the teams they should, they won’t be here for long, but if they were beating the teams they should, they wouldn’t be here at all.
- Texas was the biggest winner among the bubble teams this weekend. The Longhorns took down Kentucky on Saturday for a much needed boost to their tournament profile. They have beaten three of the SEC’s top teams this season, all at home and are back in the bracket this morning. Texas has three of their next four on the road.
- Georgia is the team Texas replaced. The Bulldogs lost at home to Missouri to drop to 2-10 in Quad 1 games. That is their eighth loss in the last 10. These two teams, along with Arkansas, are hanging on for dear life. It is unlikely that the bracket will be big enough to hold all of them. The Razorbacks lost at Texas A&M on Saturday but are still in the First Four for now.
- Indiana missed a chance to get back into the bracket but lost at home to UCLA on Friday. The Hoosiers won’t play again until they host Purdue on Saturday.
- West Virginia has lost six of its past eight and is in danger of dropping out of the bracket entirely. The latest was a 74-71 loss in overtime at Baylor. Other than a game with Texas Tech, the Mountaineers are done with the teams at the top of the league. They need to take advantage of that finishing schedule.
