The teams below are displayed below on an S-curve, so they are ranked from left to right within each seeding line. The italicized teams are ones predicted to win their conference tourney and gain an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. You will notice that some of these squads are also listed in the NIT bracket. The reason for this is two-fold. First and foremost, it shows how close those teams are to getting at-large bids in the NCAA tournament field. Secondly, it shows where those squads would be seeded if in fact they lost in their conference tournament and garnered an automatic bid to the NIT.
Also, just to clarify, my bracket projection is intended to project the NCAA Tournament field if it was chosen today. Unlike some bracketologists, I am not trying to predict how each team will finish the season and then seed the teams based on that. There is one slight exception to this rule, however, and that is that I have always chosen to award the projected automatic bid for each conference to my projected best team in that conference, and not the team who is currently leading the conference standings. Given how unbalanced conference schedules are, it just seems like common sense to project that the best team in a conference will win the league championship, not the squad currently in first place.
Brad-ketology columns will be published at least twice a week (typically on Mondays and Fridays). This bracket projection has been updated through all games played on Sunday March 4th.
NCAA Tourney Field:
1-seeds: Virginia, Xavier, Villanova, Duke
2-seeds: Kansas, North Carolina, Auburn, Purdue
3-seeds: Cincinnati, Michigan State, Tennessee, Michigan
4-seeds: Clemson, Arizona, Texas Tech, Wichita State
5-seeds: West Virginia, Ohio State, Miami-FL, Kentucky
6-seeds: Gonzaga, Arkansas, Texas A & M, Florida
7-seeds: Seton Hall, Houston, TCU, Nevada
8-seeds: Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Missouri, Creighton
9-seeds: Virginia Tech, St. Bonaventure, UCLA, Florida State
10-seeds: Butler, Providence, St. Mary’s, Southern California
11-seeds: Texas, Syracuse, Louisville, NC State, Arizona State, Utah
12-seeds: Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State, Loyola-IL, UL-Lafayette
13-seeds: South Dakota State, Buffalo, Vermont, Murray State
14-seeds: UNC-Greensboro, Bucknell, College of Charleston, Montana
15-seeds: UC Davis, Wright State, Wagner, Lipscomb
16-seeds: Iona, Harvard, Radford, Southeastern Louisiana, Hampton, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
NIT Tourney Field:
1-seeds: Washington, Baylor, Alabama, Kansas State,
2-seeds: Marquette, Temple, Middle Tennessee, Notre Dame
3-seeds: Oregon, Nebraska, Mississippi State, New Mexico State
4-seeds: UL-Lafayette, Western Kentucky, South Dakota State, Boise State
5-seeds: Buffalo, Vermont, Penn State, Stanford
6-seeds: Oklahoma State, LSU, UCF, South Carolina
7-seeds: Maryland, Georgia, Tulsa, Colorado
8-seeds: Rider, Northern Kentucky, UNC-Asheville, Florida Gulf Coast
Ranking of Other Postseason Contenders: Belmont, Old Dominion, Boston College, Davidson, San Diego State, Wyoming, SMU
