Here's part eight of my thoughts regarding how I think the bracket will work. As previously mentioned, I'm posting daily updates during tournament week.
Yesterday's thoughts are here.
Monday's thoughts.
Sunday's thoughts.
March 2 thoughts.
(x - conference leader; z - conference champion & winner of NCAA tournament berth)
1-seed
xTennessee
xUCLA
xMemphis
xNorth Carolina
2-seed
xGeorgetown
Duke
xTexas
Kansas
3-seed
xXavier
Louisville
xWisconsin
Notre Dame
4-seed
Purdue
Vanderbilt
Stanford
Connecticut
5-seed
Michigan State
zDrake
Indiana
zButler
Butler earns the automatic bid as winners of the Horizon tournament.
6-seed
xBrigham Young
Washington State
Marquette
Clemson
7-seed
Mississippi State
Pittsburgh
Southern California
UNLV
8-seed
Gonzaga
xKent State
Oklahoma
Miami, FL
9-seed
West Virginia
Baylor
Kansas State
Kentucky
10-seed
St. Mary's
Illinois State
zDavidson
Arkansas
11-seed
Massachusetts
Temple
Syracuse
zWestern Kentucky
The Hilltoppers earn an automatic bid as winners of the Sun Belt tournament.
12-seed
Texas A&M
Arizona
Ohio State
South Alabama
13-seed
xStephen F. Austin
zOral Roberts
zGeorge Mason
zSan Diego
Oral Roberts earns an automatic bid as winners of the Summit tournament.
14-seed
zCornell
xUC Santa Barbara
xUtah State
zSiena
15-seed
zAustin Peay
xMaryland-Baltimore County
xAmerican
zBelmont
16-seed
xPortland State
xMorgan State
zWinthrop
Play-in
xSacred Heart
xAlabama State
In the Bracket
No changes
Out of the Bracket
No changes
Last Four In:
Texas A&M
Arizona
Ohio State
South Alabama
Last Four Out:
New Mexico
Virginia Tech
St. Joseph's
UAB
Next Four Out:
Mississippi
Florida
Virginia Commonwealth
Oregon
It's the quiet before the storm. With the only occurrences being the clinching of automatic bids by teams favored to win in the finals, there are no changes to the last four in, last four out, and next four out. Also, no alterations were made in the seedings.
Among the games being played on Wednesday, tournament championship games for the Big Sky and Northeast as well as opening round games for the Big East, Atlantic 10, Pac-10, MAC, and Conference USA.
Yesterday's thoughts are here.
Monday's thoughts.
Sunday's thoughts.
March 2 thoughts.
(x - conference leader; z - conference champion & winner of NCAA tournament berth)
1-seed
xTennessee
xUCLA
xMemphis
xNorth Carolina
2-seed
xGeorgetown
Duke
xTexas
Kansas
3-seed
xXavier
Louisville
xWisconsin
Notre Dame
4-seed
Purdue
Vanderbilt
Stanford
Connecticut
5-seed
Michigan State
zDrake
Indiana
zButler
Butler earns the automatic bid as winners of the Horizon tournament.
6-seed
xBrigham Young
Washington State
Marquette
Clemson
7-seed
Mississippi State
Pittsburgh
Southern California
UNLV
8-seed
Gonzaga
xKent State
Oklahoma
Miami, FL
9-seed
West Virginia
Baylor
Kansas State
Kentucky
10-seed
St. Mary's
Illinois State
zDavidson
Arkansas
11-seed
Massachusetts
Temple
Syracuse
zWestern Kentucky
The Hilltoppers earn an automatic bid as winners of the Sun Belt tournament.
12-seed
Texas A&M
Arizona
Ohio State
South Alabama
13-seed
xStephen F. Austin
zOral Roberts
zGeorge Mason
zSan Diego
Oral Roberts earns an automatic bid as winners of the Summit tournament.
14-seed
zCornell
xUC Santa Barbara
xUtah State
zSiena
15-seed
zAustin Peay
xMaryland-Baltimore County
xAmerican
zBelmont
16-seed
xPortland State
xMorgan State
zWinthrop
Play-in
xSacred Heart
xAlabama State
In the Bracket
No changes
Out of the Bracket
No changes
Last Four In:
Texas A&M
Arizona
Ohio State
South Alabama
Last Four Out:
New Mexico
Virginia Tech
St. Joseph's
UAB
Next Four Out:
Mississippi
Florida
Virginia Commonwealth
Oregon
It's the quiet before the storm. With the only occurrences being the clinching of automatic bids by teams favored to win in the finals, there are no changes to the last four in, last four out, and next four out. Also, no alterations were made in the seedings.
Among the games being played on Wednesday, tournament championship games for the Big Sky and Northeast as well as opening round games for the Big East, Atlantic 10, Pac-10, MAC, and Conference USA.
