2022 NCAA Tournament bracketology: January 18 projection
To get a sense of the parity throughout college basketball this season (which should lead to an especially entertaining NCAA tournament), consider this: On Saturday, nine teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 lost, including seven that fell to unranked teams.
Gonzaga, Auburn and Arizona remain in solid position for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament at the moment. Purdue earned the final slot on the top seed line this week by virtue of its dramatic double-overtime victory at Illinois on Monday. Kansas is right on its heels, as is Baylor, which uncharacteristically has suffered back-to-back losses at home.
Top 10
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Kentucky QB change
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- 3Hot
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3-loss SEC teams or Penn State?
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Danny Stutsman Jersey Theft
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In another development, keep an eye on a couple of non-Power 5 leagues west of the Mississippi: the West Coast Conference and the Mountain West Conference. Clearly Gonzaga is a strong national title contender again. But beyond that, there is considerable depth that should result in a bevy of berths. It’s not out of the question for the two leagues to combine for eight tournament bids.
As the season continues to take shape, come back each Tuesday for our latest projection of what the 2022 NCAA Tournament field will look like on “Selection Sunday” (which is March 13, by the way).
Note: Teams projected to be conference champs are in bold type, with the conference listed.
1 seeds
Gonzaga (West Coast)
Auburn (SEC)
Arizona (Pac-12)
Purdue (Big Ten)
2 seeds
Kansas (Big 12)
Baylor
Duke (ACC)
Wisconsin
3 seeds
LSU
Michigan State
Houston (American)
UCLA
4 seeds
Villanova (Big East)
USC
Kentucky
Illinois
5 seeds
Iowa State
Texas Tech
Providence
Xavier
6 seeds
UConn
Ohio State
Tennessee
Texas
7 seeds
Loyola (Missouri Valley)
Alabama
Seton Hall
San Diego State (Mountain West)
8 seeds
BYU
Colorado State
Marquette
Iowa
9 seeds
Davidson (Atlantic 10)
West Virginia
Murray State (Ohio Valley)
North Carolina
10 seeds
Oklahoma
Indiana
San Francisco
Mississippi State
11 seeds
Iona (Metro Atlantic)
Belmont
Saint Mary’s
Wake Forest
12 seeds
Miami
Louisiana Tech (Conference USA)
UAB/Boise State
Wyoming/TCU
13 seeds
Grand Canyon (WAC)
South Dakota State (Summit)
Chattanooga (Southern)
Ohio (MAC)
14 seeds
Vermont (America East)
UNC Wilmington (Colonial)
Oakland (Horizon)
Wagner (Northeast)
15 seeds
Navy (Patriot)
Princeton (Ivy)
Liberty (Atlantic Sun)
Cal State Fullerton (Big West)
16 seeds
Troy (Sun Belt)
Winthrop (Big South)
Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Southland)/Alcorn State (SWAC)
Norfolk State (MEAC)/Weber State (Big Sky)
Sites for the 2022 NCAA Tournament are listed here.