2022 NCAA Tournament bracketology: January 25 projection

When it comes to the NCAA tournament, this isn’t your father’s ACC.

Hard to imagine that the storied basketball conference is not strewn with potential high NCAA tournament seeds and legitimate national contenders, but that’s reality now. Duke, of course, has a realistic chance to cap Mike Krzyzewski’s remarkable career with another national championship. But beyond that, the ACC conversation centers on bubble talk.

It is the nation’s sixth-best league by most metrics. And in an illustration of its relative mediocrity, two of the top teams in the conference standings — Florida State and Miami — are marginal NCAA tournament teams at the moment. What’s more, because of the scarcity of quality teams throughout the league, it will be difficult for any of potential double-digit NCAA tournament seeds from the ACC to substantially bolster their résumés before Selection Sunday if they are unable to beat the Blue Devils along the way. Aside from Duke, only Wake Forest (33) and North Carolina (46) rank in the top 50 in NET rankings. And only Duke is ranked in the Associated Press top 25.

In a season that’s anything but vintage for the ACC, don’t be surprised to see two of its teams wind up in the First Four in Dayton.

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)
Baylor (Big 12)

2 seeds

Kansas
Purdue
Michigan State (Big Ten)
UCLA

3 seeds

Houston (American)
Wisconsin
Villanova (Big East)
Duke (ACC)

4 seeds

Texas Tech
Kentucky
Ohio State
Xavier

5 seeds

LSU
Tennessee
Alabama
Providence

6 seeds

UConn
USC
Illinois
Iowa State

7 seeds

Marquette
Seton Hall
Texas
BYU

8 seeds

Loyola (MVC)
Iowa
Colorado State (MWC)
Davidson (Atlantic 10)

9 seeds

San Diego State
Saint Mary’s
Indiana
Creighton

10 seeds

San Francisco
Wyoming
Wake Forest
Murray State (OVC)

11 seeds

Florida State
Miami
West Virginia
TCU

12 seeds

Florida/North Carolina
Oregon/Oklahoma
Iona (Metro Atlantic)
UAB (Conference USA)

13 seeds

Toledo (MAC)
Chattanooga (Southern)
South Dakota State (Summit)
New Mexico State (WAC)

14 seeds

Wagner (Northeast)
Cleveland State (Horizon)
UNC-Wilmington (Colonial)
Vermont (America East)

15 seeds

Loyola-Maryland (Patriot)
Princeton (Ivy)
Weber State (Big Sky)
Liberty (Atlantic Sun)

16 seeds

Arkansas State (Sun Belt)/Cal State-Fullerton (Big West)
Southern (SWAC)/Norfolk State (MEAC)
New Orleans (Southland)
Winthrop (Big South)

Sites for the 2022 NCAA Tournament are listed here.