Who's ready for a new weekly column?
Between now and Selection Sunday, each Friday I'll give a “BRACKET BREAKDOWN” with my 68 projected teams for the 2023 NCAA Tournament along with my Top 16 seeds as well as emerging trends.
The team who is currently in first place in their respective conference will be listed as that league's “automatic qualifier”.
The Current Field
Atlantic Sun (1)
Stetson (AQ)
America East (1)
UMass Lowell (AQ)
American Athletic Conference (2)
Houston (AQ), UCF
Atlantic 10 (1)
Dayton (AQ)
ACC (6)
Clemson (AQ), Miami, Virginia, Duke, North Carolina, NC State
Big 12 (9)
Kansas (AQ), Kansas State, Baylor, Texas, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, TCU, West Virginia, Oklahoma
Big East (5)
Providence (AQ), Xavier, Marquette, Creighton, UConn
Big Sky (1)
Eastern Washington (AQ)
Big South (1)
Longwood (AQ)
Big Ten (10)
Wisconsin (AQ), Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, Penn State, Rutgers, Iowa, Maryland
Big West (1)
UC Santa Barbara (AQ)
CAA (1)
Charleston (AQ)
Conference-USA (1)
Florida Atlantic (AQ)
Horizon League (1)
Milwaukee (AQ)
Ivy League (1)
Princeton (AQ)
MAAC (1)
Siena (AQ)
MAC (1)
Kent State (AQ)
MEAC (1)
Norfolk State (AQ)
Missouri Valley (1)
Indiana State (AQ)
Mountain West (2)
San Diego State (AQ), New Mexico
NEC (1)
Fairleigh Dickinson (AQ)
OVC (1)
SIU Edwardsville (AQ)
Pac-12 (3)
UCLA (AQ), Arizona, Arizona State
Patriot League (1)
Colgate (AQ)
SEC (6)
Alabama (AQ), Missouri, Tennessee, Auburn, Mississippi State, Arkansas
Southern (1)
Samford (AQ)
Southland (1)
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (AQ)
SWAC (1)
Southern (AQ)
Summit (1)
Oral Roberts (AQ)
Sun Belt (1)
Troy (AQ)
WCC (2)
Gonzaga (AQ), Saint Mary's
WAC (1)
Utah Valley (AQ)
First Four Out
Utah, Memphis, Virginia Tech, Nevada
Top 16 Seeds
1: Kansas, Purdue, Alabama, Houston
2: UConn, UCLA, Arizona, Tennessee
3: Gonzaga, Iowa State, Xavier, Kansas State
4: Texas, Virginia, Marquette, Miami
Five Things To Know
- Purdue currently has more Quad 1 wins – six – than any other team in college basketball.
- Kentucky's loss to South Carolina on Tuesday at Rup p Arena was a Quad 4 defeat. The Wildcats currently do not have a Quad 1 win on their resume entering Saturday's game at Tennessee.'
- The Big East currently has five teams – UConn, Xavier, Marquette, Creighton, and Providence – ranked in the Top 32 of the NET. Seton Hall is the next highest rated team from this conference at 69.'
- Virginia Tech has lost five straight games and is no longer in the bracket above. The last four losses have come with Hunter Cattoor (9.6 points) out of the lineup due to a forearm injury. Cattoor was last season's ACC Tournament MVP.'
- As of today, every single Big 12 road victory still equals a Quad 1 win.