Last Eight In: Arizona State, Alabama, Saint Mary’s, La Salle, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Minnesota, San Diego State
First Eight Out: Southern Miss, Iowa, Baylor, California, Villanova, Boise State, Charlotte, BYU
It was another exciting week of basketball, highlighted by Maryland beating Duke and ending, for the most part, with the Hurricanes of Miami squeaking past Clemson. We here at College Sports Madness have both the Blue Devils and Hurricanes as #1 seeds. Projecting how things will end up at the end of the season, not how things are now, it may seem a bit odd to have two ACC teams as #1 seeds. However, it seems quite likely that Duke will beat Miami at home on March 2nd. Nobody is going to knock Miami down much for losing at Cameron. If the Hurricanes at least make it to the ACC Tournament final and lose, again, to Duke, they could very well sneak into the top line of the bracket. If Miami wins in the conference tournament, Duke would still be deserving of a top seed. The Big Ten will almost certainly get a #1 seed, perhaps two. But it is much easier to see Indiana, Michigan or Michigan State faltering a couple more times with the tough schedules that lay ahead. For now we project the Hoosiers. Florida could wrap up a #1 seed as well with the relatively easy competition in the SEC. The Gators could even lose a game, like at Missouri, Tennessee or Kentucky and still earn a top seed with an SEC tournament title. That leaves Gonzaga, Syracuse or Georgetown as Miami or Dukes likely competition. If the Zags lose, they are out of the picture, with a road trip to BYU being the most likely option or, of course, in the conference tournament. Even if they win out, many other teams from quality conferences will make big conference tournament runs while Gonzaga watches from home. Syracuse and Georgetown play each other twice and the Orange also face off against Louisville. If one team can come out of the fray with a Big East title and a deep conference tournament run, they will make things interesting, but more than likely the Big East will continue to beat up on itself leaving a slew of very dangerous teams in the two to six seed range.
See the Projected NCAA Tournament Bracket
ACC: Miami, Duke, North Carolina State, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland
Big East: Syracuse, Georgetown, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Notre Dame, Cincinnati
Big 12: Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Iowa State
Big Ten: Indiana, Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota
Pac-12: Arizona, Oregon, UCLA, Colorado, Arizona State
SEC: Florida, Missouri, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama
A-10: Butler, VCU, Saint Louis, La Salle
CAA: Northeastern
C-USA: Memphis
Horizon: Valparaiso
MAC: Ohio
MVC: Creighton, Wichita State
MWC: New Mexico, Colorado State, UNLV, San Diego State
WAC: Louisiana Tech
WCC: Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s
America East: Albany
A-Sun: Mercer
Big Sky: Montana
Big South: Charleston Southern
Big West: Long Beach State
Ivy League: Harvard
MAAC: Loyola (MD)
MEAC: Norfolk State
NEC: Robert Morris
OVC: Belmont
Patriot: Lehigh
Southern: Davidson
Southland: Stephen F. Austin
Summit: South Dakota State
Sun Belt: Middle Tennessee
SWAC: Southern
See the Projected NCAA Tournament Bracket
