Last Eight In: La Salle, Mississippi, Boise State, Kentucky, Temple, Virginia, Cincinnati, California
First Eight Out: Villanova, Tennessee, Alabama, Southern Miss, Maryland, Iowa, Baylor, Arizona State
Conference tournaments are always fun, but next week in Nashville will be extremely interesting. Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama are all squarely on the bubble. And all four of those teams are heading into the last weekend of the season with a shot at earning a bye to the quarterfinals in the conference tournament. That extra day off is nice, and winning this weekend is more important, but sometimes playing that extra game is not a bad thing. This is a tight bubble, as usual, and one more “W” on the resume never hurts. Two of the SEC bubble teams will end up as the #5 and #6 seeds and could move on to play the other bubble teams in the quarterfinals. However, the fifth and sixth seeds must play their first game against a squad that played the previous day. That has proven to be tricky over the years. Teams like Vanderbilt or South Carolina, likely opponents against the #5 and #6 seed in the second round, are dangerous teams…especially with a game at the Bridgestone Arena under their belt.
See the Projected NCAA Tournament Bracket
ACC: Duke, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia
Big East: Georgetown, Louisville, Syracuse, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Cincinnati
Big 12: Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Iowa State
Big Ten: Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois
Pac-12: Arizona, Oregon, UCLA, Colorado, California
SEC: Florida, Missouri, Kentucky, Mississippi
A-10: Saint Louis, Butler, VCU, Temple, La Salle
CAA: Northeastern
C-USA: Memphis
Horizon: Valparaiso
MAC: Ohio
MVC: Wichita State, Creighton
MWC: New Mexico, Colorado State, UNLV, San Diego State, Boise 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: Bucknell
Southern: Davidson
Southland: Stephen F. Austin
Summit: South Dakota State
Sun Belt: Middle Tennessee
SWAC: Southern
See the Projected NCAA Tournament Bracket
