Bracketology is both the art and the science of looking at the resumes of 70+ teams and deciding which teams should be “in” and “out” of the field, not based on what I think, but based on the historical trends of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. Predicting what the Committee will do is often a difficult venture but that’s the fun and the challenge. I’ll be updating my bracket projection at least once a week from here until Selection Sunday and including some analytical posts delving deeper into the science of Bracketology.
For starters, check out the Bracketology 101 post to give some baseline for how the Committee develops the bracket.
Here is my latest bracket projection of the 2023-2024 College Basketball Season. Once again, I will be taking part in The Bracket Matrix‘s annual bracket competition where I am ranked 104th in the nation.
Projected Seed List
Bracket Date: 3/17 Final
Highest remaining seeds in conference tournaments are projected as auto-bids and are listed in bold. Teams have have clinched their automatic bids are in bold red. The last 4 in teams that play in the “First Four” play-in games are listed in italics.
1 seeds: Purdue, UConn, Houston, North Carolina
2 seeds: Iowa St, Tennessee, Marquette, Arizona
3 seeds: Baylor, Creighton, Kansas, Kentucky
4 seeds: Duke, Illinois, Alabama, Auburn
5 seeds: BYU, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Texas Tech
6 seeds: San Diego St, Florida, Washington St, St Mary’s
7 seeds: Gonzaga, Clemson, Utah St, Dayton
8 seeds: Nevada, Boise St, Nebraska, Texas
9 seeds: TCU, Colorado St, Mississippi St, Northwestern
10 seeds: FAU, New Mexico, Michigan St, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Colorado
11 seeds: Drake, Oregon, NC State, James Madison
12 seeds: Grand Canyon, McNeese, Duquesne, Yale
13 seeds: UAB, Samford, Vermont, Charleston
14 seeds: Akron, Oakland, Morehead St, Colgate
15 seeds: Western Kentucky, Long Beach St, South Dakota St, Longwood
16 seeds: St. Peter’s, Stetson, Grambling St, Montana St, Howard, Wagner
Note: If Temple wins the AAC, they would be a 16-seed (above Stetson). St. Peter’s would move up to a 15, WKU would move up to a 14, and Akron would move up to a 13.
The Bubble
Last 4 Byes: Colorado St, Mississippi St, Northwestern, FAU
Last 4 IN: Michigan St, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Colorado
First 4 OUT: Seton Hall, St John’s, Pitt, Indiana St
Next 6 OUT: Providence, Virginia, Villanova, Cincinnati, Kansas St, Wake Forest