Sunday, March 11, 2018

FINAL BRACKET PROJECTION (sort of)

Sort of because you won't see 32 green teams here. The American Tournament finals are still going on but I don't see it effecting seeding at all. That being said, here we go!

ATLANTA BOSTON OMAHA LOS ANGELES
1 Virginia Villanova Xavier Kansas
2 Purdue Cincinnati North Carolina Duke
3 Tennessee Michigan St. Michigan Auburn
4 West Virginia Texas Tech Arizona Wichita St.
5 Clemson Kentucky Gonzaga Ohio St.
6 Miami FL Florida Arkansas Houston
7 Nevada TCU Texas A&M Seton Hall
8 Creighton Virginia Tech Missouri Rhode Island
9 Alabama Kansas St. Butler Providence
10 North Carolina St. Florida St. St. Bonaventure USC
11 Loyola Chicago Saint Mary's UCLA New Mexico St.
11 Texas Oklahoma
12 Murray St. San Diego St. South Dakota St. Buffalo
13 Davidson UNC Greensboro College of Charleston Marshall
14 Stephen F. Austin Wright St. Montana Bucknell
15 Lipscomb Penn Georgia St. UMBC
16 Radford Iona LIU Brooklyn Cal St. Fullerton
16 North Carolina Central Texas Southern

Bracket Projection: 3/10

The Penultimate Bracket is here! I'm putting yesterday's date so that it doesn't get confused with the final bracket that will be posted later today once the final five auto-bids are determined. Here's how things stand:

ATLANTA BOSTON OMAHA LOS ANGELES
1 Virginia Villanova Xavier Kansas
2 Purdue Cincinnati North Carolina Duke
3 Tennessee Michigan St. Michigan Auburn
4 West Virginia Texas Tech Arizona Wichita St.
5 Clemson Kentucky Gonzaga Ohio St.
6 Miami FL Florida Arkansas Houston
7 Nevada TCU Texas A&M Seton Hall
8 Creighton Virginia Tech Missouri Rhode Island
9 Alabama Kansas St. Butler Providence
10 North Carolina St. Florida St. St. Bonaventure USC
11 Loyola Chicago Louisville Saint Mary's UCLA
11 Texas Oklahoma
12 San Diego St. New Mexico St. South Dakota St. Buffalo
13 Murray St. UNC Greensboro College of Charleston Marshall
14 Stephen F. Austin Wright St. Montana Bucknell
15 Lipscomb Penn Georgia St. UMBC
16 Radford Iona LIU Brooklyn Cal St. Fullerton
16 North Carolina Central Texas Southern

The SEC, American, Atlantic 10, Sun Belt, and Ivy League will determine their conference tournament champions today, and then it'll be time to wait and see what the actual committee goes with. Enjoy your Selection Sunday!

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Bracket Projection: 3/8

Only one auto-bid yesterday (Bucknell) and none today, but quite a bit of movement around the bubble. This projection does not include games that occurred earlier today. Those will go into tomorrow's bracket. Things are moving fast:

ATLANTA BOSTON LOS ANGELES OMAHA
1 Virginia Villanova Kansas Xavier
2 Purdue Cincinnati North Carolina Duke
3 Auburn Michigan St. Michigan Tennessee
4 West Virginia Arizona Texas Tech Wichita St.
5 Clemson Kentucky Gonzaga Ohio St.
6 Miami FL Florida Houston TCU
7 Nevada Texas A&M Seton Hall Arkansas
8 Missouri Virginia Tech Creighton Rhode Island
9 Butler St. Bonaventure Florida St. Oklahoma
10 North Carolina St. Kansas St. Texas Saint Mary's
11 USC Baylor Alabama UCLA
11 Providence Arizona St.
12 Buffalo New Mexico St. Middle Tennessee Loyola Chicago
13 Murray St. Vermont South Dakota St. Louisiana Lafayette
14 Montana Bucknell College of Charleston UNC Greensboro
15 Wright St. UC Santa Barbara Iona Penn
16 Radford Texas Southern Stephen F. Austin Lipscomb
16 Hampton LIU Brooklyn

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Bracket Projection: 3/7

Five more teams punched their tickets yesterday, and the number of auto-bids is up to 12. One more will be added to their ranks today, as Bucknell takes on Colgate (who presumably beat Oral-B in the semifinals) for the Toothpaste Patriot League championship. Everything else remains essentially unchanged:


ATLANTA BOSTON LOS ANGELES OMAHA
1 Virginia Villanova Kansas Xavier
2 Purdue North Carolina Cincinnati Duke
3 Auburn Michigan St. Michigan Tennessee
4 West Virginia Arizona Texas Tech Wichita St.
5 Clemson Kentucky Gonzaga Ohio St.
6 Miami FL Florida Houston TCU
7 Nevada Texas A&M Seton Hall Arkansas
8 Oklahoma Missouri Creighton Rhode Island
9 Butler Florida St. Virginia Tech North Carolina St.
10 Kansas St. Arizona St. Saint Mary's St. Bonaventure
11 Texas UCLA Providence USC
11 Baylor Alabama
12 Buffalo New Mexico St. Middle Tennessee Loyola Chicago
13 Murray St. Vermont South Dakota St. Louisiana Lafayette
14 Montana Bucknell College of Charleston UNC Greensboro
15 Wright St. UC Santa Barbara Iona Penn
16 Radford Texas Southern Stephen F. Austin Lipscomb
16 Hampton LIU Brooklyn

Several bubble teams are in action today and tomorrow as the bigger conferences begin their tournaments, so that will be something to keep a close eye on as Selection Sunday draws nearer.

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Bracket Projection: 3/6

I did a full reevaluation after hastily posting yesterday's bracket. A few teams have moved, but not as much as I would've expected. Most notable are Florida and Miami continuing to climb. Also UNC Greensboro and Iona did punch their ticket, as expected, so we're up to 7 green highlights:


ATLANTA BOSTON LOS ANGELES OMAHA
1 Virginia Villanova Kansas Xavier
2 Purdue North Carolina Cincinnati Duke
3 Auburn Michigan St. Michigan Tennessee
4 West Virginia Arizona Texas Tech Wichita St.
5 Clemson Kentucky Ohio St. Gonzaga
6 Miami FL Florida Houston TCU
7 Nevada Texas A&M Seton Hall Arkansas
8 Oklahoma Missouri Creighton Rhode Island
9 Butler Florida St. Virginia Tech North Carolina St.
10 Kansas St. Arizona St. St. Bonaventure Saint Mary's
11 Texas UCLA Providence USC
11 Baylor Alabama
12 Buffalo New Mexico St. Middle Tennessee Loyola Chicago
13 Murray St. Vermont Louisiana Lafayette South Dakota
14 Montana Bucknell College of Charleston UNC Greensboro
15 Wright St. UC Santa Barbara Wagner Penn
16 Radford Iona Stephen F. Austin Lipscomb
16 Hampton Texas Southern

Saint Mary's also got upset by BYU which could put them in jeopardy, but I haven't looked closely at that yet. That'll be evaluated in tomorrow's update. Additionally, a whopping five conference tournament championships are tonight, so we'll see if Gonzaga, South Dakota, College of Charleston, Wright State, and Wagner (which in my head I always pronounce with the German pronunciation) can also seal the deal.


Monday, March 5, 2018

Bracket Projection: 3/5

Happy Monday! Bracket week has arrived, and this year it comes with the sweet satisfaction of Michigan having already sealed an automatic bid and a huge resume boost from beating Michigan State and Purdue. As mentioned a few weeks ago, the extreme best-case scenario of Michigan winning their last two games and then four straight in the conference tournament has rocketed them up to a 3 seed, which is fun. What's less fun is the 1 and the 2 in this exact scenario, but of course, the regions are just for fun. Here is the rest of the bracket as it stands today. Like last year, green highlight means the team has won their conference tournament and secured an auto-bid:


ATLANTA BOSTON OMAHA LOS ANGELES
1 Virginia Villanova Xavier Kansas
2 Purdue Cincinnati North Carolina Duke
3 Auburn Tennessee Michigan St. Michigan
4 Arizona Clemson Texas Tech Wichita St.
5 Kentucky Ohio St. Gonzaga West Virginia
6 Houston Nevada Arkansas TCU
7 Seton Hall Rhode Island Texas A&M Creighton
8 Oklahoma Florida Miami FL Butler
9 Saint Mary's Virginia Tech Missouri Florida St.
10 North Carolina St. Alabama Arizona St. USC
11 Middle Tennessee St. Bonaventure Providence Louisville
11 Texas Kansas St.
12 New Mexico St. Baylor Louisiana Lafayette Loyola Chicago
13 Buffalo Vermont Murray St. South Dakota
14 Montana Bucknell College of Charleston UNC Greensboro
15 UC Santa Barbara Wright St. Wagner Penn
16 Radford Iona Lipscomb Stephen F. Austin
16 Hampton Texas Southern

Iona and UNC Greensboro attempt to punch their tickets today, with Fairfield and East Tennessee State as their respective challengers. Enjoy the madness this week!