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BRACKET BREAKDOWN: Jan. 5th

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 2024 NCAA Tournament along with my Top 16 seeds as well as emerging trends.

*The team who’s 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)
Memphis (AQ), Florida Atlantic

Atlantic 10 (1)
Dayton (AQ)

ACC (5)
Miami (AQ), Clemson, Virginia, North Carolina, Duke

Big 12 (7)
Houston (AQ), Kansas, BYU, Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas, Iowa State

Big East (5)
Villanova (AQ), Marquette, Creighton, UConn, Providence

Big Sky (1)
Weber State (AQ)

Big South (1)
High Point (AQ)

Big Ten (7)
Illinois (AQ), Purdue, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Nebraska, Michigan State

Big West (1)
UC Irvine (AQ)

CAA (1)
Drexel (AQ)

Conference-USA (1)
New Mexico State (AQ)

Horizon League (1)
Purdue Fort Wayne (AQ)

Ivy League (1)
Princeton (AQ)

MAAC (1)
Marist (AQ)

MAC (1)
Bowling Green (AQ)

MEAC (1)
Norfolk State (AQ)

Missouri Valley (1)
Drake (AQ)

Mountain West (5)
Colorado State (AQ), New Mexico, San Diego State, Nevada, Utah State

NEC (1)
Central Connecticut (AQ)

OVC (1)
Morehead State (AQ)

Pac-12 (4)
Oregon (AQ), Colorado, Arizona, Utah

Patriot League (1)
American (AQ)

SEC (9)
Ole Miss (AQ), Tennessee, Auburn, Kentucky, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, South Carolina

Southern (1)
Samford (AQ)

Southland (1)
McNeese (AQ)

SWAC (1)
Southern (AQ)

Summit (1)
South Dakota State (AQ)

Sun Belt (1)
James Madison (AQ)

WCC (1)
San Francisco (AQ)

WAC (1)
Grand Canyon (AQ)

First Four Out

St. John’s, Kansas State, Texas Tech, TCU

Top 16 Seeds

1: Purdue, Houston, Kansas, UConn
2: Tennessee, Arizona, Marquette, Kentucky
3: Clemson, BYU, Illinois, North Carolina
4: Wisconsin, Memphis, Duke, Colorado State

Five Things To Know

  • Purdue leads the nation with eight Quad 1 and 2 victories entering tonight’s game against Illinois.
  • Gonzaga’s next projected Quad 1 opportunity will be on Feb. 10th against Kentucky at Rupp Arena. The Bulldogs are not currently projected as an at-large team in the bracket above. The last time that this program missed the NCAA Tournament? 1998.
  • Five teams from the Mountain West — Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, Nevada, and Utah State — are in the projected bracket above. This conference hasn’t had five teams reach the NCAA Tournament since 2013.
  • St. John’s was the first team out of the projected bracket above, but it’s important to note that the Red Storm are 3-1 with UMass transfer RJ Luis (11.5 points, five rebounds) in the lineup, with its only loss coming at UConn. Remember: The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee always evaluates a team on Selection Sunday based on the product that it will put on the floor during March Madness.
  • The Atlantic 10’s quest to again be a multi-bid league took a major hit when St. Joe’s lost at Rhode Island on Wednesday. The Hawks now have a Quad 3 loss (Rhode Island) and a Quad 4 loss (Texas A&M-Commerce) on their resume.

Leftovers