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BRACKET BREAKDOWN

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 2022 NCAA Tournament along with my Top 16 seeds as well as emerging trends.

The team who is currently in first place in their respective conference will be listed as that league’s “automatic qualifier”.

The Current Field

Atlantic Sun (1)
Jacksonville State (AQ)
America East (1)
Vermont (AQ)
American Athletic Conference (3)
Houston (AQ), SMU, Memphis
Atlantic 10 (1)
Davidson (AQ)
ACC (4)
Duke (AQ), Miami, Notre Dame, Wake Forest
Big 12 (6)
Kansas (AQ), Baylor, Texas, Texas Tech, Iowa State, TCU
Big East (7)
Providence (AQ), Villanova, UConn, Seton Hall, Xavier, Creighton, Marquette
Big Sky (1)
Montana State (AQ)
Big South (1)
Longwood (AQ)
Big Ten (9)
Wisconsin (AQ), Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, Iowa, Rutgers, Michigan
Big West (1)
Long Beach State (AQ)
CAA (1)
Towson (AQ)
Conference-USA (1)
North Texas (AQ)
Horizon League (1)
Cleveland State (AQ)
Ivy League (1)
Yale (AQ)
MAAC (1)
Iona (AQ)
MAC (1)
Ohio (AQ)
MEAC (1)
Norfolk State (AQ)
Missouri Valley (1)
Loyola Chicago (AQ)
Mountain West (4)
Boise State (AQ), Colorado State, San Diego State, Wyoming
NEC (1)
Wagner (AQ)
OVC (1)
Murray State (AQ)
Pac-12 (3)
Arizona (AQ), USC, UCLA
Patriot League (1)
Colgate (AQ)
SEC (6)
Auburn (AQ), Kentucky, Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, Arkansas
Southern (1)
Chattanooga (AQ)
Southland (1)
New Orleans (AQ)
SWAC (1)
Texas Southern (AQ)
Summit (1)
South Dakota State (AQ)
Sun Belt (1)
Texas State (AQ)
WCC (3)
Gonzaga (AQ), Saint Mary’s, San Francisco
WAC (1)
New Mexico State (AQ)

First Four Out

BYU, Oregon, North Carolina, Florida

Top 16 Seeds

1: Gonzaga, Auburn, Arizona, Kentucky
2: Kansas, Purdue, Texas Tech, Baylor
3: Duke, Villanova, Illinois, Wisconsin
4: Providence, UCLA, Tennessee, UConn

Five Things To Know

  • If head-to-head matchups don’t matter, then we all need to get out of the bracketing business. That’s why Kentucky is listed ahead of Kansas on the projection above and also why SMU is ahead of Memphis on the seed line. The Ponies have swept the Tigers this season.
  • Why is UConn listed as a four seed in the projection above ahead of teams like Texas and Houston? The Huskies have 12 Quad 1 and 2 wins while the Longhorns and Cougars have nine and six respectively.
  • North Carolina’s regular season finale at Duke on March 5th — which will be Mike Krzyzewski’s final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium — may essentially represent a “win and in” scenario for the Tar Heels, who are listed among the “First Four Out” in the projection above.
  • Three bubble teams that can’t afford any more losses before their conference tournament: Davidson, Loyola Chicago, and Memphis.
  • The loss of starting guard Elijah Harkless (10 points, 4.1 rebounds) to a season-ending injury has been a backbreaker for Oklahoma, who is now just 14-14 overall. The Sooners have lost seven of their last eight games.

Leftovers