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BRACKET BREAKDOWN: Jan. 12th

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)
Eastern Kentucky (AQ)

America East (1)
UMass Lowell (AQ)

American Athletic Conference (2)
Memphis (AQ), Florida Atlantic

Atlantic 10 (1)
Dayton (AQ)

ACC (4)
North Carolina (AQ), Duke, Clemson, Miami

Big 12 (8)
Baylor (AQ), Kansas, BYU, Oklahoma, Houston, Texas, Iowa State, Texas Tech

Big East (7)
UConn (AQ), Marquette, Creighton, UConn, Providence, Villanova, St. John’s, Seton Hall

Big Sky (1)
Northern Colorado (AQ)

Big South (1)
High Point (AQ)

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

Big West (1)
UC Irvine (AQ)

CAA (1)
Drexel (AQ)

Conference-USA (1)
Jacksonville State (AQ)

Horizon League (1)
Oakland (AQ)

Ivy League (1)
Princeton (AQ)

MAAC (1)
St. Peter’s (AQ)

MAC (1)
Akron (AQ)

MEAC (1)
NC Central (AQ)

Missouri Valley (1)
Drake (AQ)

Mountain West (4)
Utah State (AQ), Colorado State, San Diego State, Nevada

NEC (1)
Merrimack (AQ)

OVC (1)
Morehead State (AQ)

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

Patriot League (1)
Lafayette (AQ)

SEC (8)
Auburn (AQ), Tennessee, Ole Miss, Kentucky, 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)
Troy (AQ)

WCC (1)
San Francisco (AQ)

WAC (1)
Grand Canyon (AQ)

First Four Out

Cincinnati, Wake Forest, TCU, Butler

Top 16 Seeds

1: Purdue, Houston, UConn, Arizona
2: Wisconsin, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky
3: North Carolina, Auburn, Illinois, Duke
4: Marquette, Baylor, Creighton, San Diego State

Five Things To Know

  • If Purdue winds up as the top seed in the Midwest Region, it will play first and second round games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
  • The ACC only has three teams — North Carolina, Duke, and Clemson — ranked in the Top 48 of the NET.
  • St. John’s currently has six Quad 1 and 2 victories — the second-most in the Big East behind UConn.
  • New Mexico needs to start stacking quality victories as the Lobos currently do not possess a Quad 1 or 2 win. Richard Pitino’s squad can change that with back-to-back home games against San Diego State and Utah State. Both will be Quad 1 opportunities.
  • Butler went up 15 spots in the NET — from 63 to 48 — following Wednesday night’s win at Marquette.

Leftovers