And Here. We. Go!
Between now and Selection Sunday, each day 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 won its league’s regular season will be listed as that league’s “automatic qualifier” until a team has clinched an “automatic qualifier” to the NCAA Tournament. Teams that have already earned automatic qualifiers will be listed in BOLD.
The Current Field
Atlantic Sun (1)
Stetson (AQ)
America East (1)
Vermont (regular season champion)
American Athletic Conference (2)
South Florida (regular season champion), Florida Atlantic
Atlantic 10 (2)
Richmond (regular season champion), Dayton
ACC (4)
North Carolina (regular season champion), Duke, Clemson, Virginia
Big 12 (9)
Houston (regular season champion), Iowa State, Texas Tech, Kansas, Baylor, BYU, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas
Big East (5)
UConn (regular season champion), Marquette, Creighton, Seton Hall, St. John’s
Big Sky (1)
TBD (AQ)
Big South (1)
Longwood (AQ)
Big Ten (6)
Purdue (regular season champion), Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois, Nebraska, Michigan State
Big West (1)
UC Irvine (regular season champion)
CAA (1)
Charleston (AQ)
Conference-USA (1)
Sam Houston (regular season champion)
Horizon League (1)
Oakland (AQ)
Ivy League (1)
Princeton (regular season champion)
MAAC (1)
Quinnipiac (regular season champion)
MAC (1)
Toledo (regular season champion)
MEAC (1)
Norfolk State (regular season champion)
Missouri Valley (1)
Drake (AQ)
Mountain West (6)
Utah State (AQ), San Diego State, Colorado State, New Mexico, Boise State, Nevada
NEC (1)
Wagner (AQ)
OVC (1)
Morehead State (regular season champion)
Pac-12 (3)
Arizona (regular season champion), Washington State, Colorado
Patriot League (1)
Colgate (regular season champion)
SEC (7)
Tennessee (regular season champion), Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, Auburn, Mississippi State, Florida
Southern (1)
Samford (AQ)
Southland (1)
McNeese (regular season champion)
SWAC (1)
Grambling (regular season champion)
Summit (1)
South Dakota State (AQ)
Sun Belt (1)
James Madison (AQ)
WCC (2)
Saint Mary’s (regular season champion), Gonzaga
WAC (1)
Grand Canyon (regular season champion)
First Four Out
Texas A&M, Wake Forest, Villanova, Pitt
Top 16 Seeds
1: Purdue, UConn, Houston, Tennessee
2: Arizona, North Carolina, Creighton, Marquette
3: Baylor, Iowa State, Duke, Kentucky
4: Kansas, Auburn, Illinois, Alabama
Five Things To Know
- Creighton will enter this week’s Big East Tournament with 15 Quad 1 and 2 wins. Only Purdue, UConn, and Houston have more. The Bluejays are in position to be a top-eight seed on Selection Sunday if they perform well this week at MSG.
- Arizona is 6-0 in Pac-12 Tournament games under Tommy Lloyd.
- Will the Mountain West get six teams into the NCAA Tournament? It all depends on how New Mexico performs in Las Vegas. The Lobos open the Mountain West Tournament today against Air Force and if they win, they’ll play Boise State in the quarterfinals. Richard Pitino’s team needs two wins to feel securely in the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday.
- St. John’s hasn’t been to the semifinals of the Big East Tournament since 2000, which was the last time that this program won a game in the NCAA Tournament.
- McNeese won 11 games last season — it has 29 entering tonight’s Southland Tournament title game against Nicholls. The Cowboys would be the third program that Will Wade — who previously coached at LSU, VCU, and Chattanooga — has taken to the NCAA Tournament.
Leftovers
- The Breakfast Buffet: Indiana eyes a signature win against Illinois, St. John’s bench, SEC needs to a better job spacing out games
- Episode 481 — Ole Miss’ Chris Beard
- The Breakfast Buffet: Jeremy Fears, UCLA is desperate for a win against Rutgers, the Mountain West
- The Breakfast Buffet: Cooper Flagg is taking things to another level, Kentucky, RJ Luis
- The Breakfast Buffet: Villanova-St. John’s has a “big game feel”, Shakeel Moore, Alabama/Texas A&M
