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BRACKET BREAKDOWN: March 14th

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)
Montana State (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 (AQ)

Pac-12 (3)
Arizona (regular season champion), Washington State, Colorado

Patriot League (1)
Colgate (AQ)

SEC (7)
Tennessee (regular season champion), Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, Auburn, Mississippi State, Florida

Southern (1)
Samford (AQ)

Southland (1)
McNeese (AQ)

SWAC (1)
Grambling (regular season champion)

Summit (1)
South Dakota State (AQ)

Sun Belt (1)
James Madison (AQ)

WCC (2)
Saint Mary’s (AQ), Gonzaga

WAC (1)
Grand Canyon (regular season champion)

First Four Out

Texas A&M, Wake Forest, Pitt, Villanova

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

  • UConn begins Big East Tournament play today against Xavier. The Huskies have not won the Big East Tournament since 2011, which is the same year that Kemba Walker led the Huskies to the national title. UConn was in the American Athletic Conference from 2013 to 2020.
  • The loser of today’s ACC Tournament game between Pitt and Wake Forest will be out of consideration for the NCAA Tournament.
  • Kansas will enter the NCAA Tournament with 10 losses for the first time under Bill Self.
  • Today’s Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals kicks off arguably the most exciting three days in the history of this event. Six of the eight teams — Utah State, Nevada, Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State, and New Mexico — are all currently projected to make the NCAA Tournament in the bracket above. All of today’s games can be seen on CBS Sports Network.
  • McNeese’s 19-win turnaround ties the biggest single season turnaround in college basketball history. Will Wade’s squad will take a 30-3 record into March Madness.

Leftovers