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 (AQ)
American Athletic Conference (2)
UAB (highest remaining seed in league tournament), Florida Atlantic
Atlantic 10 (2)
VCU (highest remaining seed in league tournament), Dayton
ACC (4)
NC State (AQ), North Carolina, Duke, Clemson
Big 12 (9)
Iowa State (AQ), Houston, Texas Tech, Kansas, Baylor, BYU, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas
Big East (4)
UConn (AQ), Marquette, Creighton, Seton Hall
Big Sky (1)
Montana State (AQ)
Big South (1)
Longwood (AQ)
Big Ten (6)
Illinois (highest remaining seed in league tournament), Wisconsin, Purdue, Northwestern, Nebraska, Michigan State
Big West (1)
Long Beach State (AQ)
CAA (1)
Charleston (AQ)
Conference-USA (1)
Western Kentucky (AQ)
Horizon League (1)
Oakland (AQ)
Ivy League (1)
Yale (AQ)
MAAC (1)
St. Peter’s (AQ)
MAC (1)
Akron (AQ)
MEAC (1)
Howard (AQ)
Missouri Valley (1)
Drake (AQ)
Mountain West (6)
New Mexico (AQ), San Diego State, Utah State, Colorado State, Boise State, Nevada
NEC (1)
Wagner (AQ)
OVC (1)
Morehead State (AQ)
Pac-12 (3)
Oregon (AQ), Arizona, Washington State
Patriot League (1)
Colgate (AQ)
SEC (8)
Auburn (highest remaining seed in league tournament), Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Florida, Texas A&M
Southern (1)
Samford (AQ)
Southland (1)
McNeese (AQ)
SWAC (1)
Grambling (AQ)
Summit (1)
South Dakota State (AQ)
Sun Belt (1)
James Madison (AQ)
WCC (2)
Saint Mary’s (AQ), Gonzaga
WAC (1)
Grand Canyon (AQ)
First Four Out
Colorado, St. John’s, Providence, Pitt
Top 16 Seeds
1: Purdue, UConn, Houston, Iowa State
2: North Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona, Marquette,
3: Illinois, Creighton, Baylor, Auburn
4: Duke, Kansas, Alabama, Kentucky
Five Things To Know
- Dana Altman has now led Oregon to the Pac-12 Tournament title three times during his tenure — 2013, 2019, and 2024 — when the Ducks were not projected to be an at-large team for the NCAA Tournament. In both 2013 and 2019, Oregon advanced to the Sweet 16.
- Up until a few weeks ago, the Big East had eight teams in contention for the NCAA Tournament. There’s a strong possibility that the league could only have three teams — UConn, Marquette, and Creighton — hear their names called later today.
- The Mountain West should have six single digit seeds in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
- Earlier this week, Long Beach State announced that it was parting ways with Dan Monson after 17 seasons. On Saturday, he led his team to the Big West Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Anarchy? Nope. Just college basketball.
- 21 different teams who won their conference regular season title have now been eliminated from their conference tournament.
Leftovers
- The Breakfast Buffet: Shorthanded UConn gets back in the ring against Baylor, Kam Jones leads Marquette into Hilton Coliseum, a big night on Tobacco Road
- The Breakfast Buffet: Kentucky has a big week, Egor Demin visits Amica Mutual Pavilion, Big Ten play begins
- Episode 475 — Baylor’s Scott Drew
- The Breakfast Buffet: Trey Kaufman-Renn, ACC and Big East need to move the needle, Rhode Island
- The Breakfast Buffet: RIP Lou Carnesecca, Oregon, San Diego State
