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BRACKET BREAKDOWN: March 8th

And Here. We. Go!

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)
Stetson (AQ)

America East (1)
Vermont (AQ)

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

Atlantic 10 (2)
Richmond (AQ), Dayton

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

Big 12 (9)
Houston (AQ), Iowa State, Texas Tech, Kansas, Baylor, BYU, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas

Big East (6)
UConn (AQ), Marquette, Creighton, Seton Hall, Villanova, St. John’s

Big Sky (1)
Eastern Washington (AQ)

Big South (1)
High Point (AQ)

Big Ten (6)
Purdue (AQ), Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois, Nebraska, Michigan State

Big West (1)
UC Irvine (AQ)

CAA (1)
Charleston (AQ)

Conference-USA (1)
Sam Houston (AQ)

Horizon League (1)
Oakland (AQ)

Ivy League (1)
Princeton (AQ)

MAAC (1)
Quinnipiac (AQ)

MAC (1)
Akron (AQ)

MEAC (1)
Norfolk State (AQ)

Missouri Valley (1)
Indiana State (AQ)

Mountain West (6)
Utah State (AQ), San Diego State, Colorado State, New Mexico, Boise State, Nevada

NEC (1)
Central Connecticut (AQ)

OVC (1)
Little Rock (AQ)

Pac-12 (2)
Arizona (AQ), Washington State

Patriot League (1)
Colgate (AQ)

SEC (7)
Tennessee (AQ), Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, Auburn, Mississippi State, Florida

Southern (1)
Samford (AQ)

Southland (1)
McNeese (AQ)

SWAC (1)
Grambling (AQ)

Summit (1)
South Dakota State (AQ)

Sun Belt (1)
Appalachian State (AQ)

WCC (2)
Saint Mary’s (AQ), Gonzaga

WAC (1)
Grand Canyon (AQ)

First Four Out

Colorado, Iowa, Providence, Wake Forest

Top 16 Seeds

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

Five Things To Know

  • UConn won’t have to get on a plane to play another game until the Final Four in Phoenix. The Huskies close the regular season on Saturday at Providence and then will play in the Big East Tournament at MSG. First and second round NCAA Tournament games will then follow in Brooklyn before the East Regionals in Boston.
  • The only time that Rick Barnes has coached a team that’s been a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament? 2003 when he was at Texas, which was the only time that Barnes has taken a team to the Final Four. Tennessee is now projected to be a number one seed in the bracket above. The Vols have never been a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Iowa State has only been as high a two seed in the NCAA Tournament twice — in 2000 and 2001 under Larry Eustachy.
  • Both Richmond and South Florida are projected to make the NCAA Tournament in the bracket above, but neither are currently close to being at-large candidates for March Madness. If Dayton wins the Atlantic 10 Tournament and Florida Atlantic wins the American Athletic Conference Tournament, two more at-large spots will open for teams who are currently on the bubble.
  • If New Mexico beats Utah State in Logan on Saturday night and UNLV wins the Mountain West Tournament next week in Las Vegas, the Mountain West will have seven teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Leftovers