It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the sports journalism world begins numerous case studies on the downfall of the Big East within the next decade or so. A once dominant basketball power house received just three bids in our field of 68, with bubble team Seton Hall falling into the perilous position that is the pool of mediocrity behind whatever your favorite analyst refers to as the “next four out”.

Villanova is seemingly back with Kevin Judas Willard running the show, but with Shaka Smart struggling to adapt to the NIL Era and Providence and Georgetown one-upping each other in the battle of “Which program did Ed Cooley destroy more?”, the Big East is in the worst spot it’s been in since, well, 2024, when it also sent just three programs to the dance.

Now to be fair, the top heavy nature of the conference has saved it’s prestige on the surface, but for a conference that has sent at least 8 teams to March Madness 6 times in the last 20 years, this current iteration is a far cry from what it once was. Things will only get worse once the immortal Rick Patino trades his suit and tie for swim trunks and strippers in southern Florida.

First Four Out: Tulsa, Virginia Tech, VCU, TCU

• Tulsa was our projected AAC Champion in the last version of the bracket, but a second loss to USF gives the Bulls the spot in the field for now. The American is unfortunately an exact copy of what it became in college football – a mediocre conference with about five teams that could win the championship. It makes for an intriguing conference tournament, but only because the winner will earn the only bid from what has become a mid-major league.
• Virginia Tech is an enigma that may find itself off the bubble entirely if it cannot upset Clemson this week.
• VCU has unseated George Mason as the second best team in the A-10. The Rams are 10-1 in Quadrant’s 2 & 3, but an 0-5 record in Quad 1 is an eye sore the selection committee may have a hard time looking past. A win over No. 18 Saint Louis at the end of February would go a long way in improving the resume.
• TCU just picked up an unbelievably massive win over Iowa State to save its NCAA Tournament life. The Horned Frogs are now 5-6 in a very good BIG 12 and have the chance to hop all the way into the First Four with a win over Oklahoma State in Stillwater later this week.

 

• Last Four In: San Diego State, Texas, Santa Clara, New Mexico

• San Diego State continues to beat up on a bad Mountain West. The Aztecs will find themselves in the field so long as they continue doing so.
• Texas has now become our last team in after ripping off three wins in a row. The Longhorns only have two ranked opponents remaining on their schedule, and with one of them coming at home against Florida, Texas has a massive opportunity to vault itself off the bubble and into a safe spot in the field.
• Santa Clara would be a ton of fun to see in the tournament. The Broncos sit in second place in the WCC thanks to a win over Saint Mary’s, but will need to likely defeat the Gales again and Gonzaga at home to hang onto a bid.
• New Mexico has entered the danger zone, and could be on the wrong side of the bubble with another loss.

16 seeds: Merrimack*, Vermont*/Howard*, Long Island*, Bethune-Cookman*/Navy*

15 seeds: Montana*, Furman*, UT Martin*, Austin Peay*

14 seeds: UC Irvine*, Oakland*, High Point*, Troy*

13 seeds: North Dakota State*, Cal Baptist*, UNC Wilmington*, Yale*

12 seeds: Liberty*, Belmont*, Akron*, Stephen F. Austin*

11 seeds: Miami (OH), Santa Clara/New Mexico, USF*, SMU

10 seeds: Wisconsin, San Diego State/Texas, Miami, St. Mary’s

9 seeds: Indiana, UCLA, Utah State*, USC

8 seeds: UCF, Iowa, Georgia, Auburn

7 seeds: Kentucky, Saint Louis*, Texas A&M, Villanova

6 seeds: Tennessee, BYU, Louisville, Alabama

5 seeds: Clemson, North Carolina, Gonzaga*, Arkansas

4 seeds: Virginia, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, St. Johns

3 seeds: Florida* (9), Illinois (10), Kansas (11), Purdue (12)

2 seeds: Duke (5), Michigan State (6), Iowa State (7), Nebraska (8)

1 seeds: Arizona* (1), Michigan* (2), Houston* (3), UConn* (4)

 

* conference champion