Section 400’s Bracketology, March 11

Welcome to Views from 400 Bracketology! 

We have finally made it ladies and gentlemen, this will be our last bracketology of the season with Selection Sunday just 6 days away.

Check out where things stand heading into the final stretch.

First Four Out: Iowa, Texas A&M, Michigan State, Wake Forest

• Iowa is our 69th (nice) team in the field. The Hawkeyes are surging, but Fran McCaffery’s team needs at least two wins to improve its NET Ranking heading into Selection Sunday.
• Wade Taylor has carried Texas A&M to a mediocre season. He’ll need to lead them to multiple wins in the SEC Tournament if the Aggies have any hope of getting into the dance.
• Michigan State is in the field of 68 on almost every single bracketologists projection. We are sick and tired of seeing Tom Izzo’s mediocre team in the field as they simply don’t deserve to be in.
• Wake Forest lost a horrendous game at home to Georgia Tech. They’ll need to do some damage in the ACC Tournament.

Last Four In: Seton Hall, Indiana State, Villanova, Virginia

• Seton Hall should get into the field assuming they avoid disaster in the Big East Tournament.
• Indiana State lost a heartbreaker to Drake in the MVC Championship. The Sycamores are good enough to earn an at-large bid, but probably need a few teams on the bubble to fumble down the stretch to sneak in
• Virginia is reeling, but the Cavaliers are in the field for now.
• Villanova can secure a spot in the field with an upset victory over Marquette in the second round of the Big East Tournament. Bid-stealers in other conferences could ruin Nova’s spring however.

Projected Field of 68

16 seeds: Longwood/Norfolk State, Colgate, Southern/Quinnipiac, Merrimack

15 seeds: Sam Houston State, Stetson, Morehead State, Montana State

14 seeds: Charleston, Vermont, Oakland, South Dakota State

13 seeds: Akron, UC Irvine, James Madison, Samford

12 seeds: Princeton, McNeese State, Grand Canyon, Drake

11 seeds: Colorado, Texas, Virginia/Villanova, Indiana State/Seton Hall

10 seeds: Colorado State, Nebraska, New Mexico, St. John’s

9 seeds: Boise State, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Dayton

8 seeds: Gonzaga, Washington State, Northwestern, Nevada

7 seeds: Texas Tech, South Florida, TCU, FAU

6 seeds: San Diego State, Clemson, Florida, Wisconsin

5 seeds: BYU, Duke, South Carolina, Utah State

4 seeds: Alabama, Creighton, St. Mary’s, Auburn

3 seeds: Illinois, Kentucky, Kansas, Marquette

2 seeds: Iowa State, Tennessee, Baylor, Arizona

1 seeds: Purdue, Houston, UNC, UConn

 

Projected Major Conference Champions

Purdue, Houston, UCONN, Tennessee, Arizona, San Diego State

 

Bids by Conference

AAC: 2

A-10: 1

ACC: 4

Big 10: 3

Big 12: 10

Big East: 5

Ivy League: 1

MVC: 2

MWC: 6

SEC: 8

WCC: 2

PAC 12: 3