It’s crazy to type, but this will be our penultimate ‘Bracketology’ of the college basketball season here in the nosebleeds. I wish I was in as good of a mood as I was when I wrote the prologue to our last entry, but Auburn just lost and it’s currently 11:47 in the evening, so I’ll just say I’ve been in better moods.

I’ll point out Auburn’s third loss of the season doesn’t concern me, although I am slightly rattled about Johni Broome’s play, or lack thereof, over the past four halves of basketball. Texas A&M proved why it has double-digit wins in the SEC despite an ineffective scoring attack, and the win says more about the Aggies chances at making a deep run into March than it does Auburn’s chances of booking an early plane ride home.

As for the rest of the 65+1 teams in our projected ‘Field of 68’, Arkansas fell from the ‘Last Four In’ to the ‘First Four Out’, while Wake Forest finally did us a favor by erasing any hopes it had with a trio of losses to NC State, Virginia, and Duke. Xavier moved itself onto the bubble, while West Virginia stole Texas’s (First Four Out) spot in the field.

Other than the bubble movement, I’d like to point out the pure absurdity of our projected 9-line. Three of the four programs representing the mediocre 9-seed have reached a final four within the past four years. Two of those programs have won a National Championship, with UConn winning the last two.

The other squad? A new Mexico program coached by Richard Pitino, the son of Rick Pitino, who is one of five coaches ever to reach the ‘Final Four’ seven times. College basketball is the best.

It’s late and I don’t have any puns. I’m sorry. Please come back soon Denver Jones. Max Kranick deserves a spot in the Mets opening day rotation.

Here’s our projected ‘Field of 68’.

First Four Out: North Carolina, Oklahoma, Xavier, Arkansas

• I’ve continued to preach it, and North Carolina has continued to do it. The streak isn’t exactly ‘2007 New York Giants Worthy’, but UNC has picked up wins against lesser competition when it has absolutely needed to. A contest to cap off the season against No. 2 ranked Duke awaits to end the season. If RJ Davis and company can win that, they might be going dancing.
• Oklahoma’s resume is going to create a fantastic case study into how much the committee views opportunity against performance. The Sooners have mostly faltered in a generationally great conference after a fantastic run through the non-conference schedule. Will the Selection Committee say a 4-12 record in that conference is good enough? We don’t think so.
• Xavier is absolutely surging. The Muskateers are the fifth best team in a BIG East that is likely to send four teams to the dance, but the superstar duo of Zach Freemantle and Ryan Conwell could be enough to make that number five. That duo absolutely must help Xavier earn wins against Providence and Butler to end the season. If they manage that, the Committee has a decision to make.
• Arkansas shot 12.5 percent in a half against the worst team in the SEC, South Carolina. The Razorbacks went on to lose that game. If this team manages to get a bid, every member of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee should be publicly shamed.

Last Four In: Texas, Nebraska, Georgia, Indiana

• Do you ever feel, like a plastic bag, floating through the win, wanting to start again? I think that is what Brice Williams feels like right now. An absolute firework in the scoring department, the senior may be more sick of his middling team than Katy Perry is of hosting ‘American Idol’.
• Former Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers once looked like a surefire prospect destined to do great things. Now he is somewhat of an afterthought as the NFL Draft approaches. The Longhorns basketball team has completely plagiarized his story, page for page, word for word. Tre Johnson may be the best freshman in the country not named Cooper Flagg. It would be a shame to see him miss out on a ‘March Moment’.
• Indiana is alive? Mike Woodson’s Hoosiers have come back to life since the head coach informed the team he’d be stepping down after this season. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the caretakers of former fictional Hoosiers head coach… you know what, I’m sorry. It’s late. Auburn just lost. That was mean.
• Georgia barked its way back into the field after an enthusiastic upset of Florida early in the week. The Bulldogs should safely have a spot in the ‘First Four’, and could move into the field with a strong finish to the season.

16 seeds: American, Robert Morris/Central Connecticut, Vermont, Omaha/Southern

15 seeds: Norfolk State, Jacksonville State, Arkansas Little Rock, Quinnipiac

14 seeds: James Madison, High Point, Montana, *ASUN Champ 

*Brian has North Alabama, Matt has Lipscomb

13 seeds: McNeese, Grand Canyon, Akron, Chattanooga

12 seeds: Yale, George Mason, Towson, Drake

11 seeds: UC San Diego, Texas/Indiana, Georgia/Nebraska, VCU

10 seeds: Ohio State, Utah State, West Virginia, San Diego State

9 seeds: Gonzaga, New Mexico, UConn, Baylor

8 seeds: Illinois, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Creighton

7 seeds: UCLA, Mississippi State, BYU, Kansas

6 seeds: Memphis, St. Mary’s, Arizona, Texas A&M

5 seeds: Missouri, Oregon, Louisville, Marquette

4 seeds: Michigan, Maryland, Kentucky, Purdue

3 seeds: St. John’s, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Clemson

2 seeds: (5) Tennessee, (6) Michigan State, (7) Alabama, (8) Iowa State

1 seeds: (1) Auburn, (2), Duke, (3) Houston, (4) Florida

 

Projected Major conference champions: Michigan State, Houston, St. John’s, Auburn, Duke, New Mexico