Bracketology 1/16/2024

There’s been a lot of turmoil at the top of the bracket as nearly half of my protected seeds have lost in the last week. This has faulted Connecticut up to a 1 seed while Arizona falls down to the 2 line. There are so few quality win opportunities in the Pac-12 this year that Arizona may have a hard time climbing back up to the 1 line.

Elsewhere, I dropped Gonzaga out of the bracket for St. Mary’s after the Gaels’ impressive road win at Santa Clara. Neither team has an at-large quality resume right now, and this looks like the first 1 bid WCC since 2018.

1: Purdue, Connecticut, Kansas, Houston

2: North Carolina, Arizona, Wisconsin, Baylor

3: Tennessee, Dayton, Auburn, Clemson

4: Duke, Marquette, Kentucky, Memphis

5: Creighton, Alabama, BYU, Utah State

6: Colorado State, Oklahoma, San Diego State, Illinois

7: Iowa State, South Carolina, Ole Miss, St. John’s

8: Florida Atlantic, Texas A&M, Grand Canyon, Nebraska

9: Seton Hall, Texas Tech, Villanova, Utah

10: TCU, Nevada, Princeton, Colorado

11: Miami (FL), Oregon, Cincinnati, (Mississippi State/Northwestern)

12: (Michigan State/Boise State), Indiana State, James Madison, St. Mary’s

13: McNeese State, Samford, Charleston, UC Irvine

14: Akron, Morehead State, Western Kentucky, Montana

15: High Point, Quinnipiac, Vermont, Oakland

16: Southern, Stetson, (Colgate/NC Central), (Denver/Merrimack)

First Four Out: New Mexico, Indiana State, Ohio State, Wake Forest

Next Four Out: James Madison, Texas, St. Mary’s, Gonzaga

Also Considered: Indiana, Butler, Washington State, Providence, Florida, San Francisco, NC State, Syracuse

Moving In: Miami (FL), TCU, Boise State, St. Mary’s

Moving Out: Texas, Ohio State, Providence, Gonzaga

Bids by Conference:

Big 12: 9

SEC: 8

Big East: 7

Big Ten: 7

Mountain West: 4

Pac-12: 4

ACC: 3

American: 2