Bracket Watch: Projecting the 68-team NCAA Tournament field

By Stewart Mandel
Published

Beginning with this edition, I’ll be posting my latest mock bracket every Tuesday and Friday through the rest of the regular season.

The competition for the four No. 1 seeds could be very interesting this season. Villanova is the runaway No. 1 overall team, but my No. 2 and 3 teams, Baylor and Kansas, hold very similar resumes. Kentucky is right there with them.

Many might rightfully argue for current AP top four teams UCLA and Gonzaga (the latter still undefeated) for the top line. I’d note that Florida State arguably has a better resume than both. Creighton could make a case as well.

Selection Sunday is March 12, and the tourney begins March 14. The Final Four is April 1-3 in Phoenix.

* — Denotes projected conference champion, automatic berth

This edition's bracket is East vs. West champions and Midwest vs. South champions in the national semifinals, based on the order of my No. 1 seeds.










BRACKET WATCH













































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































LAST FOUR IN: Arkansas, Seton Hall, Miami, Marquette

FIRST FOUR OUT: Georgia, Rhode Island, Texas Tech, Houston

NEXT FOUR OUT: Cal, Wichita State, Kansas State, NC State

MULTIPLE BID CONFERENCES: ACC (10), Big Ten (9), Big East (6), Big 12 (5), Pac-12 (4), SEC (4), A-10 (3), American (2), WCC (2)