Bracketology 1/21/2023

It’s difficult to overstate just how strong the Big 12 is this year. The league has a whopping 6 teams as top 6 seeds in this update, which is nearly unprecedented. Kansas was the victim of the league’s strength this week when they fell to Kansas State in Manhattan, bumping them off the top overall spot.

The Big 12’s strength comes at the expense of some of the other power conferences. The Pac-12 is notably week- UCLA and Arizona are both stone cold locks and Arizona State will probably make the tournament. Then there’s a mediocre USC team and a long way down after that.

1: Purdue, Kansas, Houston, Alabama

2: UCLA, Arizona, Tennessee, Kansas State

3: Iowa State, Texas, Marquette, Virginia

4: Baylor, Xavier, Gonzaga, Miami (FL)

5: Auburn, Connecticut, San Diego State, St. Mary’s

6: TCU, Providence, Rutgers, Arkansas

7: New Mexico, Indiana, NC State, Duke

8: Michigan State, Florida Atlantic, Missouri, North Carolina

9: Wisconsin, Boise State, West Virginia, Illinois

10: Iowa, Charleston, Creighton, Kentucky

11: Maryland, Arizona State, Utah State, (Nevada/Clemson)

12: (Mississippi State/Northwestern), Kent State, Oral Roberts, Iona

13: Dayton, Liberty, Marshall, UC Irvine

14: Utah Valley, Drake, Princeton, UMass Lowell

15: Colgate, Milwaukee, Furman, Norfolk State

16: Longwood, SIU Edwardsville, (Eastern Washington/Grambling State), (Texas A&M CC/Fairleigh Dickinson)

First Four Out: Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Penn State, USC

Next Four Out: Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Memphis, Wake Forest