Bracketology 1/22/2024

The bubble is once again full of mediocre power conference teams- it doesn’t take much to play your way back into contention. One good example of this is Syracuse- the Orange have done very little all year but back to back wins over fellow mediocre teams Pitt and Miami have put them into my First Four Out. Elsewhere, the Big 12 is looking to make its case for double digit bids as this year’s supersized Big 12 remains one of the best conferences college hoops has ever seen.

1: Purdue, Connecticut, Houston, North Carolina

2: Kansas, Tennessee, Arizona, Auburn

3: Dayton, Kentucky, Marquette, Wisconsin

4: Illinois, Baylor, Creighton, Oklahoma

5: Colorado State, BYU, Iowa State, Duke

6: Clemson, Alabama, Texas A&M, Utah State

7: San Diego State, Florida Atlantic, Memphis, Texas Tech

8: Seton Hall, Nebraska, St. John’s, Utah

9: Villanova, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Michigan State

10: Colorado, Grand Canyon, Princeton, Cincinnati

11: Boise State, New Mexico, TCU, (Mississippi State/Ohio State)

12: St. Mary’s, (Kansas State/Northwestern), Indiana State, James Madison

13: McNeese State, Samford, Charleston, UC Irvine

14: Akron, Louisiana Tech, Morehead State, Montana

15: High Point, Quinnipiac, Vermont, Oakland

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

First Four Out: Oregon, Texas, Nevada, Syracuse

Next Four Out: James Madison, Georgia, Miami (FL), Washington State

Also Considered: Wake Forest, Gonzaga, Florida, Providence, NC State, Butler, San Francisco, SMU

Moving In: Boise State, Kansas State

Moving Out: Nevada, Oregon

Bids by Conference:

Big 12: 10

SEC: 8

Big Ten: 7

Big East: 6

Mountain West: 5

ACC: 3

Pac-12: 3

American: 2