Bracketology 2/21/2022

The committee’s reveal of their top 16 teams on Saturday was pretty in line with my expectations. Illinois was decently higher than I expected, the committee noted they gave the Illini a bump to compensate for injury absences earlier in the year. They took Houston’s spot in the top 16.

I think that the top 38 teams in this seed list (from Miami on up) can feel reasonably secure about their place in the bracket. They’re not all locks by any stretch, but things would have to go significantly awry for any of them to miss the field.

1: Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas, Auburn

2: Baylor, Kentucky, Purdue, Duke

3: Texas Tech, Villanova, Illinois, Wisconsin

4: Tennessee, UCLA, Providence, Houston

5: Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, LSU

6: Ohio State, USC, Connecticut, St. Mary’s

7: Michigan State, Murray State, Boise State, Iowa State

8: Colorado State, Marquette, Xavier, Wyoming

9: TCU, Iowa, Seton Hall, San Francisco

10: Wake Forest, Miami (FL), Davidson, Notre Dame

11: North Texas, SMU, Loyola Chicago, Michigan

12: San Diego State, (Rutgers/Creighton), (North Carolina/Indiana), Iona

13: Chattanooga, New Mexico State, South Dakota State, Vermont

14: Toledo, Wagner, Montana State, Liberty

15: Princeton, Texas State, Colgate, Longwood

16: Norfolk State, Long Beach State, (Cleveland State/Texas Southern), (UNC Wilmington/New Orleans)

First Four Out: Memphis, Dayton, Belmont, BYU

Next Four Out: VCU, Florida, Virginia, Virginia Tech

Also Considered: Oklahoma, Kansas State, Oregon, West Virginia

Moving In: Creighton, SMU

Moving Out: Memphis, BYU

Bids by Conference:

Big Ten: 9

Big East: 7

Big 12: 6

SEC: 6

ACC: 5

Mountain West: 4

Pac-12: 3

West Coast: 3

American: 2