The final projected bracket of the season is posted at the Bracketology hub. The No. 1 seeds are Kansas, Alabama, Houston and Purdue.
The Jayhawks lead the nation with 17 Quad 1 wins among their 27 victories overall. The reigning champions played the top schedule this season by quite a bit and should be rewarded with the top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Alabama is projected to be the overall No. 2 seed. The SEC regular-season and tournament champions, led by freshman Brandon Miller, finished 28-5 with 14 Quad 1 wins. One of those wins came at Houston.
The Cougars are expected to be the third overall seed. The winners of the American Athletic Conference regular-season title did not have the schedule quality or quality wins that some of their competitors at the of the bracket did, but this is a subjective process guided by objective data. This team is one of the favorites to win the championship and for most of the season, they have looked the part.
The fourth No. 1 seed is Purdue. The Boilermakers were the top team in the polls for most of the season as they stacked quality wins, including victories over Duke, Marquette and Gonzaga in non-conference play. Then, they dominated the Big Ten, winning it by three games. Purdue has nine wins in each of Quad 1 and Quad 2.
There are five teams in play for the No. 2 seeds. Texas has a strong case as a No. 1 seed with 14 Quad 1 wins including two over Kansas in the last week. I feel like eight losses is one too many to jump up to the top line.
Gonzaga, Marquette and Arizona round out the No. 2 seeds. UCLA could be on that line also and is a strong candidate. I have them as the top No. 3 seed because of the injury to Jalen Carter.
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Bracketology top seeds
Check out Palm's latest bracket, full field of 68 and all the teams on the bubble on the Bracketology hub.
NCAA Tournament locks
Locks based on résumé: 31| Automatic bids secured: 30 of 32 | At-large spots up-for-grabs: 5
| Conference | Locks | Teams |
|---|---|---|
ACC | 3 | |
Big East | 4 | |
Big Ten | 6 | Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State, Iowa, Northwestern, Penn State |
Big 12 | 7 | Baylor, Kansas, Texas, Kansas State, Iowa State, TCU, West Virginia |
Pac-12 | 2 | |
SEC | 5 | |
1 | ||
Others | 3 | Saint Mary's, San Diego State, FAU |
On the cutline
| Last Four In | Record | NET |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi State | 21-12 | 46 |
| Utah State | 26-8 | 22 |
| Nevada | 22-10 | 36 |
| Rutgers | 19-14 | 43 |
| First Four Out | Record | NET |
| Arizona State | 22-12 | 65 |
| Oklahoma State | 18-15 | 41 |
| Vanderbilt | 20-14 | 82 |
| North Carolina | 20-13 | 44 |
| Next Four Out | Record | NET |
| Clemson | 23-10 | 61 |
| Oregon | 19-14 | 47 |
| Wisconsin | 17-14 | 81 |
| Michigan | 17-15 | 54 |
Check out all the teams on Palm's Bubble Watch, the field of the 68 and the entire bracket on the Bracketology hub
All references to NCAA Tournament selection records and trends refer only to tournaments going back to 1994 with the exception of 2021. Due to shortened schedules and a relatively small number of nonconference games in 2021, those rankings were not reliable enough to be considered.
