The updated bracket projection is out Friday and there has been one tiny, but not so minor change at the top. San Diego State is now the No. 2 overall seed, dropping Gonzaga down to the No. 3 national seed.

Those two teams are currently battling for the No. 1 seed in the West Region in Los Angeles, meaning playing all of their games before the Final Four in the Pacific time zone and near their fan bases. Obviously, that would be especially good for the Aztecs, since they are only 125 miles from L.A., or in SoCal traffic, about a seven-hour drive.

The Aztecs and Zags have similar resumes. Each has some good wins, but no great ones. Gonzaga has beaten Oregon and Arizona. San Diego State beat Creighton and Iowa. Each has defeated BYU, although the Aztecs won on the road. There really is only one significant difference – Gonzaga has a loss. It is not a bad loss, mind you. The Zags lost at Michigan back when the Wolverines were playing better. Still, that is the biggest difference between the two and why San Diego State should be ahead.

This race is a long way from over. The ideal thing for each team might be for one to be the No. 1 overall seed and the other the No. 2 overall seed. With six weeks to go and still some tough games ahead for each team, anything can happen.

Bracketology top seeds

Seed

South

West

Midwest

East

No. 1
Baylor
San Diego St
Gonzaga
Kansas

Click here to see where your team is in Palm's latest bracket and seed list

Battling at the bottom of the bracket: It was a bad week for teams near or just off the bottom of the bracket. Here's a look at some of the more interesting results and their impact on teams battling to be included in the bracket:

  • In the SEC alone, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida and Arkansas all took damaging losses. Alabama lost as well, but at least that was at LSU.
  • The four teams at the bottom of the Big East standings (Xavier, Georgetown, St. John's, DePaul) all still have a chance to play their way in, but all lost chances to get big resume wins this week.
  • Wisconsin lost twice on Monday. The Badgers blew a big lead late at Iowa and then it was announced that their second-leading scorer, Kobe King, was leaving the program. The Badgers aren't in this bracket, but are one of the first four teams out and face Michigan State on Saturday.
  • In the Big 12, Oklahoma took a damaging loss at Kansas State, while TCU, coming off a big win over Texas Tech, lost at home to Texas. The Longhorns are now back in the bracket, as are the Red Raiders, which got one of the few big wins this week. They beat West Virginia at home.
  • Virginia breathed a little life into its tournament profile with a win over Florida State at home. That gives the Cavaliers a split of the season series. Otherwise, it was more bad news for league bubble teams as Virginia Tech, NC State, Syracuse and Pitt all lost. The Panther's loss was the only one that didn't hurt. They lost at Duke.
  • It's not just the majors. East Tennessee State took a Quadrant 4 loss at home to Mercer, likely ending any at-large hopes the Bucs might have had.

Every season seems to have dog days, and this part of it seems to be those for college hoops. The battle for the bottom of the bracket will eventually have more teams trying to play their way in than out.