Bracketology: Final bracket decides fourth No. 1 seed, who makes field
The field is set. We think. (We’re pretty sure.)
From No. 1 through No. 16, our final update for the 2024 NCAA men’s tournament is locked into place with hours to go until the committee unveils the official bracket Sunday evening.
Let’s start at the top, where Tennessee’s early exit from the SEC tournament puts North Carolina on the No. 1 line with Connecticut, Purdue and Houston despite the Tar Heels’ loss on Saturday to North Carolina State.
Only the Huskies will enter the tournament on a winning streak. The Cougars lost ugly in the Big 12 tournament to Iowa State and Purdue suffered a surprising loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten. The overall resumes for each team are still good enough to fend off Tennessee and Arizona, who land on the No. 2 line. Joining the Volunteers and Wildcats as No. 2 seeds are the Cyclones and Marquette.
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Upsets over the weekend had a huge impact on the bubble picture. One at-large spot was taken away by Florida Atlantic’s loss to Temple in the American semifinals, opening up another spot for the conference for the winner of the title game between UAB and the Owls.
Another spot was filled with Oregon’s win against Colorado to take home the Pac-12. North Carolina State was not going to make the tournament without winning the ACC title.
That was costly for teams hovering on the fringes of our field. That includes Seton Hall, bumped out after losing its Big East tournament opener to St. John’s. Virginia went 23-10 in the regular season but posted just two Quad 1 wins and finished outside the top 50 in the NET rankings. The Ducks’ Pac-12 championship made St. John’s the first team out.
Two of the Power Six conferences were won by teams (Oregon and N.C. State) that were not going to get automatic berths. That basically shut the door on some deserving teams on the bubble.
Last four in
Northwestern, Florida Atlantic, Oklahoma, Texas A&M
First four out
St. John’s, Seton Hall, Virginia, Indiana State
Next four out
Providence, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Wake Forest
NCAA Tournament bids by conference breakdown
Multi-bid leagues: Big 12 (9), SEC (8), Big Ten (6), Mountain West (6), ACC (4), Pac-12 (4), Big East (3), American Athletic (2), Atlantic 10 (2), West Coast Conference (2).