Happy New Year! We can officially begin the countdown toward Selection Sunday. March is a mere two months away, and conference play is poised to eliminate the contenders from the pretenders.
That said, it’s been an interesting opening two months of the college hoops season. As has been pointed out numerous places, we do not have any true heavyweights dominating the field. As such, expect the bracket to ebb and flow a bit more than usual - even at the top.
Case in point - Kansas sits atop our New Year’s Day bracket, but the Jayhawks are no lock to win a 12th straight Big 12 title. Oklahoma is also a projected No. 1 seed in today’s Field of 68, and Iowa State will push both for league supremacy.
As for the rest of the bracket, it’s a sneak peak at where we stand heading into 2016. Nothing more, nothing less. If we’ve learned anything from results in November and December, it’s that things change - sometimes quickly.
On a final note ... Injuries could have an impact on selection and seeding in March. For example: How will the Committee evaluate a team like Wichita State, who lost several games early without point guard Fred VanVleet? If the Shockers evolve into the team we expect, those early losses could largely be disregarded. Time will tell.
The Seed List for today’s bracket can be found at Bracketville.
BRACKET UPDATE: January 1, 2016
Teams in CAPS represent the projected AUTOMATIC bid. In the event of a tie in the loss column, RPI if first tiebreaker used. Notes: Conference play is just beginning, so a combination of ratings was used to select a champion for the bracket. Also, exceptions are made for teams that use an abbreviation (ex: UCLA)
FIRST FOUR PAIRINGS - Dayton (First Round)
- Monmouth vs. Florida State | West Region
- Notre Dame vs. Texas Tech | West Region
- WAGNER vs. NC A&T | South Region
- SOUTHERN vs. IDAHO | Midwest Region
BRACKET PROJECTION ...
| MIDWEST - Chicago | SOUTH - Louisville | |
| Des Moines | St. Louis | |
| 1) KANSAS | 1) MICHIGAN STATE | |
| 16) SOUTHERN / IDAHO | 16) WAGNER / NC A&T | |
| 8) Cincinnati | 8) Arizona State | |
| 9) Colorado | 9) Seton Hall | |
| Spokane | Oklahoma City | |
| 5) UCLA | 5) Texas AM | |
| 12) NORTHERN IOWA | 12) LOUISIANA TECH | |
| 4) Duke | 4) Iowa State | |
| 13) SOUTH DAKOTA ST | 13) VALPARAISO | |
| Des Moines | Providence | |
| 6) Louisville | 6) DAYTON | |
| 11) UT-ARLINGTON | 11) USC | |
| 3) Purdue | 3) Miami-FL | |
| 14) IONA | 14) BELMONT | |
| St. Louis | Brooklyn | |
| 7) Oregon | 7) Iowa | |
| 10) Texas | 10) Syracuse | |
| 2) Xavier | 2) PROVIDENCE | |
| 15) TEXAS AM-CC | 15) YALE | |
| EAST - Philadelphia | WEST - Anaheim | |
| Raleigh | Oklahoma City | |
| 1) VIRGINIA | 1) Oklahoma | |
| 16) STONY BROOK | 16) GRAND CANYON | |
| 8) Michigan | 8) Wake Forest | |
| 9) Vanderbilt | 9) South Carolina | |
| Denver | Spokane | |
| 5) West Virginia | 5) Utah | |
| 12) UNLV | 12) Notre Dame / Texas Tech | |
| 4) Villanova | 4) Butler | |
| 13) AKRON | 13) HAWAII | |
| Providence | Denver | |
| 6) CONNECTICUT | 6) GONZAGA | |
| 11) CHATTANOOGA | 11) Monmouth / Florida St | |
| 3) KENTUCKY | 3) ARIZONA | |
| 14) CHARLESTON | 14) NORTH FLORIDA | |
| Brooklyn | Raleigh | |
| 7) Geo Washington | 7) Baylor | |
| 10) Pittsburgh | 10) Indiana | |
| 2) Maryland | 2) North Carolina | |
| 15) ARMY | 15) HIGH POINT |
NOTES on the BRACKET: Kansas is the overall No. 1 seed followed by Michigan State, Oklahoma, and Virginia. Next in line: Maryland, North Carolina, Providence, Xavier.
Last Four teams in (at large): Monmouth, Florida State, Notre Dame, Texas Tech
First Four teams out (at large): Kansas State, Richmond, Marquette, Florida
Next four teams out (at large): Arkansas-Little Rock, Alabama, California, Wichita State
Breakdown by Conference ...
ACC (9): Virginia, North Carolina, Miami-FL, Duke, Louisville, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Notre Dame
Big 12 (7): Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa State, West Virginia, Baylor, Texas, Texas Tech
Big 10 (6): Michigan State, Maryland, Purdue, Iowa, Michigan, Indiana
Pac 12 (6): Arizona, UCLA, Utah, Oregon, Colorado, USC
Big East (5): Providence, Xavier, Butler, Villanova, Seton Hall
SEC (4): Kentucky, Texas AM, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
Atlantic 10 (2): Dayton, George Washington
American (2): Connecticut, Cincinnati
MAAC (2): Iona, Monmouth
Mountain West (1): UNLV
West Coast (1): Gonzaga
Missouri Valley (1): Northern Iowa
ONE BID LEAGUES: Louisiana Tech (C-USA), UT-Arlington (SBELT), Yale (IVY), Idaho (BSKY), Valparaiso (HORIZON), Texas AM-CC (SLND), Chattanooga (STHN), Hawaii (BWEST), Akron (MAC), North Florida (ASUN), Belmont (OVC), Charleston (CAA), High Point (BSO), North Carolina A&T (MEAC), South Dakota State (SUM), Grand Canyon (WAC), Stony Brook (AEAST), Army (PAT), Wagner (NEC), Southern (SWAC)