Duke advances to No. 2 in the bracketology, while UConn surpasses Houston to No. 3 altogether on the top line.
A single minor adjustment was made to the projected bracket for the NCAA Tournament in the updated Bracketology on Friday.
UConn surpassed Houston to enter the top spot overall rankings on Wednesday when it defeated Creighton 62-489.
UConn witnessed the return in Donovan Clingan in that victory. He was sidelined with a foot injury since December 20 and finished 15 minutes playing for the Bluejays with six points as well as five rebounds.
Eight of the top ten teams had suffered losses to unranked opponents by the conclusion of Sunday.
On the week, these teams finished with a 9-10 record, with nine of those defeats occurring against unranked opponents. Top-10 squads had a 3-9 record on the road.
We began by elevating UConn from fourth to first place. The Huskies, who have spent the majority of the season in the top tier, earned a significant advantage by triumphing at Xavier on Wednesday, a day when nearly every other highly-ranked team was unable to secure a road victory.
Predictive and resume-based metrics align with the Huskies, who have a 7-2 record against opponents from Quadrants 1 and 2.
Four of the Power Rankings’ and AP poll’s top five teams suffered defeats at the hands of unranked opponents.
Purdue experienced only a marginal decline, falling to No. 2. The Boilermakers continue to perform admirably in all categories, and with six Quad 1 victories, they lead the nation.
In the future, will individuals be hesitant to place themselves at No. 1 due to their series of disappointing defeats at the top? In that case, that would be unwise and disregards their impressive curriculum vitae.
North Carolina, which rose to No. 3, was the major mover. At the moment, the Tar Heels are performing better than any other team in the nation, especially their defense, which we will discuss in a moment.
Carolina, whose RJ Davis appears to be the best guard in the country, is the ACC favorite or a possible Final Four contender.
In college basketball, conference play has picked up, resulting in eight losses by top-10 teams over the past week.
In light of the ensuing tumult, FOX Sports bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy modified his most recent NCAA Tournament projections regarding the top seeds.
North Carolina (West), UConn (East), Kansas (South), and Purdue (Midwest) remained the No. 1 seeds according to DeCourcy’s forecasts. Drake, Ohio State, Virginia, and Gonzaga are his subsequent four opponents.
Arizona, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Tennessee all remain within the 2-line. Although Kentucky, Duke, and Baylor maintain their No. 3 seed positions, Marquette has risen one seed to join them.
In the interim, BYU has joined Illinois, Auburn, and Creighton, which were previously ranked as No. 4 seeds.
DeCourcy’s final four teams in are Boise State, Michigan State, Arkansas State, and Oregon, which are all on the bubble. DeCourcy has identified Colorado, Providence, Cincinnati, and Miami as his initial four teams to be eliminated.
DeCourcy’s compilation ranks the Big 12 first in terms of team count with nine, followed by the SEC with eight teams.
According to the most recent projections by DeCourcy, the Big East, Big Ten, and Mountain West are all tied for second place with six teams each, while the ACC follows with four teams. The AAC has only two teams represented in comparison to the Pac-12’s three.
After consecutive defeats to UConn and Kentucky on December 19, Joe Lunardi of ESPN revised the projected seed position of the UNC hoop team to No. 5 in his “2024 NCAA Tourney Bracketology.”
The Tar Heels (13-3, 5-0 ACC) subsequently recorded six consecutive victories. Lunardi now ranks Hubert Davis’ third squad as the No. 1 seed this season, alongside defending national champion UConn, Purdue, and Kansas.
The No. 1 seeds of Lunardi are similarly positioned as the top-ranked teams in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for this week. Following easy victories of NC State and Syracuse, UNC climbed three positions to No. 4 in the nation.
Additionally, Illinois was informed of a player’s absence on Friday afternoon. In light of a rape charge, a federal judge lifted suspended star Terrence Shannon Jr.’s suspension and permitted his return to the Illinois Fighting Illini by issuing a preliminary injunction. Third-seeded Illinois is positioned in the revised bracket.
Wisconsin was relegated from the No. 2 seed to the No. 3 seed on Tuesday following an 87-83 loss during Penn State. The Badgers maintain their Big Ten lead over Purdue, which defeated Indiana 87-66, by a half-game.
Duke advanced in the standings to replace Wisconsin as the No. 2 seed. Kentucky has supplanted Memphis as the No. 3 seed. The Tigers, who are ranked fourth overall, surrendered a 20-point lead to South Florida at home and were defeated 74-73 by the Bulls.
Additionally, a third American Athletic Conference team was placed in the bracket as a consequence of that outcome.
As the only remaining unbeaten team in AAC play and the current conference leader in the standings, North Texas is situated in my bracket because it is the league’s automatic qualifier.
That location was formerly occupied by Memphis. The No. 7 seed FAU is in the at-large division.