The day has arrived. Selection Sunday is here. The last five automatic bids to the tournament will be handed out today and then, come 6:00 eastern on CBS, we will find out what the field of 68 looks like.
Before we go further, let’s take a moment to remember the greatness of the one and only Greg Gumbel. The longtime broadcaster passed away on December 27 after a long battle with cancer. He was 78 years old. He was a consummate professional in all aspects of his career, but especially with the NCAA Tournament. He was the face of the Selection Show.
Adam Zucker has since taken over and will do a great job. But today is going to feel very different knowing the great Greg Gumbel is no longer with us. But we know he’ll be watching down upon us and revealing the 68 teams right there with Zucker. Rest in peace, Greg Gumbel.
As far as the bracket goes, the top of the bracket looks set. It should be Auburn, Duke, Houston and Florida, in that order. Could the committee move Tennessee up if they beat Florida to win the SEC title? Maybe. But we’re sticking with Florida.
The two line also feels locked in with Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan State and St. John’s. Texas Tech and Kentucky are likely on the 3 line with Wisconsin, Maryland, Iowa State and Texas A&M all in play for the other two spots.
On the bubble, Colorado State took any guesswork away from the committee as they secured the automatic bid from the Mountain West for the first time since 2003. Will that bid come at the expense of conference partner Boise State? Our current bracket has the Broncos as the last team in but sweating a lot Sunday. Not one, but two potential bid thieves are lurking Sunday in the Atlantic 10 (George Mason) and American (UAB). So not only is Boise on the ropes, so is Indiana.
Xavier, Texas and North Carolina are on the short end of the stick. Would it be surprising if any of them get selected? Not completely but UNC would be the most surprising with a 1-12 Quad 1 record.
With the bubble shrinking, West Virginia fell into the last four in group and is projected to go to Dayton for the First Four. Two other candidates that could end up in Dayton are Utah State and Vanderbilt.
Big congratulations are in store both the men’s and women’s teams at UC San Diego. In their first year of eligibility for the tournament, both programs won their respective Big West championships Saturday to claim their tickets to the dance.
That means the men’s tournament will have four teams dancing for the first time: UC San Diego, High Point, Omaha and SIU-Edwardsville.
With all that said, for the penultimate time, here is our bracket projection. The final bracket will be posted just before the Selection Show at 6:00.
First Four Out: Xavier, Texas, North Carolina, Ohio State
Next Four Out: Dayton, North Texas, UC Irvine, George Mason
Conference Breakdown
SEC - 13
Big Ten - 9
Big 12 - 8
Mountain West - 5
Big East - 4
ACC - 3
West Coast - 2
One-bid leagues - 24
As always, check out the Bracket Matrix to see how this bracket stacks up to the rest of the bracketology world.
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