Very little movement among the top 12, but the Vols ascend to top of two line
Welcome back to the Monday edition of bracketology. A few wild results have shook up the middle portion of the bracket, but overall, there was just one swap amongst the top 12 seeds. We are also going to look into the SEC on a deeper level and where the teams project to be by the time we reach Selection Sunday.
But first, the seeding with a quick disclaimer. Half filled in triangles equals movement within one seed line. Solid triangles signify movement across multiple seed lines:
Movement
— Creighton moving up to the final 3-seed and Wisconsin dropping to the top 4-seed is the lone movement among the top 12 seeds after Creighton secured a 22 point win at Hinkle Fieldhouse over bubble team Butler.
— Kentucky’s big win at Auburn has moved them onto the 6-seed line and firmly within reach of the 5-seed traffic jam between Michigan State, Texas Tech, BYU, Clemson, Florida, and Saint Mary’s. Washington State has a chance to join this group if they can pull off a major upset at Arizona on Thursday.
— As of now, we are firmly on the six bid Mountain West train as San Diego State, Colorado State, Utah State, Boise State, Nevada, and New Mexico sit firmly in the tournament with the latter two just off the bubble.
Dwindling gap at the top
— Purdue’s stranglehold on the number one overall seed has dwindled to a minor gap between them, Houston, and UConn following their loss at Ohio State. UConn has also narrowed the gap between them and Houston following their 28 point win over Marquette at home.
Big 12, SEC continue to rule the field
— The Big 12 and SEC account for 18 of the 35 power conference spots in the current field and 11 of the top 24 seeds. The SEC currently has five with the Big 12 at six as their dominance continues.
SEC March hopes at a glance
— The SEC, as mentioned above, has eight teams in the current field with Tennessee leading the way as the top 2-seed. Through the projected bracket, casting its net through the end of the conference tournament, the model has Tennessee remaining as the top 2-seed with Alabama rising to the two line and Kentucky to a 5-seed.
— There were no real fallers, though the model projects 9-seed Mississippi State and 8-seed Texas A&M to switch seed lines with South Carolina holding firm as an 11-seed. The closer we get to March, the more it seems that these will be the eight teams pushing for bids in the tournament. Outside of a wild card winning the SEC Tournament or this is really it for the conference. The only team with an outside shot at an at-large bid would be a late push from Ole Miss, who has games against Mississippi State, South Carolina, Alabama, and Texas A&M remaining. It would take winning at Mississippi State on Wednesday with home wins against South Carolina and Alabama consecutively to really make it interesting, otherwise, these are the eight teams we’re looking at for March.