Northern Kentucky Norse

Bracket Watch: Four more teams secure their NCAA Tournament spots

Published Mar. 8, 2017 9:14 a.m. ET

Stewart Mandel

(Editor's note: Today's edition features minimal changes from Tuesday's bracket, but Gonzaga, South Dakota State, Mount St. Mary's and Northern Kentucky all secured automatic bids by winning their respective conference tournaments. All the major conferences are in action Wednesday, plus the final in the Patriot League, so more movement is on the way.)

The No. 1 question of Championship Week for fans of any bubble team is, “How many do we need to win? Obviously, there’s no exact formula, because one team’s fate depends in part on how the other contenders do.

But here’s a general guide:

As of today, everyone that’s a No. 9 seed or better in this bracket is a lock.

The No. 10 seeds (VCU, Michigan State and Xavier) and highest No 11 (Providence) could use one more win to feel better about themselves. (The fourth No. 10 seed, Wichita State, is an automatic.)

The other No. 11 seeds (Wake Forest, Middle Tennessee, USC and Vanderbilt) and one at-large No. 12 seed (Syracuse) might be in with one more but would feel better with two. (The Demon Deacons picked up a win Tuesday over Boston College and next face Virginia Tech. Illinois State, my second-to-last at-large, is already done.)

Kansas State, my first team out, is likely in with two more wins because they’d come against highly ranked Baylor and, barring an upset, West Virginia. Iowa and Illinois may be in the same boat if enough teams above them exit early.

Everybody else probably needs three, which in all but a few cases, means ... winning their conference tournament. Clemson beat NC State on Tuesday to jump into my "next four out." The Tigers face Duke on Wednesday.

* — Denotes projected conference champion, automatic berth. Teams in bold have secured an automatic berth.

This edition's bracket is Midwest vs. West and East vs. South in the national semifinals, based on the order of my No. 1 seeds.

BRACKET WATCH

MIDWEST REGION (KANSAS CITY)
Seed	Team	Location
1	Kansas*	at Tulsa
16	Texas Southern/North Dakota
8	Dayton*
9	Seton Hall
4	Purdue*	at Milwaukee
13	Princeton*
5	Cincinnati
12	Illinois State/Syracuse
6	Wisconsin	at Salt Lake City
11	Wake Forest
3	Arizona
14	Winthrop
7	Iowa State	at Indianapolis
10	Michigan State
2	Louisville
15	UC Irvine*

WEST REGION (San Jose)
Seed	Team	Location
1	Gonzaga	at Salt Lake City
16	South Dakota State/Mount Saint Mary's
8	South Carolina
9	Oklahoma State
4	Duke	at Greenville, SC
13	East Tennessee State
5	SMU*
12	Nevada*
6	Maryland	at Milwaukee
11	USC/Vanderbilt
3	Butler
14	Cal State Bakersfield*
7	Virginia Tech	at Sacramento
10	Wichita State
2	Oregon*
15	Jacksonville State

EAST REGION (NEW YORK)
Seed	Team	Location
1	Villanova*	at Buffalo
16	New Orleans
8	Michigan
9	Arkansas
4	Florida	at Orlando
13	Vermont*
5	Virginia
12	UNC Wilmington
6	Saint Mary's	at Orlando
11	Providence
3	Florida State
14	Akron*
7	Creighton	at Tulsa
10	VCU
2	Baylor
15	Iona*

SOUTH REGION (MEMPHIS)
Seed	Team	Location
1	North Carolina*	at Greenville, SC
16	NC Central*
8	Marquette
9	Northwestern
4	West Virginia	at Buffalo
13	Bucknell*
5	Notre Dame
12	UT Arlington*
6	Minnesota	at Indianapolis
11	Middle Tennessee*
3	Kentucky*
14	Florida Gulf Coast
7	Miami	at Sacramento
10	Xavier
2	UCLA
15	Northern Kentucky

LAST FOUR BYES: Michigan State, Xavier, Wake Forest, Providence

LAST FOUR IN: USC, Vanderbilt, Illinois State, Syracuse

FIRST FOUR OUT: Kansas State, Iowa, Illinois, Rhode Island

NEXT FOUR OUT: Cal, Ole Miss, Indiana, Clemson

MULTIPLE BID CONFERENCES: ACC (10), Big Ten (7), Big East (7), Big 12 (5), SEC (5), Pac-12 (4), A-10 (2), American (2), MVC (2), WCC (2)

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