Creighton Bluejays

Bracket Watch: Projecting the 68-team NCAA Tournament field

Published Jan. 17, 2017 9:55 a.m. ET

Stewart Mandel

Beginning with this edition, I’ll be posting my latest mock bracket every Tuesday and Friday through the rest of the regular season.

The competition for the four No. 1 seeds could be very interesting this season. Villanova is the runaway No. 1 overall team, but my No. 2 and 3 teams, Baylor and Kansas, hold very similar resumes. Kentucky is right there with them.

Many might rightfully argue for current AP top four teams UCLA and Gonzaga (the latter still undefeated) for the top line. I’d note that Florida State arguably has a better resume than both. Creighton could make a case as well.

Selection Sunday is March 12, and the tourney begins March 14. The Final Four is April 1-3 in Phoenix.

* — Denotes projected conference champion, automatic berth

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

BRACKET WATCH

EAST REGION (NEW YORK)
Seed	Team	Location
1	Villanova*	at Buffalo
16	Mount St. Mary's/Morgan State
8	Maryland*
9	TCU
4	Virginia	at Greenville, SC
13	Princeton*
5	Cincinnati*
12	Vermont*
6	Xavier	at Greenville, SC
11	UNC Wilmington*
3	North Carolina
14	Bucknell*
7	Virginia Tech	at Sacramento
10	Illinois
2	UCLA
15	UNC Asheville*

WEST REGION (SAN JOSE)
Seed	Team	Location
1	Kentucky*	at Indianapolis
16	North Dakota State*
8	USC
9	Indiana
4	Notre Dame*	at Orlando
13	Akron*
5	Arizona*
12	Nevada*
6	Wisconsin	at Buffalo
11	Miami/Seton Hall
3	West Virginia
14	New Mexico State*
7	SMU	at Sacramento
10	VCU
2	Gonzaga*
15	Weber State*

MIDWEST REGION (KANSAS CITY)
Seed	Team	Location
1	Kansas*	at Tulsa
16	Texas Southern/New Orleans
8	Northwestern
9	Pittsburgh
4	Oregon	at Salt Lake City
13	Valparaiso*
5	Minnesota
12	Chattanooga*
6	Saint Mary's	at Indianapolis
11	Arkansas/Marquette
3	Louisville
14	Richmond*
7	Clemson	at Milwaukee
10	Michigan
2	Creighton
15	Belmont*

SOUTH REGION (MEMPHIS)
Seed	Team	Location
1	Baylor	at Tulsa
16	UC Irvine*
8	Michigan State
9	Dayton
4	Florida	at Salt Lake City
13	Monmouth*
5	Duke
12	Middle Tennessee*
6	Purdue	at Milwaukee
11	Illinois State*
3	Butler
14	Florida Gulf Coast*
7	South Carolina	at Orlando
10	Iowa State
2	Florida State
15	Georgia Southern*

LAST FOUR IN: Arkansas, Seton Hall, Miami, Marquette

FIRST FOUR OUT: Georgia, Rhode Island, Texas Tech, Houston

NEXT FOUR OUT: Cal, Wichita State, Kansas State, NC State

MULTIPLE BID CONFERENCES: ACC (10), Big Ten (9), Big East (6), Big 12 (5), Pac-12 (4), SEC (4), A-10 (3), American (2), WCC (2)