Southeastern

Bracket Watch: Who's left in the race for a No. 1 seed?

Published Mar. 11, 2017 5:06 p.m. ET

Stewart Mandel

With just two days of games remaining, the race for the four NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds is down to just five realistic contenders — and one longshot.

Villanova (30-3) and Kansas (28-4) have separated themselves from the pack and are sure-fire bets for the first two slots. The Jayhawks’ Big 12 quarterfinal loss to TCU cost them the No. 1 overall seed, but not much more.

As of Saturday morning, my other two No. 1s were still North Carolina (27-7) and Gonzaga (32-1), but there’s mild concern for both. The Tar Heels’ ACC semifinal loss to Duke wasn’t exactly damaging, but it did send them into a tie for the most losses ever by a No. 1 seed. And many have been speculating for some time that the Pac-12 tournament champ could unseat the ‘Zags.

Both teams caught a break late Friday when Arizona toppled UCLA in the Pac-12 semifinals. The Bruins (29-4) stood to finish with the most impressive resume of the Pac-12’s heavyweight trio. The Wildcats (29-4), on the other hand, notched just their second RPI Top 25 win of the season. By comparison, UNC and Gonzaga both have five. Arizona is not in contention for a No. 1 seed.

Could Oregon (29-4) move up to the top line by beating Arizona for a second time? Possibly. Though keep in mind the Ducks would still have just five RPI Top 50 wins. That doesn’t stack up with UNC (11) or Gonzaga (six) either.

Here’s one other long-shot possibility, though: Duke. If the Blue Devils (26-8) win their fourth game in four nights Saturday against Notre Dame, they could finish with a national-best 13 RPI Top 50 wins. But they also lost eight games and tied for fifth place in the ACC this season.

All in all, there’s a good chance my current No. 1s will stay there.

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

This edition's bracket is East vs. West and Midwest vs. South 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	New Orleans*
8	Miami
9	Dayton
4	Florida	at Orlando
13	Vermont
5	Virginia
12	UNC Wilmington
6	Minnesota	at Salt Lake City
11	Wake Forest
3	Arizona
14	Florida Gulf Coast
7	Maryland	at Greenville, SC
10	Vanderbilt
2	Duke
15	Iona

WEST REGION (San Jose)
Seed	Team	Location
1	Gonzaga	at Salt Lake City
16	South Dakota State/Mount Saint Mary's
8	Marquette
9	South Carolina
4	West Virginia*	at Buffalo
13	East Tennessee State
5	SMU*
12	Kansas State/Illinois State
6	Iowa State	at Indianapolis
11	Providence/USC
3	Louisville
14	Cal State Bakersfield*
7	Virginia Tech	at Sacramento
10	Wichita State
2	Oregon*
15	Jacksonville State

MIDWEST REGION (KANSAS CITY)
Seed	Team	Location
1	Kansas	at Tulsa
16	North Dakota/Texas Southern*
8	Northwestern
9	Xavier
4	Butler	at Milwaukee
13	Princeton*
5	Cincinnati
12	Nevada*
6	Wisconsin*	at Orlando
11	Middle Tennessee*
3	Florida State
14	Akron*
7	Creighton	at Indianapolis
10	VCU*
2	Kentucky*
15	UC Irvine*

SOUTH REGION (MEMPHIS)
Seed	Team	Location
1	North Carolina	at Greenville, SC
16	NC Central
8	Seton Hall
9	Oklahoma State
4	Purdue	at Milwaukee
13	Bucknell
5	Notre Dame*
12	UT Arlington*
6	Saint Mary's	at Tulsa
11	Michigan State
3	Baylor
14	Winthrop
7	Michigan	at Sacramento
10	Arkansas
2	UCLA
15	Northern Kentucky

LAST FOUR BYES: VCU, Vanderbilt, Michigan State, Wake Forest

LAST FOUR IN: Providence, Kansas State, USC, Illinois State

FIRST SIX OUT: Rhode Island, Syracuse, Iowa, Illinois, Cal, TCU

MULTIPLE BID CONFERENCES: ACC (9), Big Ten (7), Big East (7), Big 12 (6), SEC (5), Pac-12 (4), A-10 (2), American (2), MVC (2), WCC (2)

Get more from Southeastern Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic