College Basketball

Bracket Watch: No. 1 seeds hold spots, but Gonzaga, Kentucky are close behind

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:37 a.m. ET

Sports Illustrated, Michael Beller/Sports Illustrated

This week’s SI.com field of 68 nearly had a shakeup near the top resulting from Baylor’s loss to West Virginia. Given that we’re still two months from the start of the tournament, however, we decided to keep Baylor at the top of the South Region. We’ll explain our reasoning in further detail below. The hardest decision of the week was at the top of the field with Gonzaga making a strong case to move to the top line. The Bulldogs stuck as the No. 2 seed in the West Region, but UCLA and Baylor should take notice of the Bulldogs getting larger in their respective rear-view mirrors.

Last Four In

Rhode Island
Kansas State
VCU
Miami

First Four Out

Illinois
Michigan
Marquette
Houston

Next Four Out

Oklahoma State
California
Wake Forest
Nebraska

East

For the second straight week, the East looks like the strongest region. Villanova, West Virginia and Virginia are ranked fourth, second and fifth, respectively, on kenpom.com. Oregon, meanwhile, is the lone team with a win over UCLA, and Florida is also a top-15 kenpom.com team. Chances are you won’t see a region with this exact makeup on Selection Sunday, but bracketing principles are forcing our hand a bit. Villanova-West Virginia has the feel of a national semifinal rather than a regional final, but the Mountaineers would likely be placed in the East with New York being the closest region host to Morgantown.

Midwest

Kansas moved to 5–0 in the Big 12 with wins over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State last week. The Jayhawks have yet to face any of their fellow conference powerhouses, and won’t until the final week of January, but they have to be considered the favorites in the Big 12 at this point. Florida State beat Duke at home and then lost to North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and that has to be considered a net-positive week. No top seed is going to want to see Creighton in its region. The Bluejays are going to have trouble climbing all the way to the top line because of Villanova’s dominance in the Big East, but they’re going to be a Final Four contender, no matter their draw. After beating Butler and Truman State last week, Creighton has the sixth-ranked offense, in terms of adjusted efficiency, on kenpom.com. Arizona is 5–0 in the Pac-12 after beating Arizona State last week. The Wildcats spend the coming week in Los Angeles, with road games against USC and UCLA. We’ll get a sense of just how great a challenger they are to the Bruins on Saturday.

West

Speaking of UCLA, they remain atop the West Region, although Gonzaga is knocking on the door after beating Saint Mary’s by 23 points on Saturday. Depending on what happens with the other contenders for the four No. 1 seeds, we might see either UCLA or Gonzaga leave the West Region so both can be on the top line. KenPom gives Gonzaga a 1-in-3 chance at going undefeated in the regular season. Louisville got back on track with wins over Pittsburgh and Duke last week, moving to 3-2 in the ACC. The Cardinals have a big week ahead with games against Clemson and Florida State, the latter of which on the road. Notre Dame, meanwhile, looks more and more like a real player in the conference. The Irish are now 5–0 in the ACC after beating Miami and Virginia Tech last week, getting their second and third true road wins of the season. If they can knock off the Seminoles in Tallahassee on Wednesday, they’ll certainly cement their presence in the conference title race.

South

Bracket Watch 2017 NCAA Tournament
East	Midwest
1 Villanova	Kansas1
VS.	VS.
16 New Orleans/UNC-Central	UC-Irvine/Farleigh Dickinson 16

8 Michigan St.	Clemson 8
VS.	VS.
9 Dayton	Seton Hall 9

5 Florida	Wisconsin 5
VS.	VS.
12 Middle Tennessee	Oakland 12

4 Oregon	Arizona 4
VS.	VS.
13 Akron	Chattanooga 13

6 Purdue	Maryland 6
VS.	VS.
11 UNCW	Texas Tech 11

3 Virginia	Creighton 3
VS.	VS.
14 UNC Asheville	Belmont 14

7 South Carolina	Iowa St. 7
VS.	VS.
10 Pittsburgh	Illinois St. 10

2 West Virginia	Florida St. 2
VS.	VS.
15 Princeton	North Dakota St.15


South	West
1 Baylor	UCLA 1
VS.	VS.
16 Weber St.	Texas So. 16

8 USC	SMU 8
VS.	VS.
9 Indiana	Northwestern 9

5 Duke	Xavier 5
VS.	VS.
12 Boise State	Miami/VCU 12

4 Butler	Notre Dame 4
VS.	VS.
13 UT-Arlington	Vermont 13

6 Cincinnati	Saint Mary's6
VS.	VS.
11 Rhode Island/Kansas St.	Wichita St. 11

3 UNC	Louisville 3
VS.	VS.
14 FGCU	New Mexico St. 14

7 Minnesota	Virginia Tech 7
VS.	VS.
10 TCU	Arkansas 10

2 Kentucky	Gonzaga 2
VS.	VS.
16 Monmouth	Bucknell16