College Basketball

NCAA Tournament Bracket Forecast: Kansas State, Iowa State on the rise

Updated Jan. 24, 2023 2:30 p.m. ET

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Is there a hotter team in college basketball right now than the Kansas State Wildcats?

The Wildcats have won 10 of their last 11 games, including a thrilling 83-82 overtime victory over in-state rival Kansas Tuesday night. Following the win, Jerome Tang's team made a big jump in FOX Sports bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy's updated NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament projections, which were released Friday.

The No. 1 seeds in DeCourcy's latest bracket forecast — Houston, Alabama, Purdue and Kansas — remain the same. Meanwhile, K-State jumped up to a No. 2 seed, joining UCLA, Tennessee and Arizona. The Wildcats bounced back with an impressive 81-66 victory over USC after dropping a pair of Pac-12 games in early-January to Washington State and Oregon.

Following a 78-67 win over No. 7 Texas, the Iowa State Cyclones have moved up from the 4-line to the 3-line. The Longhorns are now listed as a No. 3 seed in DeCourcy's bracket forecast, along with Gonzaga and Virginia.

Marquette, Baylor, Miami (FL) and Xavier make up the No. 4 seeds.

When it comes to conference representation, the Big Ten leads the way with nine bids, followed by eight from the ACC. The Big 12 has seven teams represented, while the SEC has six. The Pac-12 and Big East have four teams in DeCourcy's latest projections. The Mountain West has three teams represented, while the WCC and American each have two.

Looking at teams on the bubble, DeCourcy has USC, Northwestern, Kentucky, and Oklahoma as the last four teams in, with Penn State, Creighton, West Virginia and Texas A&M on the outside looking in.

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Kansas State Wildcats

Houston Cougars

Alabama Crimson Tide

Purdue Boilermakers

Kansas Jayhawks

UCLA Bruins

Tennessee Volunteers

Arizona Wildcats

Texas Longhorns

Iowa State Cyclones

Gonzaga Bulldogs

Virginia Cavaliers

Marquette Golden Eagles

Baylor Bears

Miami (FL) Hurricanes

Xavier Musketeers

USC Trojans

Northwestern Wildcats

Kentucky Wildcats

Oklahoma Sooners

Penn State Nittany Lions

Creighton Bluejays

West Virginia Mountaineers

Texas A&M Aggies

College Basketball