| Last Week | Today | |
| #1 | Syracuse | Florida |
| #2 | Duke | Syracuse |
| #3 | Iowa | Duke |
| #4 | Louisville | Creighton |
| #5 | Arizona | Louisville |
| #6 | Creighton | Iowa |
| #7 | Kansas | Arizona |
| #8 | Florida | Villanova |
| #9 | Michigan St | Virginia |
| #10 | Villanova | Kansas |
| #11 | Virginia | Ohio St |
| #12 | Kentucky | Wisconsin |
| #13 | Ohio St | UCLA |
| #14 | Wichita St | Pittsburgh |
| #15 | UCLA | Kentucky |
| #16 | Iowa St | Wichita St |
Don’t overlook the fact that the margin separating the top team in the land, Florida, from #18 Michigan State is a grand total of 4.5 points...for now. There's a razor thin margin between all of these top ranked teams and one odd result at the top of the leader board can change the way Vegas views these teams over night.
This bracket is…
*Illustrative of how Vegas ranks the 36 best at large teams and 32 automatic qualifiers
*Expected to pay merit to a team's overall power profile, not how “deserving” they are of a birth in the dance
*Inclined to piss people off if they are accustomed to watching college basketball as a fan rather than an oddsmaker expecting to see a more customary bracket.
This bracket isn’t…
*meant to mirror the projected field of other sites beyond anything more than having the same number of teams included
*Compelled to look at win/loss records as a useful determinante of team strength
*Worried about a 12 beating a 5 seed because upsets do happen and in our case, it would be an actual upset rather than improperly seeded teams.
*A personal vendetta against the little guy. San Diego St and Wichita are both talented teams and will have their chance to compete but anyone who thinks they deserve a #1 seed implies they’d be favored over just about everyone which isn’t the case.
Field of 68
*Automatic qualifiers conferences listed
#1 Florida (SEC) vs #16 Charleston Southern (Big South) / Southern (SWAC)
#2 Villanova vs #15 Stephen F Austin (Southland)
#3 Virginia vs #14 Toledo (MAC)
#4 Wichita St (MVC) vs #13 UC Santa Barbara (Big West)
#5 Michigan vs #12 Louisiana Tech (C-USA) / UW Green Bay (Horizon)
#6 Cincinnati vs #11 UMASS
#7 St Louis vs #10 Marquette
#8 Oregon vs #9 Kansas St
#1 Syracuse (ACC) vs #16 Weber St (Big Sky) / Robert Morris (NEC)
#2 Arizona (Pac 12) vs #15 Delaware (CAA)
#3 Kansas (Big XII) vs #14 Vermont (America East)
#4 Kentucky vs #13 North Dakota St (Summit)
#5 Michigan St vs #12 St John's / Harvard (Ivy)
#6 San Diego St (MWC) vs #11 New Mexico
#7 SMU vs #10 Texas
#8 Minnesota vs #9 Florida St
#1 Duke vs #16 Davidson (Southern)
#2 Iowa (Big Ten) vs #15 Belmont (OVC)
#3 Ohio St vs #14 Georgia St (Sun Belt)
#4 Pittsburgh vs #13 Mercer (A-Sun)
#5 Uconn vs #12 BYU
#6 VCU (A-10) vs #11 Maryland
#7 Memphis vs #10 Missouri
#8 Arizona St vs #9 California
#1 Creighton (Big East) vs #16 NC Central (MEAC)
#2 Louisville (AAC) vs #15 Boston University (Patriot)
#3 Wisconsin vs #14 Iona (MAAC)
#4 UCLA vs #13 New Mexico St (WAC)
#5 UNC vs #12 Arkansas
#6 Iowa St vs #11 Oklahoma
#7 Gonzaga (WCC) vs #10 Xavier
#8 Tennessee vs #9 Stanford
First 4 out
Baylor
George Washington
Utah
West Virginia
