The complete March Madness field of 68 predicted in the last days before March NCAA.com
CHAMPS
PRESENTED BY In the last week before March arrives, we have our latest prediction for the March Madness field, thanks to NCAA.com basketball expert Andy Katz. Katz has traveled the country this regular season watching games and talking to top players and coaches, all of which have helped inform his eighth bracket prediction of the season for the DI men's basketball tournament. We break down his picks below, but first, let’s look at the bracket itself . And here’s that bracket in table form: West Midwest East South 1 Gonzaga Kentucky Duke Virginia 16 Sam Houston St. Prairie View/Norfolk St. Bucknell St. Francis/Iona 8 St. John's Louisville Ole Miss Mississippi St. 9 NC St. Oklahoma VCU Temple 5 Florida St. Kansas St. Iowa St. Wisconsin 12 Belmont Auburn/Clemson Ohio St./Alabama New Mexico St. 4 LSU Maryland Nevada Texas Tech 13 Lipscomb Hofstra Yale Old Dominion 6 Buffalo Iowa Virginia Tech Cincinnati 11 Florida Arizona St. Minnesota Seton Hall 3 Kansas Houston Marquette Purdue 14 Montana UC Irvine Vermont S. Dakota St. 7 Washington Villanova Baylor Syracuse 10 Wofford TCU UCF Texas 2 Michigan North Carolina Michigan St. Tennessee 15 Texas St. Loyola-Chicago Wright St. Radford Kentucky replaces Tennessee on top line
Kentucky has stayed hot in the second half of the season, sitting at 13-1 since January 5. That lone loss came at home on a last-second tip against No. 19 LSU, but in the meantime, the Wildcats toppled No. 1 Tennessee by 17. After the Vols lost to LSU on Saturday, Katz switched the two SEC teams, tabbing the Wildcats to win the conference and take the 1 seed, while Tennessee dropped to a 2 seed. They could very well flip again, as the rematch comes in Knoxville this Saturday. Villanova leads biggest drops
By the time February rolled around, it looked as though Villanova had recovered from some early-season stumbles and was back on track. The Wildcats won 11 in a row from Dec. 22 to Feb. 6. But the month has not been kind to Villanova, who have lost four of their last five, including three in a row. That makes five losses to unranked teams this year for the Wildcats — more than they’ve had in any season since 2013, when they went 20-14. The slump has dropped Villanova from a 5 seed to a 7 in Katz’s latest bracket. Up next is a rematch at home against No. 10 Marquette on Wednesday — the last opportunity to get a signature win in before the end of the regular season. Louisville has been extremely streaky this season, not having won more than six games in a row all year and sitting at 18-10 on the season. Yet they also have four wins against Top 25 teams. But since the start of February, the Cardinals are 2-5, including a disastrous blown lead against then-No. 2 Duke at home. After getting blown out at Syracuse and falling to Virginia, Katz penciled Louisville in as an 8 seed, down from a 6 seed in last week’s bracket. Georgetown showed its potential with a double-digit win over Villanova last week, stopping a two-game skid, but immediately followed it up with a 13-point loss at Creighton Saturday. The Hoyas haven’t been able to pick up any momentum this year. They haven’t won three games in a row since January 2, and are 5-8 since then. As a result, Katz dropped Georgetown from a 12 seed in his last bracket to the first four out of the tournament in this prediction. NC State Cincinnati top big risers
NC State has recovered fairly well after a blowout loss in Chapel Hill to North Carolina. The Wolfpack are 4-1 since, with the lone loss coming to Duke in Cameron Indoor. That has pushed NC State to a 9 seed from an 11 in Katz’s latest prediction. The Wolfpack should be able to carry this momentum through the end of the year, with the hardest test coming Saturday in Tallahassee against No. 18 Florida State. Cincinnati is now 11-1 since January 10, dropping just one game on the road against No. 12 Houston. The Bearcats trail Houston by just one game in the AAC, and finish off the season against the Cougars on March 10 in a game that could decide the conference title. Either way, Cincinnati’s hot streak has seen them continue to rise in Katz’s predictions, as they now sit a 6 seed. Andy Katz s field of 68
Here is Katz’s full seed list in order. Beneath it, you’ll find a list of all 68 teams in Katz's latest field, with how their seeding has changed since the last prediction: Overall rank Team Seed AQ? 1 Gonzaga 1 AQ 2 Duke 1 AQ 3 Virginia 1 4 Kentucky 1 AQ 5 Tennessee 2 6 North Carolina 2 7 Michigan State 2 AQ 8 Michigan 2 9 Houston 3 10 Purdue 3 11 Marquette 3 AQ 12 Kansas 3 13 LSU 4 14 Maryland 4 15 Texas Tech 4 16 Nevada 4 AQ 17 Kansas State 5 AQ 18 Iowa State 5 19 Florida State 5 20 Wisconsin 5 21 Virginia Tech 6 22 Iowa 6 23 Cincinnati 6 24 Buffalo 6 AQ 25 Washington 7 AQ 26 Baylor 7 27 Villanova 7 28 Syracuse 7 29 Mississippi State 8 30 Louisville 8 31 St. John’s 8 32 Ole Miss 8 33 Oklahoma 9 34 NC State 9 35 VCU 9 AQ 36 Temple 9 37 UCF 10 38 TCU 10 39 Wofford 10 AQ 40 Texas 10 41 Florida 11 42 Arizona State 11 43 Seton Hall 11 44 Minnesota 11 45 Ohio State 11 46 Alabama 11 47 Auburn 12 48 Clemson 12 49 Belmont 12 AQ 50 New Mexico State 12 AQ 51 Lipscomb 13 AQ 52 Hofstra 13 AQ 53 Yale 13 AQ 54 Old Dominion 13 AQ 55 Vermont 14 AQ 56 UC irvine 14 AQ 57 South Dakota State 14 AQ 58 Montana 14 AQ 59 Texas State 15 AQ 60 Wright State 15 AQ 61 Loyola-Chicago 15 AQ 62 Radford 15 AQ 63 Bucknell 16 AQ 64 Sam Houston State 16 AQ 65 Prairie View 16 AQ 66 Norfolk State 16 AQ 67 St. Francis PA 16 AQ 68 Iona 16 AQ Bracket movement
Here is how every team's seed has changed since Katz's last prediction: Team Bracket 7 seed Bracket 8 seed Movement Gonzaga 1 1 0 Duke 1 1 0 Virginia 1 1 0 Kentucky 2 1 +1 Tennessee 1 2 -1 North Carolina 2 2 0 Michigan State 2 2 0 Michigan 2 2 0 Houston 3 3 0 Purdue 3 3 0 Marquette 3 3 0 Kansas 3 3 0 LSU 4 4 0 Maryland 4 4 0 Texas Tech 4 4 0 Nevada 4 4 0 Kansas State 5 5 0 Iowa State 5 5 0 Florida State 5 5 0 Wisconsin 6 5 +1 Virginia Tech 6 6 0 Iowa 6 6 0 Cincinnati 7 6 +1 Buffalo 7 6 +1 Washington 7 7 0 Baylor 8 7 +1 Villanova 5 7 -2 Syracuse 7 7 0 Mississippi State 8 8 0 Louisville 6 8 -2 St. John’s 8 8 0 Ole Miss 9 8 +1 Oklahoma 9 9 0 NC State 11 9 +2 VCU 9 9 0 Temple 10 9 +1 UCF 11 10 +1 TCU 11 10 +1 Wofford 10 10 0 Texas 8 10 -2 Florida 11 11 0 Arizona State 11 11 0 Seton Hall 10 11 -1 Minnesota 9 11 -2 Ohio State 10 11 -1 Alabama 12 11 +1 Auburn 11 12 -1 Clemson N/A 12 N/A Belmont 12 12 0 New Mexico State 12 12 0 Lipscomb N/A 13 N/A Hofstra 13 13 0 Yale 13 13 0 Old Dominion 13 13 0 Vermont 14 14 0 UC irvine 14 14 0 South Dakota State 14 14 0 Montana 14 14 0 Texas State 15 15 0 Wright State N/A 15 N/A Loyola-Chicago 15 15 0 Radford 15 15 0 Bucknell N/A 16 N/A Sam Houston State 16 16 0 Prairie View 16 16 0 Norfolk State 16 16 0 St. Francis (PA) 16 16 0 Iona N/A 16 N/A Matt McKillop follows his father' s winning footsteps at Davidson a few feet closer to home
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