BYU a 1 seed out West in latest NCAA tournament projections

Fresh off an impressive victory at San Diego State – with help from Texas and Duke – BYU claims the fourth spot on our latest S-Curve and a No. 1 seed in the West Region.  Welcome to March.  Our other No. 1 seeds remain the same – Ohio State, Pittsburgh, and Kansas.  We have a strong set of 2-seeds: Texas, Duke, Notre Dame, Purdue.  If you’re looking for San Diego State, the Aztecs are the highest ranked 3-seed.  No shame in losing to BYU (twice this season).  Instead, SDSU was passed by Purdue.  Few teams are playing better than the Boilermakers.

We’re still sorting through the bottom of the bracket.  The bubble has shrunk a bit.  We’re now at roughly 28 teams battling for 12 spots.  Every team seeded 10 and lower in this update has work to do.  A lot of the teams are interchangeable.  It’s very likely that conference tournaments will help determine the last few in and the last few out.

Send a rebound if you like.  We’re in for an exciting two weeks until Selection Sunday.

UPDATED: Monday, February 28 | Records reflect Division I games only – through February 27.

Teams in CAPS represent the projected conference champion for this bracket. Exceptions are made for those teams that traditionally use an abbreviation (UTEP, BYU, etc).

NOTE: In the new 68-team format you will notice two pairing games that represent the First Four pairings. In this bracket the First Four games in Dayton would be … Michigan State vs. Boston College | Colorado vs. Michigan | Texas Southern vs. McNeese State | Northern Colorado vs. Bethune-Cookman. The final four at-large teams are paired along with the teams seeded 65-68 on the S-curve. The matchups are indicated in the bracket below.

Next Update: Friday, March 4.

BRACKET PROJECTION …

NOTES on the BRACKET: Ohio State remains the No. 1 overall seed followed by Pittsburgh, Kansas, and BYU. The two seeds in order are Texas, Duke, Notre Dame, Purdue

Last Five teams in (at large): Richmond, Michigan State, Colorado, Michigan, Boston College

First Five teams out (at large): Penn State, Clemson, Memphis, Baylor, Colorado State

Next in Line: Butler, Washington State, Southern Mississippi, VCU, Cleveland State

Bracket adjustments: None in this bracket.

Here is the team breakdown by Conference …

Big East (11): PITTSBURGH, Connecticut, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Villanova, West Virginia, Louisville, St. John’s, Cincinnati, Marquette

SEC (6): FLORIDA, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama

Big 12 (6): KANSAS, Texas, Texas AM, Missouri, Kansas State, Colorado

Big Ten (6): OHIO STATE, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State, Michigan

ACC (4): DUKE, North Carolina, Florida State, Boston College

Mountain West (3): SAN DIEGO STATE, BYU, UNLV

Pac 10 (3): ARIZONA, UCLA, Washington

Atlantic 10 (3): XAVIER, Temple, Richmond

Colonial (2): GEORGE MASON, Old Dominion

West Coast (2): ST. MARY’S, Gonzaga

Conference USA (1): UAB

Missouri Valley (1): MISSOURI STATE

Horizon (1): MILWAUKEE

Auto Bid conference champions … Utah State (WAC), Murray State (OVC), Fairfield (MAAC), Kent State (MAC), Northern Colorado (Big Sky), Charleston (Southern), Oakland (Summit), Long Beach (Big West), Long Island (NEC), Belmont (Atlantic Sun), Florida Atlantic (Sun Belt), Princeton (Ivy), Coastal Carolina (Big South), Bethune-cookman (MEAC), Bucknell (Patriot), Vermont (America East), McNeese State(Southland), Texas Southern (SWAC)