Men’s College Basketball: NCAA Tourney Bracketology 6.0 (2023)

by Ryan Coleman |
Mar 09, 2023

Welcome to my sixth bracketology article this season. Selection Sunday is days away, so I will be providing one more bracketology article after this one before the bracket is unveiled on Sunday.

Here are the auto-bids thus far

Gonzaga (West Coast)
College of Charleston (Colonial)
Oral Roberts (Summit)
Drake (MVC)
Louisiana-Lafayette (Sun Belt)
Furman (Southern)
Kennesaw State (Atlantic Sun)
UNC-Asheville (Big South)
Northern Kentucky (Horizon)
Fairleigh-Dickinson (Northeast)
Southeast Missouri State (Ohio Valley)

Otherwise here are my at-large locks entering power conference tournament play.

ACC

In: Virginia, Miami, Duke
Looking Good: Pittsburgh, N.C. State
Bubble: Clemson, UNC

Big 12

In: Kansas, Texas, Baylor, Kansas State, Iowa State, TCU
Looking Good: West Virginia
Bubble: Oklahoma State

Big East

In: Marquette, Xavier, Creighton, UConn
Looking Good: Providence

Big Ten

In: Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern, Michigan State, Maryland, Illinois, Iowa
Bubble: Rutgers, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan

Pac 12

In: UCLA, Arizona
Looking Good: USC
Bubble: Arizona State

SEC

In: Alabama, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas
Looking Good: Auburn, Arkansas
Bubble: Mississippi State, Vanderbilt

Mid-Major

In: Houston, Saint Mary's, San Diego State, Memphis, Boise State, Florida Atlantic
Bubble: Utah State, Nevada

You'd think that with Selection Sunday less than a week away, there would be a lot more teams that have locked up their at-large bid. But there is a thin line between a 7 and 11 seed right now and any few losses could put a team at risk. Especially if any of the bubble teams make runs, or there are a couple of bid stealers, some teams might still be at risk which seems good right now.

In terms of futures, there isn't too much I am excited about. Right now I am comfortable sitting and waiting for the bracket to come out, to see what different paths are offered to different teams before deciding. If I had to pick a blind Final Four right now, however, I would probably go with Houston, UConn, Creighton, and Texas A&M. Those four teams I simply trust right now and are consistent enough to play with the best of 'em, winning four straight games.

Let's get to the seeding

The Seeding

1 Seeds

Houston
Alabama
Kansas
Purdue

2 Seeds

UCLA
Texas
Baylor
Arizona

3 Seeds

Tennessee
Kansas State
Marquette
Gonzaga

4 Seeds

Indiana
UConn
Virginia
Xavier

5 Seeds

Creighton
San Diego State
TCU
Miami

6 Seeds

Saint Mary's
Kentucky
Iowa State
Texas A&M

7 Seeds

Maryland
Michigan State
Northwestern
Illinois

8 Seeds

Iowa
Florida Atlantic
Missouri
Duke

9 Seeds

Arkansas
Memphis
Auburn
Providence

10 Seeds

North Carolina State
USC
Boise State
West Virginia

11 Seeds

Nevada
Pittsburgh
Utah State*
Wisconsin*
Mississippi State*
Rutgers*

12 Seeds

Oral Roberts (Summit)
College of Charleston (Colonial)
VCU(A10)
Drake (MVC)

13 Seeds

Louisiana-Lafayette (Sun Belt)
Kent State (MAC)
Kennesaw State (ASun)
Utah Valley (WAC)

14 Seeds

Yale (Ivy)
Furman (Southern)
Montana State (Big Sky)
UC Irvine (Big West)

15 Seeds

Northern Kentucky (Horizon)
Iona (MAAC)
UNC-Asheville (Big South)
Colgate (Patriot)

16 Seeds

Vermont (AE)
Southeast Missouri State (OVC)
Norfolk State* (MEAC)
Texas A&M Corpus Christi* (Southland)
Grambling State* (SWAC)
Fairleigh Dickinson* (Northeast)

*Play-in games

Bold = Conference Champions

First Four Out

Penn State
Arizona State
Michigan
North Carolina

Next Four Out

Oklahoma State
Oregon
Clemson
New Mexico

Bracket

South (Louisville)

1 Houston
16 Grambling State/Fairleigh Dickinson

8 Duke
9 Missouri

5 Creighton
12 Drake

4 Indiana
13 Louisiana-Lafayette

6 Iowa State
11 Nevada

3 Tennessee
14 UC Irvine

7 Northwestern
10 West Virginia

2 Arizona
15 Northern Kentucky

West (Las Vegas)

1 Purdue
16 Vermont

8 Florida Atlantic
9 Providence

5 Miami
12 Oral Roberts

4 Xavier
13 Utah Valley

6 Saint Mary's
11 Mississippi State/Wisconsin

3 Gonzaga
14 Yale

7 Illinois
10 North Carolina State

2 UCLA
15 Colgate

Midwest (Kansas City)

1 Kansas
16 Southeast Missouri State

8 Arkansas
9 Auburn

5 TCU
12 College of Charleston

4 UConn
13 Kennesaw State

6 Maryland
11 Pittsburgh

3 Marquette
14 Furman

7 Kentucky
10 USC

2 Texas
15 UNC-Asheville

East (New York)

1 Alabama
16 Norfolk State/TAMCC

8 Iowa
9 Memphis

5 San Diego State
12 VCU

4 Virginia
13 Kent State

6 Texas A&M
11 Utah State/Rutgers

3 Kansas State
14 Montana State

7 Michigan State
10 Boise State

2 Baylor
15 Iona

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