Our latest NCAA men’s basketball tournament bracket projection still has a heavy SEC presence. But several Big Ten teams have begun to assert themselves as well.
The SEC maintains five of the top eight seeds, including three spots on the No. 1 line. But the Big Ten now has three projected No. 3 seeds with Wisconsin and Michigan moving up to join Purdue. Michigan State also appears in the top 16, and Maryland climbs to a No. 5 inching closer to the upper quadrant.
Yes, yes, we know a Big Ten team hasn’t won the whole thing in a quarter century. But more often than not there’s at least one league representative at the Final Four. It remains to be seen how much actual staying power this year’s candidates have, but newcomers Oregon and UCLA give the league even more depth as they remain in the top half of the projected field.
Those two leagues along with the Big 12 again figure to garner the lion’s share of the at-large selections, but the ACC gained one seat at the table over the weekend with Wake Forest edging back into the field.
BACK TO TOP: Auburn returns to No. 1 as top five gets shuffled
UP AND DOWN: SEC, Kansas among weekend winners and losers
Bracketology: NCAA Tournament field projection
Last four in
Arkansas, San Diego State, Virginia Commonwealth, Wake Forest.
First four out
Oklahoma, North Carolina, Xavier, Georgia.
NCAA Tournament bids conference breakdown
Multi-bid leagues: SEC (12), Big Ten (10), Big 12 (8), ACC (4), Big East (4), Mountain West (3), Atlantic 10 (2), West Coast (2).