BRACKETOLOGY - 3/9/13

After an action-packed week that predictably saw many bubble teams refuse to take advantage of tremendous opportunities; there was much movement within the bracket, including a new #1 seed and one big name, big blue casualty.

Let’s take a look at my latest (as of games through Friday, March 8, 2013) prediction of the 2013 NCAA Tournament field and seeding, if the season were to end today (WARNING: The predicted field/seeding is highly likely to change from day to day or minute to minute).

*Automatic bids in italics

1 SEEDS: Indiana; Duke; Kansas; Gonzaga.

2 SEEDS: Louisville; Michigan State; Michigan; Miami, Fl.

3 SEEDS: Florida; Georgetown; New Mexico; Ohio State.

4 SEEDS: Syracuse; Marquette; Wisconsin; Arizona.

5 SEEDS: Kansas State; UNLV; Oklahoma State; Pittsburgh.

6 SEEDS: Saint Louis; VCU; Butler; San Diego State.

7 SEEDS: North Carolina State; Minnesota; Missouri; Notre Dame.

8 SEEDS: Colorado State; North Carolina; Illinois; Memphis.

9 SEEDS: UCLA; Oklahoma; Colorado; Villanova.

10 SEEDS: Cincinnati; Oregon; Creighton; St. Mary’s.

11 SEEDS: Wichita State; California; Iowa State; Belmont.

12 SEEDS: Virginia; Tennessee vs. Temple; Middle Tennessee; Boise State vs. La Salle.

13 SEEDS: Akron; Louisiana Tech; Bucknell; Stephen F. Austin.

14 SEEDS: Valparaiso; Davidson; Stony Brook; South Dakota State.

15 SEEDS: Harvard; Montana; Niagara; Long Beach State.

16 SEEDS: Mercer; Robert Morris; Northeastern vs. Norfolk State; Charleston Southern vs. Texas Southern.

LAST FOUR IN: Tennessee; Boise State; La Salle; Temple.

LAST FOUR OUT: Kentucky; Stanford; Mississippi; Iowa.

AT-LARGES DROPPED OUT: Kentucky.

AT-LARGE NEW ENTRIES: Temple.

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN: Big East (8); Big Ten (7); ACC (5); Big 12 (5); MWC (5); Pac-12 (5); A-10 (5); SEC (3); MVC (2); WCC (2).

Jamal Murphy has been making tournament predictions since 2010. He will be updating his predictions frequently until the Committee’s selection on Sunday, March 17th.

Note: Conference leaders are determined by the team with the fewest conference losses, with ties broken by the higher RPI ranking.

Please feel free to contact Jamal via Twitter: @Blacketologist