Selection Sunday is here and only a few of the automatic bids remain a mystery. Let’s take a quick look at the teams that have already clinched a spot.
ACC: Virginia
America East: UMBC
Atlantic Sun: Lipscomb
Big 12: Kansas
Big East: Villanova
Big Sky: Montana
Big South: Radford
Big Ten: Michigan
Big West: Cal State Fullerton
Colonial: College of Charleston
Conference USA: Marshall
Horizon: Wright State
MAAC: Iona
MEAC: North Carolina Central
Mid-American: Buffalo
Missouri Valley: Loyola-Chicago
Northeast: LIU Brooklyn
Ohio Valley: Murray State
Pac 12: Arizona
Patriot: Bucknell
Southern: UNC Greensboro
Southland: SFA
Summit: South Dakota State
SWAC: Texas Southern
WAC: New Mexico State
WCC: Gonzaga
Before we get to today’s bracket … do you need help picking games when filling out your bracket? Once the bracket is revealed tonight, head over to NCAAGameSim.com and use the Game Simulator to help. GameSim+ subscribers can even simulate the entire tournament with one click.
With 5 conference championships left today, today’s bracket assumes Penn (Ivy League), Rhode Island (A10), and Georgia State (Sun Belt) take the automatic bids while the SEC and AAC winners aren’t of any real consequence.
As I sit here filling out today’s bracket I’m left with 1 at-large bid remaining and I’m considering the following teams. Let’s consider how they did in Q1 games.
Louisville: Louisville went 3-10 in Q1 games.
Syracuse: Boeheim’s squad went 4-8 in Q1 games.
Notre Dame: The Irish are the enigma today. How will the Selection Committee look at the Irish? Will they take injuries into account? Is the late season success enough to overlook a couple bad losses with Colson in the lineup? Notre Dame went 2-9 in Q1 games.
Arizona State: ASU went 3-4 in Q1 games
Marquette: Marquette went 3-8 in Q1 games
Oklahoma State: Went 5-12 in Q1 games
Middle Tennessee: Went 2-3 in Q1 games
The ACC was one of the nation’s top conferences all year long and I felt like they deserved the 9th bid which narrows things down to 3 teams remaining. Ultimately, I went with Syracuse largely because the Orange had the advantage in Quadrant 1 wins.
Final Four: East vs West & Midwest vs South
ALL CAPS/conference indicates an automatic bid
SOUTH
(1) VIRGINIA/ACC vs. (16) LIU BROOKLYN/Northeast
(8) Providence vs. (9) Creighton
(5) GONZAGA/WCC vs. (12) MURRAY STATE/Ohio Valley
(4) Tennessee vs. (13) BUFFALO/Mid-American
(3) ARIZONA/Pac-12 vs. (14) GEORGIA STATE/Sun Belt
(6) Florida vs. (11) Saint Mary’s/Syracuse
(7) TCU vs. (10) NC State
(2) Purdue vs. (15) COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON/Colonial
MIDWEST
(1) Xavier vs. (16) CAL STATE FULLERTON/Big West/TEXAS SOUTHERN/SWAC
(8) Nevada vs. (9) Alabama
(5) Ohio State vs. (12) SOUTH DAKOTA STATE/Summit
(4) West Virginia vs. (13) MONTANA/Big Sky
(3) AUBURN/SEC vs. (14) MARSHALL/Conference USA
(6) Miami vs. (11) Oklahoma
(7) Texas A&M vs. (10) St. Bonaventure
(2) UNC vs. (15) RADFORD/Big South
EAST
(1) VILLANOVA/Big East vs. (16) UMBC/America East/NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL/MEAC
(8) Missouri vs. (9) Kansas State
(5) Clemson vs. (12) NEW MEXICO STATE/WAC
(4) Texas Tech vs. (13) UNC GREENSBORO/Southern
(3) Michigan State vs. (14) SFA/Southland
(6) Arkansas vs. (11) Texas/UCLA
(7) RHODE ISLAND/Atlantic 10 vs. (10) FSU
(2) CINCINNATI/AAC vs. (15) WRIGHT STATE/Horizon
WEST
(1) KANSAS/Big 12 vs. (16) LIPSCOMB/Atlantic Sun
(8) Virginia Tech vs. (9) Butler
(5) Kentucky vs. (12) LOYOLA-CHICAGO/Missouri Valley
(4) Wichita State vs. (13) BUCKNELL/Patriot League
(3) MICHIGAN/Big Ten vs. (14) PENN/Ivy League
(6) Houston vs. (11) SAN DIEGO STATE/Mountain West
(7) Seton Hall vs. (10) USC
(2) Duke vs. (15) IONA/MAAC
Last Four In
UCLA
Syracuse
Saint Mary’s
Texas
First Four Out
Louisville
Penn State
Notre Dame
Arizona State
Next Four Out
Maryland
Baylor
Oklahoma State
LSU
Multiple Bid Conferences
| Conference | Teams |
| ACC | 9 |
| SEC | 8 |
| Big 12 | 7 |
| Big East | 6 |
| Big Ten | 4 |
| AAC | 3 |
| Pac-12 | 3 |
| Atlantic 10 | 2 |
| Mountain West | 2 |
| WCC | 2 |
Here’s where the fun begins and where we set the Sports Channel 8 bracketology apart from everyone else. You can simulate the bracket above using NCAAGameSim.com. Enjoy!
