One of my biggest pet peeves is all of the Bracketology articles in November. To me, making a bracket should be backward-looking, not forward-looking, or at least a combination of the two. Do I really think Arizona is the worst #5 seed? No, they might be a top-five team in the country, but their resume is nowhere near that level. Projections are what filling out the bracket is for, the making of the bracket should be based on wins and losses. Now, we are about halfway through the year, and I’m finally ready to publish my first Bracketology.

BRACKET

S-CURVE

1 Seeds: Villanova, Duke, Virginia, West Virginia

2 Seeds: Purdue, Oklahoma, Xavier, Michigan State

3 Seeds: Kansas, Arizona State, Texas Tech, Seton Hall

4 Seeds: Wichita State, North Carolina, Clemson, Auburn

5 Seeds: TCU, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Arizona

6 Seeds: Tennessee, Gonzaga, Miami, Arkansas

7 Seeds: Creighton, Florida State, Florida, Notre Dame

8 Seeds: Nevada, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Michigan

9 Seeds: Butler, Rhode Island, St. Mary’s, Missouri

10 Seeds: Georgia, Maryland, UCLA, SMU

11 Seeds: Syracuse, Houston, Texas, Louisville, Boise State, Minnesota

12 Seeds: Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State, Missouri State, South Dakota State

13 Seeds: East Tennessee State, Murray State, Vermont, Louisiana-Lafayette

14 Seeds: Buffalo, William & Mary, UC Davis, Lipscomb

15 Seeds: Northern Kentucky, Stephen F. Austin, Montana, Pennsylvania

16 Seeds: Bucknell, Rider, Radford, Robert Morris, Texas Southern, North Carolina A&T

BUBBLE

Avoiding Dayton

UCLA
SMU
Syracuse
Houston

Last Four In

Texas
Louisville
Boise State
Minnesota

First Four Out

Marquette
St. Bonaventure
Alabama
Washington

Next Four Out

Mississippi State
Baylor
USC
Western Kentucky

By Conference

ACC – 9 Bids (60%)
American – 4 Bids (33%)
Big 12 – 6 Bids (60%)
Big East – 5 Bids (50%)
Big Ten – 6 Bids (43%)
Mountain West – 2 Bids (18%)
Pac-12 – 3 Bids (25%)
SEC – 8 Bids (57%)
West Coast – 2 Bids (20%)

All other conferences are one-bid leagues.