The NCAA selection committee revealed its in-season Top 16 Saturday afternoon. After talking with the committee, krikya18.com basketball analyst Andy Katz completed his latest full bracket prediction for the March Madness field.
Katz has traveled the country this regular season watching games and talking to top players and coaches, all of which have helped inform his sixth bracket prediction of the season for the DI men's basketball tournament.
Selection Sunday 2019: Time, dates, schedule and everything else you need to know
We break down his picks below, but first, let’s look at the bracket itself ().
And here's that bracket in table form:
East | West | South | Midwest | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Duke | Gonzaga | Tennessee | Virginia |
16 | Prairie View/RMU | Sam Houston St. | Bucknell | Rider/Norfolk St. |
8 | Ohio St. | Buffalo | St. John's | Auburn |
9 | Oklahoma | Texas | Minnesota | Baylor |
5 | LSU | Maryland | Iowa | Villanova |
12 | Belmont | Davidson | Lipscomb | Hofstra |
4 | Iowa St. | Louisville | Nevada | Wisconsin |
13 | New Mexico St. | ODU | Vermont | South Dakota St. |
6 | Texas Tech | Cincinnati | Kansas St. | Virginia Tech |
11 | Temple | Wofford | UCF/VCU | Indiana/Ole Miss |
3 | Marquette | Kansas | Purdue | Houston |
14 | Bowling Green | UC Irving | Montana | N. Kentucky |
7 | Syracuse | Florida St. | Mississippi St. | Washington |
10 | Alabama | Seton Hall | TCU | NC St. |
2 | Michigan | Michigan St. | North Carolina | Kentucky |
15 | Loyola-Chicago | Texas St. | Radford | Yale |
THE TOP 16: NCAA selection committee's in-season look at the March Madness bracket |Breakdown
Gonzaga back in as a 1 seed
Someone had to fill the gap Michigan State’s recent slump left. The Spartans had won 13 straight, including four against ranked teams. Then came a loss at Purdue. And then at home against Indiana. And then on the road to Illinois. It’s Michigan State’s first three-game losing streak since January 2017. The Spartans haven’t lost four in a row since February 2007.
Gonzaga is on a tear. The Bulldogs have won 13 straight, with an average win margin of 33.7 points during the streak. They’re currently in first place in the WCC at 9-0, with BYU holding down second place at 7-3. That dominance led Katz and the NCAA selection committee to bump them back to a 1 seed in the latest field prediction.
. reacts to the committee's Top 16 released this morning and discusses his full 68-team bracket.
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB)
Also on the top line are Duke and Virginia, who are red hot right now and tied with North Carolina for first in the ACC. The two top 5 teams face off Saturday in a rematch of one of the best games of the season.
Duke-Virginia: Prediction, TV time and preview for the ACC showdown
Mississippi among biggest drops
Ole Miss fell from an 8 seed to an 11 in Katz’s latest prediction after the Rebels had a rough few weeks. After pulling off 10 straight wins, with back-to-back upsets of No. 11 Auburn and No. 14 Mississippi State, Mississippi is 2-5 in its last seven games, including going 2-3 at home.
Speaking of rough stretches, Nebraska is currently riding a six-game losing streak after starting the season 13-4, dropping them out of Katz’s field after he had them at an 8 seed in the previous prediction. The Cornhuskers don’t have an easy back end of conference play either, with upcoming games against No. 15 Purdue (twice), No. 7 Michigan, No. 9 Michigan State, and No. 20 Iowa.
Butler also fell out of the latest field, from an 11 seed in Katz’s last prediction. The Bulldogs are 1-3 in their last four games, and though those losses all came to good teams (Villanova, Creighton, and Marquette), a three-game losing streak in January is never a good look.
Washington leads biggest risers
Washington rose from a 9 to a 6 seed in Katz’s latest prediction after winning their 12th game in a row. The Huskies are dominating the Pac-12, sitting in first place at 10-0, four games ahead of three teams tied at 6-4.
Florida State had a bit of a skid in mid-January with three straight losses, but the Seminoles have now won four in a row, all by comfortable margins. They sit in seventh place in a stacked ACC, but they actually have a fairly easy ride for the rest of the year with only three games left against ranked teams — No. 16 Louisville on Feb. 9, No. 8 UNC on Feb. 23, and No. 11 Virginia Tech on March 5. That should give FSU plenty of opportunities to move up the board.
In Katz’s second bracket of the year, on Dec. 14, he had North Carolina as a 5 seed, down from the 2 seed he saw as their potential in the preseason. The Tar Heels were 7-2 on the year after dropping games to Texas and Michigan. But now, UNC is looking in top shape at the midway point of the ACC schedule, having won six straight, including convincing wins against NC State, Louisville, and Virginia Tech. Katz has them as a 2 seed now, but the next month will reveal a lot about the Tar Heels, as they face No. 3 Virginia on Feb. 11, and No. 2 Duke on Feb. 20.
Andy Katz's field of 68
Here is Katz’s full seed list in order. Beneath it, you’ll find a list of all 68 teams in Katz's latest field, with how their seeding has changed since the last prediction:
Overall seed | Team | Seed | AQ |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Duke | 1 | * |
2 | Tennessee | 1 | * |
3 | Virginia | 1 | |
4 | Gonzaga | 1 | * |
5 | Kentucky | 2 | |
6 | Michigan | 2 | * |
7 | North Carolina | 2 | |
8 | Michigan St. | 2 | |
9 | Purdue | 3 | |
10 | Kansas | 3 | |
11 | Houston | 3 | |
12 | Marquette | 3 | |
13 | Iowa St. | 4 | |
14 | Nevada | 4 | * |
15 | Louisville | 4 | |
16 | Wisconsin | 4 | |
17 | LSU | 5 | |
18 | Villanova | 5 | * |
19 | Maryland | 5 | |
20 | Iowa | 5 | |
21 | Virginia Tech | 5 | |
22 | Kansas State | 6 | * |
23 | Cincinnati | 6 | |
24 | Texas Tech | 6 | |
25 | Washington | 6 | |
26 | Mississippi State | 7 | |
27 | Syracuse | 7 | |
28 | Florida State | 7 | |
29 | St. John’s | 7 | |
30 | Auburn | 8 | |
31 | Buffalo | 8 | |
32 | Ohio State | 8 | |
33 | Baylor | 8 | |
34 | Minnesota | 9 | |
35 | Texas | 9 | |
36 | Oklahoma | 9 | |
37 | TCU | 9 | |
38 | Alabama | 10 | |
39 | Seton Hall | 10 | |
40 | NC State | 10 | |
41 | Temple | 11 | |
42 | UCF | 11 | |
43 | Indiana | 11 | |
44 | VCU | 11 | |
45 | Ole Miss | 11 | |
46 | Wofford | 11 | * |
47 | Davidson | 12 | * |
48 | Belmont | 12 | * |
49 | Lipscomb | 12 | * |
50 | Hofstra | 12 | * |
51 | New Mexico State | 13 | * |
52 | Vermont | 13 | * |
53 | Old Dominion | 13 | * |
54 | South Dakota State | 13 | * |
55 | Bowling Green | 14 | * |
56 | UC Irvine | 14 | * |
57 | Montana | 14 | * |
58 | Northern Kentucky | 14 | * |
59 | Texas State | 15 | * |
60 | Loyola-Chicago | 15 | * |
61 | Radford | 15 | * |
62 | Yale | 15 | * |
63 | Bucknell | 16 | * |
64 | Sam Houston State | 16 | * |
65 | Rider | 16 | * |
66 | Norfolk State | 16 | * |
67 | Prairie View A&M | 16 | * |
68 | Robert Morris | 16 | * |
First four out: Arizona State, Butler, Arkansas, Creighton
Next four out: Nebraska, Toledo, Utah State, Clemson
Team | Bracket 6 | Bracket 5 | Movement |
---|---|---|---|
Duke | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Tennessee | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Virginia | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Gonzaga | 1 | 2 | +1 |
Michigan State | 2 | 1 | -1 |
Kentucky | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Michigan | 2 | 2 | 0 |
North Carolina | 2 | 3 | +1 |
Kansas | 3 | 2 | -1 |
Houston | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Marquette | 3 | 4 | +1 |
Purdue | 3 | 5 | +2 |
Nevada | 4 | 3 | -1 |
Iowa State | 4 | 4 | 0 |
Louisville | 4 | 5 | +1 |
Wisconsin | 4 | 6 | +2 |
LSU | 5 | 3 | -2 |
Villanova | 5 | 4 | -1 |
Maryland | 5 | 4 | -1 |
Virginia Tech | 5 | 5 | 0 |
Iowa | 5 | 6 | +1 |
Texas Tech | 6 | 5 | -1 |
Kansas State | 6 | 6 | 0 |
Cincinnati | 6 | 7 | +1 |
Washington | 6 | 9 | +3 |
Syracuse | 7 | 7 | 0 |
Mississippi State | 7 | 8 | +1 |
St. John's | 7 | 8 | +1 |
Florida State | 7 | 10 | +3 |
Buffalo | 8 | 6 | -2 |
Auburn | 8 | 7 | -1 |
Ohio State | 8 | 11 | +3 |
Baylor | 8 | N/A | N/A |
Oklahoma | 9 | 7 | -2 |
TCU | 9 | 9 | 0 |
Minnesota | 9 | 10 | +1 |
Texas | 9 | 10 | +1 |
NC State | 10 | 9 | -1 |
Seton Hall | 10 | 10 | 0 |
Alabama | 10 | 11 | +1 |
Ole Miss | 11 | 8 | -3 |
UCF | 11 | 9 | -2 |
Indiana | 11 | 11 | 0 |
Wofford | 11 | 11 | 0 |
Temple | 11 | N/A | N/A |
VCU | 11 | N/A | N/A |
Hofstra | 12 | 12 | 0 |
Davidson | 12 | N/A | N/A |
Belmont | 12 | N/A | N/A |
Lipscomb | 12 | N/A | N/A |
Old Dominion | 13 | 12 | -1 |
South Dakota State | 13 | 15 | +2 |
New Mexico State | 13 | N/A | N/A |
Vermont | 13 | N/A | N/A |
UC Irvine | 14 | 13 | -1 |
Bowling Green | 14 | 14 | 0 |
Northern Kentucky | 14 | 14 | 0 |
Montana | 14 | N/A | N/A |
Texas State | 15 | 13 | -2 |
Radford | 15 | 13 | -2 |
Loyola-Chicago | 15 | 14 | -1 |
Yale | 15 | N/A | N/A |
Bucknell | 16 | 15 | -1 |
Sam Houston State | 16 | 16 | 0 |
Rider | 16 | 16 | 0 |
Norfolk State | 16 | 16 | 0 |
Prairie View | 16 | 16 | 0 |
Robert Morris | 16 | 16 | 0 |