Just about 100 days from Selection Sunday for men's college basketball, krikya18.com basketball expert Andy Katz filled out a March Madness bracket based on everything he has seen so far this season.
Last year, Katz filed almost a dozen bracket predictions throughout the season. In his final prediction before Selection Sunday, he got 67 of the 68 teams correct. He filled out a preseason bracket in September, 50 days before opening night.
Let's take a look at where Katz has teams standing about a month into the season, and about 100 days away from Selection Sunday. (Tap or click here to to open the bracket in a new window.)
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And here's that same bracket in table form.
MIDWEST | WEST | SOUTH | EAST | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Michigan | Louisville | Kansas | Virginia |
16 | Lafayette | Grambling/Bethune-Cookman | Wright State | Sacred Heart/Campbell |
2 | North Carolina | Gonzaga | Ohio State | Maryland |
15 | Sacramento State | South Dakota | UMKC | Rider |
3 | Kentucky | Michigan State | Duke | Auburn |
14 | Hawaii | Hofstra | Harvard | Texas State |
4 | Baylor | Arizona | Florida State | Oregon |
13 | Belmont | UTEP | Bowling Green | UNCG |
5 | Seton Hall | West Virginia | Colorado | Dayton |
12 | Richmond/BYU | Liberty | Vermont | Northern Iowa |
6 | Washington | Oklahoma State | Tennessee | Memphis |
11 | Iowa State | Mississippi State | Stephen F. Austin | Texas Tech/USC |
7 | Saint Mary's | San Diego State | Florida | Texas |
10 | Purdue | Penn State | VCU | Butler |
8 | Temple | Xavier | Utah State | Villanova |
9 | DePaul | Arkansas | Marquette | Oklahoma |
Let's take a closer look at Katz's bracket.
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Michigan, Louisville, Kansas, Virginia take No. 1 seeds
From Katz's preseason predictions, things have changed for the top seeds. Louisville and Kansas remain among the four top seeds, but Michigan and Louisville enter the pack, replacing Michigan State and Kentucky.
First-year head coach Juwan Howard has his Wolverines riding high. They're off to a 7-0 start and won the Battle 4 Atlantis Championship, topping North Carolina and Gonzaga along the way. Michigan's Zavier Simpson leads the nation in assists, dishing out 9.7 dimes per-game.
We could get a Final Four preview on Tuesday night, with the Wolverines and current AP Top 25 No. 1 Louisville facing off in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. The Cardinals are off to a 7-0 start too and have been led by preseason ACC Player of the Year Jordan Nwora, who is averaging 21.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per-game while shooting more than 50 percent from the field and three-point range.
After losing its season opener to Duke, Kansas has won six straight. Devon Dotson leads the Jayhawks with 19.7 points per-game.
Meanwhile, Virginia -- the defending national champions -- is off to a 7-0 start after surviving tight games against Vermont and Arizona State. The Cavaliers might have lost a trio of starters from last year's squad to the NBA, but Tony Bennett's side still has the top defense in the nation, allowing 40.3 points per-game.
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Katz is high on the ACC at this point in the season. In his overall seed list, he has Virginia at third, Louisville fourth, North Carolina eighth and Duke ninth. Katz has just one SEC team in his top 10 -- putting Kentucky 10th -- and didn't rank a Pac-12 team until 13th, where Arizona checks in.
Gonzaga is Katz's highest-ranked team which doesn't come from a Power 5 conference, the Big East or the American, with the Bulldogs checking in at seventh, making them the No. 2 seed in the West. Dayton, of the Atlantic 10, checks in at 18th, giving the Flyers the No. 5 seed in the East.
Katz's last four in for at-large bids were BYU, Richmond, USC and 2019 runner-up Texas Tech.
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Here's Katz's full field of 68...
Rank | Seed | Team | Conference |
---|
1. 1 -- Michigan (AQ) Big Ten |
2. 1 -- Kansas (AQ) Big 12 |
3. 1 -- Virginia (AQ) ACC |
4. 1 -- Louisville ACC |
5. 2 -- Maryland Big Ten |
6. 2 -- Ohio State Big Ten |
7. 2 -- Gonzaga (AQ) WCC |
8. 2 -- North Carolina ACC |
9. 3 -- Duke ACC |
10. 3 -- Kentucky SEC |
11. 3 -- Michigan State Big Ten |
12. 3 -- Auburn (AQ) SEC |
13. 4 -- Arizona (AQ) Pac-12 |
14. 4 -- Baylor Big 12 |
15. 4 -- Florida State ACC |
16. 4 -- Oregon Pac-12 |
17. 5 -- Seton Hall (AQ) Big East |
18. 5 --- Dayton (AQ) Atlantic 10 |
19. 5 -- West Virginia Big 12 |
20. 5 -- Colorado Pac-12 |
21. 6 -- Tennessee SEC |
22. 6 -- Washington Pac-12 |
23. 6 -- Memphis (AQ) American |
24. 6 -- Oklahoma State Big 12 |
25. 7 -- Florida SEC |
26. 7 -- San Diego State (AQ) MWC |
27. 7 -- Saint Mary's WCC |
28. 7 -- Texas Big 12 |
29. 8 -- Temple American |
30. 8 -- Utah State MWC |
31. 8 -- Xavier Big East |
32. 8 -- Villanova Big East |
33. 9 -- Arkansas SEC |
34. 9 -- Marquette Big East |
35. 9 -- DePaul Big East |
36. 9 -- Oklahoma Big 12 |
37. 10 -- Butler Big East |
38. 10 -- Purdue Big Ten |
39. 10 -- VCU Atlantic 10 |
40. 10 -- Penn State Big Ten |
41. 11 -- Mississippi State SEC |
42. 11 -- Iowa State Big 12 |
43. 11 -- Texas Tech Big 12 |
44. 11 -- USC Pac-12 |
45. 11 -- Stephen F. Austin (AQ) Southland |
46. 11 -- Richmond Atlantic 10 |
47. 12 -- BYU WCC |
48. 12 -- Liberty (AQ) ASUN |
49. 12 -- Vermont (AQ) America East |
50. 12 -- Northern Iowa (AQ) MVC |
51. 13 -- Belmont (AQ) OVC |
52. 13 -- UNC Greensboro (AQ) SoCon |
53. 13 -- UTEP (AQ) CUSA |
54. 13 -- Bowling Green (AQ) MAC |
55. 14 -- Hawaii (AQ) Big West |
56. 14 -- Hofstra (AQ) CAA |
57. 14 -- Harvard (AQ) Ivy |
58. 14 -- Texas State (AQ) Sun Belt |
59. 15 -- UMKC (AQ) WAC |
60. 15 -- Rider (AQ) MAAC |
61. 15 -- South Dakota (AQ) Summit |
62. 15 -- Sacramento State (AQ) Big Sky |
63. 16 -- Lafayette (AQ) Patriot |
64. 16 -- Wright State (AQ) Horizon |
65. 16 -- Grambling (AQ) SWAC |
66. 16 -- Bethune-Cookman (AQ) MEAC |
67. 16 -- Sacred Heart (AQ) NEC |
68. 16 -- Campbell (AQ) Big South |
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.