Despite a wild Saturday in college basketball in which nine ranked teams lost and in which top-25 teams went 12-8 against unranked opponents, the four No. 1 seeds in March Madness correspondent Andy Katz's latest 2020 NCAA Tournament projections remained the same: Baylor, Gonzaga, San Diego State and Kansas.
With less than a month and a half away until Selection Sunday, Baylor leads the latest March Madness projections as the No. 1 overall seed and the Big 12 claims half of the top seeds.
In Katz's previous predicted bracket on Jan. 25, Kansas and San Diego State replaced Duke and Butler as No. 1 seeds. Katz's earlier brackets include a preseason bracket in September (50 days before opening night last fall), one in early December (100 days from Selection Sunday) and one in mid-January (about two months from Selection Sunday).
2020 NCAA tournament predictions: Projected bracket
Click or tap here to open the bracket in a new window.
And here's his latest bracket in table form.
| SEED | SOUTH | EAST | WEST | MIDWEST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baylor | Kansas | Gonzaga | San Diego St. |
| 16 | Monmouth/ Robert Morris |
South Dakota State | Eastern Washington | Texas Southern/ North Carolina A&T |
| 8 | Marquette | Ohio State | Texas Tech | Stanford |
| 9 | Indiana | Florida | Rhode Island | Saint Mary's |
| 5 | Arizona | Kentucky | Illinois | LSU |
| 12 | Yale | USC/Virginia | Liberty | East Tennessee State |
| 4 | Iowa | Seton Hall | Oregon | Michigan State |
| 13 | New Mexico State | Vermont | North Texas | Stephen F. Austin |
| 6 | Penn State | Butler | Colorado | Creighton |
| 11 | Northern Iowa | Oklahoma/ Houston |
Tulsa | Mississippi State |
| 3 | Villanova | Maryland | Auburn | West Virginia |
| 14 | Hofstra | Bowling Green | Little Rock | UC Irvine |
| 7 | Wisconsin | Rutgers | BYU | Michigan |
| 10 | Arkansas | VCU | Wichita State | Cincinnati |
| 2 | Louisville | Duke | Florida State | Dayton |
| 15 | Murray State | Winthrop | Wright State | Colgate |
No. 1 seeds: Baylor, Kansas, Gonzaga, San Diego State
Once again, Baylor (19-1) is Katz's No. 1 overall seed. The Bears are also No. 1 in the latest AP poll, plus No. 2 in the latest NET rankings (as of Sunday, Feb. 2).
Two of the projected No. 1 seeds — Baylor and San Diego State — have never been a No. 1 seed so a historic NCAA tournament could lie ahead of us. The Bears have been No. 3 four times under coach Scott Drew, most recently in 2017, while the Aztecs were a No. 2 seed in 2011 during a season in which they started 20-0.
Kansas and Gonzaga, however, are no strangers to earning a top seed. The 'Zags earned a No. 1 seed three times last decade — for the first time in 2013 and again in 2017 and 2019.
The Jayhawks have been a top seed 14 times: 1986, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Kansas hasn't been seeded worse than No. 4 since 2000.
Moving up
Among the schools that were included in both Katz's last bracketology in January and his first projection for February, here are the teams that moved up at least five spots.
- Ohio State — up 12 spots
- Creighton — up 10 spots
- Indiana — up seven spots
- Villanova — up six spots
- LSU — up five spots
- Maryland: — up five spots
- Michigan — up five spots
The Big Ten leads all conferences with a national-best 10 teams in Katz's projected NCAA tournament field, down from 11 in his previous tournament projections.
Katz's Field of 68
| RANK | SEED | TEAM | CONFERENCE |
|---|
| 1. 1 — Baylor (AQ) Big 12 |
| 2. 1 — Gonzaga (AQ) WCC |
| 3. 1 —San Diego State (AQ) Mountain West |
| 4. 1 — Kansas Big 12 |
| 5. 2 — Duke ACC |
| 6. 2 — Dayton (AQ) A-10 |
| 7. 2 — Louisville (AQ) ACC |
| 8. 2 — Florida State ACC |
| 9. 3 — West Virginia Big 12 |
| 10. 3 — Maryland Big Ten |
| 11. 3 — Villanova Big East |
| 12. 3 — Auburn SEC |
| 13. 4 — Oregon (AQ) Pac-12 |
| 14. 4 — Michigan State Big Ten |
| 15. 4 — Seton Hall (AQ) Big East |
| 16. 5 — Iowa Big Ten |
| 17. 5 — LSU SEC |
| 18. 5 — Kentucky SEC |
| 19. 5 — Arizona Pac-12 |
| 20. 5 —Illinois (AQ) Big Ten |
| 21. 6 — Creighton Big East |
| 22. 6 — Colorado Pac-12 |
| 23. 6 — Penn State Big Ten |
| 24. 6 — Butler Big East |
| 25. 7— Michigan Big Ten |
| 26. 7—Rutgers Big Ten |
| 27. 7 — Wisconsin Big Ten |
| 28. 7 — Marquette Big East |
| 29. 8 — Ohio State Big Ten |
| 30. 8 — Stanford Pac-12 |
| 31. 8 — Texas Tech Big 12 |
| 32. 8 — BYU WCC |
| 33. 9 — Indiana Big Ten |
| 34. 9 — Florida SEC |
| 35. 9 — Saint Mary's WCC |
| 36. 9 — Rhode Island A-10 |
| 37. 10 — VCU A-10 |
| 38. 10 — Cincinnati AAC |
| 39. 10 — Arkansas SEC |
| 40. 10 — Wichita State AAC |
| 41. 11— Mississippi State SEC |
| 42. 11 — Tulsa (AQ) AAC |
| 43. 11 —Oklahoma Big 12 |
| 44. 11 — Houston AAC |
| 45. 11— Northern Iowa (AQ) Missouri Valley |
| 46. 11 — USC Pac-12 |
| 47. 12 —Virginia ACC |
| 48. 12 — East Tennessee State (AQ) Southern |
| 49. 12— Yale (AQ) Ivy |
| 50. 13 — Liberty (AQ) A-Sun |
| 51. 13 — Stephen F. Austin (AQ) Southland |
| 52. 13 — Vermont (AQ) America East |
| 53. 13 — North Texas (AQ) C-USA |
| 54. 14 — New Mexico State (AQ) WAC |
| 55. 14 — Hofstra (AQ) Colonial |
| 56. 14 — UC Irvine (AQ) Big West |
| 57. 14 — Bowling Green (AQ) MAC |
| 58. 14 — Little Rock (AQ) Sun Belt |
| 59. 15 — Colgate (AQ) Patriot |
| 60. 15 — Murray State (AQ) OVC |
| 61. 15 — Winthrop (AQ) Big South |
| 62. 15 — Wright State (AQ) Horizon |
| 63. 16 — South Dakota State (AQ) Summit |
| 64. 16. — Eastern Washington (AQ) Big Sky |
| 65. 16 — Monmouth (AQ) MAAC |
| 66. 16 — Robert Morris (AQ) NEC |
| 67. 16 — Texas Southern (AQ) SWAC |
| 68. 16 — North Carolina A&T (AQ) MEAC |
First four out: Xavier, Memphis, Richmond, Arizona State
