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Zach Pekale | krikya18.com | March 11, 2020

NCAA predictions: Andy Katz's projections for the 2020 tournament field

Bracketology: NCAA tournament predictions, less than a week from Selection Sunday

Andy Katz has his latest 2020 NCAA bracket predictions less than a week away from Selection Sunday.

There's been some changes to the four No. 1 seeds since the last prediction, including the order in which they rank. Katz's new 1-seed line reads: Kansas, Gonzaga, Baylor and Dayton  β€” with the Flyers replacing San Diego State. There are also some changes on the seed line, with teams such as Virginia and Providence taking big steps forward leading into conference tournaments.

Dayton's jump into the top four overall seeds marks the first change in the predicted No. 1 seeds in some time. Katz had Kansas, Baylor, Gonzaga and San Diego State on the top line as recently as last week, in addition to predictions made after the Super Bowl and following the in-season top-16 reveal. Other past 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).

Here is Andy's latest bracket. Click or tap here to open it in another tab.

2020 March Madness bracket predictions

And here is Katz's bracket in a table:

SEED MIDWEST EAST SOUTH WEST
1 Kansas Dayton Baylor Gonzaga
16 North Dakota State Siena/Prairie View Robert Morris/NC Central Winthrop
         
8 Arizona Colorado LSU Arizona State
9 Florida Rutgers Southern California Oklahoma
         
5 BYU Illinois Auburn Iowa
12 Yale Texas Tech/UCLA Liberty Stephen F. Austin
         
4 Louisville Duke Wisconsin Oregon
13 Vermont Akron North Texas New Mexico State
         
6 Michigan Virginia Ohio State West Virginia
11 Cincinnati Xavier/Richmond East Tennessee State Marquette
         
3 Villanova Maryland Seton Hall Michigan State
14 Hofstra Belmont Bradley Wright State
         
7 Penn State Houston Butler Providence
10 Utah State Indiana Stanford Saint Mary's
         
2 Kentucky Creighton Florida State San Diego State
15 Colgate Eastern Washington Arkansas Little-Rock UC Irvine
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Projected No. 1 seeds: Kansas, Gonzaga, Baylor, Dayton

Kansas remains in the Midwest while Gonzaga and Baylor continue to control the West and South regions. Dayton's leap onto the 1-seed line makes them the top seed in the East. 

Like last week, the order of the No. 1 seeds changed once again. Kansas is still Katz's No. 1 overall seed. But Gonzaga moved ahead of Baylor for the second No. 1 seed. The Bears have dropped three of their past five games following a 24-1 start but remain on the top seed line ahead of the Big 12 tournament. Dayton passes San Diego State for the final projected No. 1 seed this week after the Flyers extended their winning streak to 20 games, not losing once in conference play while the Aztecs lost in the closing seconds of the Mountain West tournament championship game to Utah State.

Moving up in the 2020 NCAA tournament bracket predictions

Belmont (Ohio Valley), Bradley (Missouri Valley), Liberty (Atlantic Sun), Utah State (Mountain West) and Winthrop (Big South) earned automatic bids in the past week. While those teams have guaranteed themselves a spot in the field, here are some teams that Katz has making the biggest jumps in the past week ahead of conference tournaments.

  • Virginia: Up 10 spots on the seed list from 33 to 23 (now a No. 6 seed)
  • Providence: Up 20 spots on the seed list from 48 to 28 (now a No. 7 seed)
  • Rutgers: Up seven spots from 42 to 35 (now a No. 9 seed)
  • Oklahoma: Up nine spots from 45 to 36 (now at No. 9 seed)

Katz's field of 68

RANK | SEED | TEAM | CONFERENCE
1. 1 β€” Kansas (AQ) Big 12
2. 1 β€” Gonzaga (AQ) WCC
3. 1 β€” Baylor Big 12
4. 1 β€” Dayton A-10 (AQ) 
5. 2 β€” Florida State ACC
6. 2 β€” San Diego State Mountain West
7. 2 β€” Kentucky (AQ) SEC
8. 2 β€” Creighton (AQ) Big East
9. 3 β€” Villanova Big East 
10. 3 β€” Maryland Big Ten
11. 3 β€” Michigan State Big Ten
12. 3 β€” Seton Hall Big East
13. 4 β€” Duke ACC 
14. 4 β€” Oregon (AQ) Pac-12
15. 4 β€” Louisville ACC
16. 4 β€” Wisconsin (AQ) Big Ten
17. 5 β€” Auburn SEC
18. 5 β€” Illinois Big Ten
19. 5 β€” Iowa Big Ten
20. 5 β€” BYU WCC
21. 6 β€” Ohio State Big Ten
22. 6 β€” Michigan Big Ten
23. 6 β€” Virginia ACC
24. 6 β€” West Virginia Big 12
25. 7 β€” Penn State Big Ten
26. 7 β€” Butler Big East
27. 7 β€” Houston AAC 
28. 7 β€” Providence Big East
29. 8 β€” LSU SEC
30. 8 β€” Arizona Pac-12
31. 8 β€” Colorado Pac-12 
32. 8 β€” Arizona State Pac-12
33. 9 β€” Florida SEC
34. 9 β€” USC Pac-12
35. 9 β€” Rutgers Big Ten
36. 9 β€” Oklahoma Big 12
37. 10 β€” Indiana Big Ten
38. 10 β€” Saint Mary's WCC
39. 10 β€” Utah State (AQ) Mountain West
40. 10 β€” Stanford Pac-12
41. 11 β€” Cincinnati (AQ) AAC
42. 11 β€” East Tennessee State (AQ) Southern
43. 11 β€” Marquette Big East
44. 11 β€” Xavier Big East
45. 12 β€” Richmond A-10
46. 12 β€” Texas Tech Big 12
47. 12 β€” UCLA Pac-12
48. 12 β€” Yale (AQ) Ivy
49. 12 β€” Liberty (AQ) ASUN
50. 12 β€” Stephen F. Austin (AQ) Southland
51. 13 β€” Akron (AQ) MAC
52. 13 β€” Vermont (AQ) America East
53. 13 β€” North Texas (AQ) C-USA
54. 13 β€” New Mexico State (AQ) WAC
55. 14 β€” Hofstra (AQ) Colonial
56. 14 β€” Belmont (AQ) Ohio Valley
57. 14 β€” Bradley (AQ) MVC
58. 14 β€” Wright State (AQ) Horizon
59. 15 β€” UC Irvine (AQ) Big West
60. 15 β€” Colgate (AQ)
61. 15 β€” Eastern Washington (AQ) Big Sky
62. 15 β€” Little Rock (AQ) Sun Belt
63. 16 β€” North Dakota State (AQ) Summit
64. 16 β€” Winthrop (AQ) Big South
65. 16 β€” Siena (AQ) MAAC
66. 16 β€” Prairie View A&M (AQ) SWAC
67. 16 β€” Robert Morris (AQ) NEC
68. 16 β€” North Carolina Central (AQ) MEAC

First four out: Texas, Mississippi State, Wichita State, Rhode Island

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The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.

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