December is almost over, meaning March is just a few months away. That means March Madness is closing in, and krikya18.com correspondent Andy Katz has updated his projections for the 2022 men's basketball tournament. The season is flying by, but here's how Katz projects the 68-team field to look, as of Dec. 20.
Here's the bracket in table form.
March Madness bracket predictions
| WEST | EAST | MIDWEST | SOUTH | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona | Duke | Purdue | Baylor |
| 16 | Campbell | FGCU/Texas Southern | Nicholls State/Norfolk State | Western Illinois |
| 8 | Minnesota | Iowa | Texas Tech | BYU |
| 9 | West Virginia | Oklahoma | North Carolina | Virginia Tech |
| 5 | Villanova | Xavier | Seton Hall | Tennessee |
| 12 | Murray State | Davidson | Iona | UAB |
| 4 | Iowa State | Auburn | Kentucky | Ohio State |
| 13 | New Mexico State | UC Irvine | Chattanooga | Oakland |
| 6 | Wisconsin | Providence | Illinois | Colorado State |
| 11 | Creighton | Arkansas/Belmont | Saint Mary's/St. Bonaventure | Northwestern |
| 3 | LSU | Michigan State | Houston | Southern California |
| 14 | Ohio | Navy | Wagner | Vermont |
| 7 | Loyola Chicago | Texas | UConn | Michigan |
| 10 | Indiana | San Francisco | Florida | Wake Forest |
| 2 | Gonzaga | UCLA | Kansas | Alabama |
| 15 | Weber State | Princeton | Texas State | Towson |
RANKINGS: Click here for the latest NET rankings | AP Top 25
Let's take a closer look at Katz's bracket.
Defending champ Baylor lands No. 1 overall seed
The defending champion Bears are back on top after starting the season undefeated. Early in the regular season, Baylor picked up wins over Michigan State, Villanova and Oregon.
In what has been an unpredictable 2021-22 season, the Bears have been consistent throughout. Combine a strong start with Katz’s prediction that Baylor takes the Big 12 automatic qualifier and that earns the Bears the top overall seed.
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Other No. 1 seeds get a shake-up
In the preseason, Andy Katz's top seeds were the following: UCLA, Gonzaga, Kansas and Purdue. Only the Boilermakers retain their No. 1 seed this go around as the top of the bracket sees changes.
Joining Purdue with No. 1 seeds are Baylor, Arizona, and Duke. Baylor and Duke slightly rise from three and two seeds, respectively. Meanwhile, Arizona makes a tremendous jump from the fifth team left out of the field to the second overall seed.
The shift at the top of bracket shows how fluid this season has been. Let's see how the new four No. 1 seeds fare and if they can hold on to their top spot when Katz makes his next bracket prediction.
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Number of bids by conference
| Number of Bids | Conference |
|---|---|
| 10 | Big Ten |
| 7 | SEC, Big 12 |
| 6 | Big East |
| 4 | ACC, WCC |
| 3 | Pac-12 |
| 2 | OVC, A-10 |
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Last four teams in
Here are Andy Katz's last four teams in:
Last Four in
- Saint Mary's
- St. Bonaventure
- Arkansas
- Belmont
The last four teams in have a different look than in the preseason. Arkansas dropped from its projected four seed as did St. Bonaventure from its nine seed. Belmont is no longer projected to win the OVC with Murray State winning the bid, meaning it earns the final spot in the tournament. The largest jump among the four teams comes from Saint Mary's. The Gaels were at the bottom of Katz's bubble in the preseason.
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Memphis finds itself on the outside looking in
Here are Andy Katz's first four teams out.
First Four out
- Marquette
- Memphis
- DePaul
- UCF
Memphis, with elite freshmen Emoni Bates and Jalen Duren, misses the 2022 NCAA tournament in Katz's latest projections. That's a lot of talent that we won't get to see in March Madness unless head coach Penny Hardaway can right the ship.
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| RANK | SEED | TEAM | CONFERENCE |
|---|
| 1. 1 -- Baylor | Big 12 (AQ) |
| 2. 1 -- Arizona | Pac-12 (AQ) |
| 3. 1 -- Purdue | Big Ten (AQ) |
| 4. 1 -- Duke | ACC (AQ) |
| 5. 2 -- Gonzaga | WCC (AQ) |
| 6. 2 -- Kansas | Big 12 |
| 7. 2 -- UCLA | Pac-12 |
| 8. 2 -- Alabama | SEC |
| 9. 3 -- Southern California | Pac-12 |
| 10. 3 -- Houston | AAC (AQ) |
| 11. 3 -- Michigan State | Big Ten |
| 12. 3 -- LSU | SEC (AQ) |
| 13. 4 -- Auburn | SEC |
| 14. 4 -- Ohio State | Big Ten |
| 15. 4 -- Iowa State | Big 12 |
| 16. 4 -- Kentucky | SEC |
| 17. 5 -- Xavier | Big East (AQ) |
| 18. 5 -- Tennessee | SEC |
| 19. 5 -- Villanova | Big East |
| 20. 5 --- Seton Hall | Big East |
| 21. 6 -- Providence | Big East |
| 22. 6 -- Illinois | Big Ten |
| 23. 6 -- Colorado State | Mountain West (AQ) |
| 24. 6 -- Wisconsin | Big Ten |
| 25. 7 -- UConn | Big East |
| 26. 7 -- Texas | Big 12 |
| 27. 7 -- Loyola Chicago | MVC (AQ) |
| 28. 7 -- BYU | WCC |
| 29. 8 -- Michigan | Big Ten |
| 30. 8 -- Texas Tech | Big 12 |
| 31. 8 -- Iowa | Big Ten |
| 32. 8 -- Minnesota | Big Ten |
| 33. 9 -- West Virginia | Big 12 |
| 34. 9 -- North Carolina | ACC |
| 35. 9 -- Virginia Tech | ACC |
| 36. 9 -- Oklahoma | Big 12 |
| 37. 10 -- Indiana | Big Ten |
| 38. 10 -- San Francisco | WCC |
| 39. 10 -- Florida | SEC |
| 40. 10 -- Wake Forest | ACC |
| 41. 11 -- Creighton | Big East |
| 42. 11 -- Northwestern | Big Ten |
| 43. 11 -- Arkansas | SEC |
| 44. 11 -- Belmont | OVC |
| 45. 11 -- Saint Mary's | WCC |
| 46. 11 -- St. Bonaventure | A-10 |
| 47. 12 -- Davidson | A-10 (AQ) |
| 48. 12 -- Murray State | OVC (AQ) |
| 49. 12 -- UAB | C-USA (AQ) |
| 50. 12 -- Iona | MAAC (AQ) |
| 51. 13 -- Chattanooga | Southern (AQ) |
| 52. 13 -- New Mexico State | WAC (AQ) |
| 53. 13 -- Oakland | Horizon (AQ) |
| 54. 13 -- UC Irvine | Big West (AQ) |
| 55. 14 -- Ohio | MAC (AQ) |
| 56. 14 -- Navy | Patriot (AQ) |
| 57. 14 -- Wagner | NEC (AQ) |
| 58. 14 -- Vermont | America East (AQ) |
| 59. 15 -- Texas State | Sun Belt (AQ) |
| 60. 15 -- Towson | CAA (AQ) |
| 61. 15 -- Weber State | Big Sky (AQ) |
| 62. 15 -- Princeton | Ivy (AQ) |
| 63. 16 -- Western Illinois | Summit (AQ) |
| 64. 16 -- Campbell | Big South (AQ) |
| 65. 16 -- Florida Gulf Coast | Atlantic Sun (AQ) |
| 66. 16 -- Texas Southern | SWAC (AQ) |
| 67. 15 -- Nicholls | Southland (AQ) |
| 68. 16 -- Norfolk State | MEAC (AQ) |
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.
