Projecting the Seeds
Updated morning of Feb. 7
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Duke's win at North Carolina reshuffled things at the top. The Tar Heels are now a No. 2 seed. UCLA is back as the top seed in the West. And I can no longer stand by Miami after that home loss to Florida State. Here's the latest Projecting the Field.
Top four seeds by region
| Seed | South | Midwest | East | West |
| 1 | | | | |
| 2 | | | | |
| 3 | | | | |
| 4 | | | | |
Bubble teams
Last four in: Saint Joseph's, UNLV, BYU, UMassLast four out: George Mason, Maryland, Oregon, Virginia Tech
Bids by conference
| ACC (4) | |
| Automatic bid: Duke |
| At-large: North Carolina, Clemson, North Carolina State | |
| Bubble: Maryland, Virginia Tech | |
| Comment: Duke's win over UNC solidified the Blue Devils as a No. 1 seed and the ACC favorites. | |
| AMERICA EAST (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Maryland-Baltimore County |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: UMBC's Brian Hodges has missed the past two games with an injured ankle. | |
| ATLANTIC 10 (5) | |
| Automatic bid: Xavier |
| At-large: Rhode Island, Dayton, Saint Joseph's, UMass | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: This league is solid, though it could go from five bids to three bids in a matter of one bad weekend. | |
| ATLANTIC SUN (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Jacksonville |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Jacksonville is the only one-loss team in A-Sun play. | |
| BIG 12 (6) | |
| Automatic bid: Kansas |
| At-large: Texas, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Baylor | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Michael Beasley now has 18 double-doubles in just 21 games for Kansas State. | |
| BIG EAST (8) | |
| Automatic bid: Georgetown |
| At-large: Notre Dame, Connecticut, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Syracuse | |
| Bubble: Seton Hall | |
| Comment: The Hoyas are sitting alone atop the Big East standings. | |
| BIG SKY (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Portland State |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Portland State has won four consecutive games to pull into first place in the Big Sky standings. | |
| BIG SOUTH (1) | |
| Automatic bid: UNC-Asheville |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: What would be better than having a 7-foot-7 center (like UNC-Asheville's Kenny George) in the NCAA Tournament? | |
| BIG TEN (5) | |
| Automatic bid: Wisconsin |
| At-large: Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Michigan State would be a nice Final Four pick if it would just stop losing to bad teams. | |
| BIG WEST (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Cal State Northridge |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Cal State Northridge, led by junior Deon Tresvant, has a half-game lead in the Big West standings. | |
| COLONIAL (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Virginia Commonwealth |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: George Mason | |
| Comment: George Mason has won six of seven games heading into Thursday's contest against Drexel. | |
| CONFERENCE USA (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Memphis |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Memphis is 9-0 against the Top 100 at CollegeRPI.com. | |
| HORIZON (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Butler |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Butler got a nice come-from-behind win at Valparaiso on Tuesday night. | |
| IVY LEAGUE (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Cornell |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Cornell is the only Ivy League school with at least 11 victories. | |
| MAAC (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Rider |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: It would be nice to see Jason Thompson lead Rider to the NCAA Tournament, then go for 25 and 12 against a high-major opponent. | |
| MAC (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Kent State |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: Ohio | |
| Comment: Kent State is 7-2 in the MAC following Wednesday's overtime win over Ball State. | |
| MEAC (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Morgan State |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Three Morgan State players, including Jamar Smith, are averaging at least 12 points per contest. | |
| MISSOURI VALLEY (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Drake |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: Illinois State, Creighton | |
| Comment: Drake is now 12-0 in the MVC, if you're keeping count. | |
| MOUNTAIN WEST (2) | |
| Automatic bid: BYU |
| At-large: UNLV | |
| Bubble: San Diego State, New Mexico | |
| Comment: UNLV took its second league loss Wednesday night at Utah. | |
| NORTHEAST (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Sacred Heart |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Sacred Heart will take a seven-game winning streak into Thursday's game against Monmouth. | |
| OHIO VALLEY (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Austin Peay |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Austin Peay has won two consecutive games since losing to Samford and Southeast Missouri State. | |
| PAC-10 (5) | |
| Automatic bid: UCLA |
| At-large: Stanford, Arizona, Washington State, Southern California | |
| Bubble: Oregon | |
| Comment: Is anybody playing better than UCLA these days? | |
| PATRIOT LEAGUE (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Lafayette |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Lafayette is the only Patriot League team more than three games over .500. | |
| SEC (6) | |
| Automatic bid: Tennessee |
| At-large: Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Florida, Vanderbilt | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Tennessee seems capable of running away with the SEC East, especially after what the Vols did to Florida. | |
| SOUTHERN (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Davidson |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Davidson is 14-0 in league play and the Wildcats haven't lost since Dec. 21. | |
| SOUTHLAND (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Stephen F. Austin |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: The Southland Tournament will be one of the more interesting events this March, far as one-bid leagues are concerned. | |
| SUMMIT LEAGUE (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Oral Roberts |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: ORU has won eight straight games to improve to 10-0 in league play. | |
| SUN BELT (1) | |
| Automatic bid: South Alabama |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: Western Kentucky | |
| Comment: The Sun Belt is now interesting thanks to South Alabama's loss at North Texas and Western Kentucky's eight-game winning streak. | |
| SWAC (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Alabama State |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: The SWAC is rated as the worst league in the country at CollegeRPI.com. | |
| WAC (1) | |
| Automatic bid: Utah State |
| At-large: None | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Utah State is atop the league standings, though Nevada actually has the best RPI. | |
| WEST COAST (2) | |
| Automatic bid: Gonzaga |
| At-large: Saint Mary's | |
| Bubble: None | |
| Comment: Gonzaga is still projected as the WCC champ because what should essentially be the title game will be played at Gonzaga on March 1. | |





