There was one minor change at the top of the projected NCAA Tournament bracket in Friday's updated Bracketology. UConn moved up to No. 3 overall, passing Houston after the Huskies beat Creighton 62-489 on Wednesday.
That win featured the return of Donovan Clingan for UConn. He had been out since Dec. 20 with a foot injury and had six points and five rebounds in 15 minutes against the Bluejays.
Purdue remains the No. 1 overall seed, followed by Kansas, UConn and Houston on the top line.
Bracketology top seeds
Check out Palm's latest bracket and full field of 68 at the Bracketology hub.
Big names on the move
Illinois also received news on the absent player front Friday afternoon. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction clearing the way for suspended star Terrence Shannon Jr. to return to the Illini, lifting his suspension after a rape charge. Illinois is a No. 3 seed in the updated bracket.
Wisconsin dropped from a No. 2 seed to a No. 3 after an 87-83 loss at Penn State on Tuesday. The Badgers remain in first place in the Big Ten, half a game ahead of Purdue, which throttled Indiana 87-66.
Duke moved up to take Wisconsin's place as a No. 2 seed. Kentucky has moved up to a No. 3 seed, replacing Memphis. The Tigers coughed up a 20-point lead at home to South Florida and lost 74-73 to the Bulls and are a No. 4 seed.
That result also put a third American Athletic Conference team in the bracket. North Texas is now No. 1 in the conference standings and lone remaining undefeated team in AAC games and as a result, is in my bracket as the league's automatic qualifier. Previously, that spot was held by Memphis. FAU is a No. 7 seed as an at-large team.
Big 12 leads the way
I harped on the nonconference scheduling of several Big 12 teams last week, but the league leads the way with nine teams in the bracket. Also noteworthy is that there are currently six teams from the Mountain West, one more than from the Big Ten. Two of the MWC teams are featured in the First Four.
Dayton has crept up to a No. 4 seed, but the Flyers may be close to hitting their ceiling. The only win they have over a team in this bracket is against No. 9 seed St. John's. The Atlantic 10 is not going to provide many chances for higher level wins either as there are no games remaining that would qualify as Quad 1. The next highest rated team in the NET after the No. 19 Flyers is No. 75 St. Bonaventure..
