A new bracket projection is out and Gonzaga debuts as the overall No. 1 seed. It will be interesting to see how long that lasts. The AP Top 25 poll jinx may not get the Zags anytime soon, but other teams will be playing tougher opponents than Gonzaga will see for a while and the Bulldogs could get passed without losing.
Baylor leads a top-heavy Big 12 contingent as the No. 2 overall seed in the bracket projection. The Bears are one of three league teams that are top-2 seeds. West Virginia is also a No. 1 seed after defeating Ohio State 67-59 in Cleveland on Sunday to run its record to 11-1.
Kansas lost at Villanova on Dec. 21, which was the day after my previous bracket projection came out. The Jayhawks are a No. 2 seed at the moment, but they host the Mountaineers on Saturday in a juicy Big 12 opener.
Bracketology top seeds
Seed | West | South | East | Midwest |
| No. 1 |  |  |  |  |
ACC only has four in field: Probably the most surprising thing in this week's bracket is that there are only four ACC teams. Duke is a No. 1 seed, while Louisville and Florida State also received top 5 seeds. NC State is the only other ACC team in the bracket. The reigning champs, Virginia, are out the outside looking in due to a lack of notable wins and huge losses at Purdue and at home to South Carolina.
Resume building in the ACC may not be very easy for the teams hoping to push their way into the field. The league did not perform to its usual standard in non-conference play, which has a lot of teams wondering where they will find the quality wins they need to move up. Only five ACC teams are in the current top 50 of the NET rankings, although it is still a little too early to trust any rankings entirely. Two normally dependable teams, Virginia and North Carolina, are 62nd and 82nd respectively. The Tar Heels in particular are dealing with injury issues, most notably Cole Anthony, who is expected to be out another month.
SEC may struggle to get teams in: It also will not be easy to build resumes in the SEC, although that is more typical, last year excepted. The league ranks sixth among the power conferences this season. There are only four teams in the current top 50 of the NET, led by undefeated Auburn at No. 7. The Tigers and Arkansas are the only two teams in the SEC with at least 10 wins.
Kentucky is part of the problem, although the win over Louisville on Saturday is a big boost not just to the league, but to the Wildcats. And they really needed a boost. Kentucky has an odd tournament resume so far. They are 2-1 against top notch teams, win a win over Michigan State and a loss to Ohio State. The problem is that the Wildcats are 7-2 against everyone else, and only one of those games is outside of quadrant four. That was the overtime loss to Utah right before Christmas. Kentucky, a No. 7 seed in this bracket, will have precious few chances at quality wins as well and may not have a chance to get a very high seed unless it ends up dominating the SEC.
Big Ten leads way with eight in bracket: The Big Ten still has the most teams in the bracket with eight, led by the Buckeyes, which are now a No. 2 seed. The league has seven teams with records between 10-3 and 11-2 and all of them are in the bracket. The Big Ten has been so dominant that it has more teams in the top 50 of the NET right now (11) than the ACC and SEC combined (9).
There is a long way to go, and frankly, we tend not to learn much about some of these teams until the start battling their way through their conferences.
