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This weekend saw some chaos in the top 10, with Creighton and UCLA each losing at home. That has caused a new name to appear on the top line of the bracket.

Gonzaga, the last undefeated team in college basketball, is now projected as a No. 1 seed. The Bulldogs continue to dominate in the West Coast Conference, winning games by an average of over 25 points per game. That includes a 23-point pounding of St. Mary's. Their best non-conference win is over Arizona, which leads the Pac-12. They also beat Florida and Iowa State, which are in the bracket.

UCLA is not only no longer a top seed, it has dropped down to a 3-seed. The Bruins are living off a win at Kentucky, which is obviously a very good win, but they don't have much else other than that. They have now lost to the other two contenders in the conference and their next best win is over Cal, which is a borderline tournament quality team. UCLA will get one more shot at both Arizona and Oregon, so the Bruins' chances for a No. 1 seed aren't done yet, but their margin for error is pretty slim.

Michigan State has work to do

Could Michigan State's 19-year streak of tournament appearances be in jeopardy? It seems that way after the Spartans lost at Indiana on Saturday. That was their third loss in four games and dropped their record to 12-8 overall. Only one team has received an at-large big in the 24 years since 1994 with a record worse than four games below .500, and that circumstance was so unusual that it will never be repeated.

The Spartans have played a very good schedule, which has been both a blessing and a curse. Their strength of schedule and quality wins, including a sweep of Minnesota and win over Northwestern, has kept them in the bracket for now. However, obviously, trying to measure up to that schedule has been a challenge. Michigan State can't afford to just play .500 basketball from here and realistically hope to get into the tournament. It would be foolish to give up on the Spartans though. Nobody is better at getting his team ready for a tournament run than Tom Izzo.

Michigan State has a great opportunity to pick up what would be their best win so far when they host Purdue on Tuesday. That could be the spark the Spartans need to make that late season surge that we are used to seeing from them.

Outside factors making an impact

We have been talking quite a bit lately about how the committee judges teams with injuries and other roster issues. In particular, we have been paying attention to Duke, which has been a MASH unit this year, and Creighton, which lost point guard Maurice Watson Jr. for the season with a knee injury.

Arizona's situation will be just like Creighton's, but the opposite. The Wildcats welcomed back guard Allonzo Trier from a suspension for PED use in their win at UCLA.

Just like Creighton will be judged a little bit more on how they perform the rest of the season without Watson, Arizona's season from here on out will carry a little more weight than while Trier was out. Again, keep in mind that such considerations are slight, not dramatic.