Bracketology: Selection Sunday week is here

In the eight seasons I’ve projected an NCAA Tournament bracket, I have never had such a difficult time in seeding the field and creating a bracket. After watching Sunday’s Selection Show, it seems the Selection Committee will probably leave Indianapolis with similar feelings. Here are some of my thoughts on this season’s results.

Come to think of it, many of my criticisms are Mountain and Pacific time zone-centric.

That means our updated bubble picture looks like this.

I’ll have a more detailed look at the eight teams spread between the Last Four In and First Four Out later Saturday evening.

With that in mind, here’s what to watch in the late afternoon (Eastern time) window of games.

In short, if you’re the fan of a bubble team, root for North Carolina and VCU and avoid the SEC game in the next few hours.

Friday, perhaps the most important day of the entire season because of the number of conference tournaments in action, saw no shortage of important results.

After today’s bracket, I’ll take a look at a Selection Eve schedule that will see the bulk of the remaining automatic bids handed out. For a closer look at the Last Four In and First Four Out, check out my post on the subject from last night.

Before I get to the bubble update for the night, here’s a rundown of some of the key bracket results in the late evening window of games on this Selection Week Friday.

Now onto a look at how the Last Four In and First Four Out look heading into Saturday’s action.

With those early evening results in mind, here’s an updated look at how the top seed and bubble race shape up.

Friday’s late evening schedule is even more loaded that the early window.

So after two of the biggest bubble games of the week, here’s an updated look at the bubble.

Finally, here’s a look at what’s at stake in the early evening window of games.

Here’s a quick look at Thursday’s bracket winners and losers.

After this updated bracket and rundown -- now with noticeable changes -- I’ll have a look at what lies ahead for Friday.

Before I take a look at the updated Last Four In/First Four Out list, here’s a quick look at how Thursday’s late evening results affected the picture for tomorrow morning’s projection.

Now, here’s a look at how the bubble looks just after midnight ET on the Friday before the bracket is announced.

In the window of games before I post my final update of the night -- a revised look at the Last Four In and First Four Out -- here are the contests you should keep an eye on.

In Monday’s bracket post, I wrote that I planned to scrub the seed list and start over for Thursday’s bracket. However, thanks to day job scheduling issues, I had time to complete this task yesterday that I won’t have today or Wednesday. In other words, there are more seeding changes in this projection -- along with some adjustments in today’s Last Four In and First Four Out -- than I anticipated. I’ll have those after today’s bracket and rundown.

Also considered (in order): Maryland, Providence, Arkansas, UMass

The Flames made a run midway through the second half and built a comfortable lead they would not relinquish. After taking a 35-34 halftime lead, Liberty and Charleston Southern stayed close until the Flames went on a run with about 13 minutes left in the game. The Flames went on a 20-10 run to build a 70-57 lead with 4:41 remaining and held on to earn their third NCAA Tournament bid.

The Flames made an exciting run through the Big South Tournament, defeating Coastal Carolina 78-61 in the first round, knocking off the No. 1 seed in the North, High Point, 61-60 in the quarterfinals, and defeating Gardner-Webb 65-62 in the semis.