The changes from Wednesday’s bracket go deeper than just two new entrants. At the top, Michigan replaces Duke as a two seed following the Blue Devils loss at Wake Forest. Plus, Louisville rises up to a three following its eye-opening road win over SMU. Creighton drops down to a four seed as a result. The Bluejays aren’t the only newcomer on that line, as North Carolina jumped Michigan State for the final spot in the Top 16.
Bracketology: Dayton and Nebraska replace Cal and Minnesota
The Flyers and Cornhuskers have crashed Chris Dobbertean’s Thursday bracket with Wednesday night road wins over Saint Louis and Indiana, respectively. On the other hand, the Golden Bears, who dropped a home game to surging Utah, and idle Minnesota slide out for the time being.
Joe Robbins
I’ll have more on what changed after Wednesday night after the full projection and rundown.
| (1) SOUTH Memphis (Thu/Sat) | (2) WEST Anaheim (Thu/Sat) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando (Thu/Sat) | San Diego (Fri/Sun) | ||
| 1 | Florida (SEC) | 1 | Arizona (Pac-12) |
| 16 | Alabama State/Weber State | 16 | Robert Morris (NEC) |
| ↑ 8 | Kansas State | 8 88 | George Washington |
| ↑ 9 | Arizona State | 9 | Oklahoma State |
| San Diego (Fri/Sun) | San Antonio (Fri/Sun) | ||
| 55 5 | Texas | ↓ 5 5 | Michigan State |
| ↓^12 | Stanford | 12↓12 | Green Bay (Horizon) |
| 4 | Cincinnati (AAC) | 4 | Iowa State |
| 13 | Belmont (OVC) | 13 | Louisiana Tech (C-USA) |
| Raleigh (Fri/Sun) | Spokane (Thu/Sat) | ||
| 6 | Connecticut | 666 | Kentucky |
| 11 | Arkansas | ^11 | BYU/Providence |
| ↓ 3 | Duke | 3 | San Diego State |
| 14 | Delaware (CAA) | 14 | Georgia State (Sun Belt) |
| Milwaukee (Thu/Sat) | Raleigh (Fri/Sun) | ||
| 7 | VCU | 7 | Ohio State |
| 10 | Oregon | ↑ 10 | Gonzaga (WCC) |
| ↑ 2 | Michigan (Big Ten) | 2 | Virginia (ACC) |
| 15 | Vermont (AmEast) | 15 | Florida Gulf Coast (A-Sun) |
| (4) EAST New York (Fri/Sun) | (3) MIDWEST Indianapolis (Fri/Sun) | ||
| St. Louis (Fri/Sun) | St. Louis (Fri/Sun) | ||
| 1 | Kansas (Big 12) | 1 | Wichita State (MVC) |
| 16 | Davidson (SoCon) | 16 | High Point/Utah Valley |
| 8 | SMU | 8 | New Mexico (MW) |
| 9 | St. Joseph's | 9 | Baylor |
| Spokane (Thu/Sat) | San Antonio (Fri/Sun) | ||
| ↑ 5 | UCLA | 5 | Oklahoma |
| 12 | Harvard (Ivy) | 12 | Toledo (MAC) |
| ↑ 4 | North Carolina | ↓ 4 | Creighton |
| 13 | Iona (MAAC) | 13 | North Dakota State (Summit) |
| Orlando (Thu/Sat) | Buffalo (Thu/Sat) | ||
| ↓ 6 | Saint Louis (A 10) | 6 | UMass |
| ↑ 11 | Pittsburgh | *^11 | Dayton/Nebraska |
| ↑ 3 | Louisville | 3 | Syracuse |
| 14 | Stephen F. Austin (Southland) | 14 | Boston U. (Patriot) |
| Buffalo (Thu/Sat) | Milwaukee (Thu/Sat) | ||
| 7 | Iowa | 7 | Memphis |
| 10 | Colorado | ↑ 10 | Xavier |
| 2 | Villanova (Big East) | 2 | Wisconsin |
| 15 | N.C. Central (MEAC) | 15 | UC Irvine (Big West) |
| FIRST FOUR (Dayton) | |||
| Tuesday: To Orlando | Tuesday: To Buffalo | ||
| 16 | Alabama State (SWAC) | ^*11 | Dayton |
| 16 | Weber State (Big Sky) | *11 | Nebraska |
| Wednesday: To St. Louis | Wednesday: To Spokane | ||
| 16 | High Point (Big South) | ^11 | BYU |
| 16 | Utah Valley (WAC) | 11 | Providence |
| BIDS BY CONFERENCE | AVOIDING DAYTON | ARRIVALS | DEPARTURES |
| Big 12: 7 | Oregon | Dayton | California |
| A 10: 6 | Arkansas | Nebraska | Minnesota |
| Big Ten: 6 | Pittsburgh | ||
| Pac-12: 6 | Stanford | ||
| AAC: 5 | LAST FOUR IN | ||
| ACC: 5 | Providence | ||
| Big East: 4 | Nebraska | ||
| SEC: 3 | Dayton | ||
| MW: 2 | BYU | ||
| WCC: 2 | FIRST FOUR OUT | ||
| 1-Bid Conferences: 22 | California | ||
| Tennessee | |||
| Minnesota | |||
| Florida State | |||
| NEXT FOUR OUT | |||
| Georgetown | |||
| Missouri | |||
| Southern Mississippi | |||
| St. John's |
Also considered: Richmond, Utah, LSU, Georgia, Marquette, Clemson, N.C. State, Indiana
Dayton and Nebraska weren’t the only bubble teams to pick up crucial wins on Wednesday night. All four SEC bubble contenders -- Arkansas, Georgia (I’m including them now, even if their chances aren’t great), Missouri and Tennessee -- picked up key wins. Those results set up a virtual elimination game in Knoxville on Saturday between the Tigers and Volunteers. In the Pac-12, Colorado picked up a late quality win over Stanford, who drops to a position just above the First Four as a result.
Note that Dayton is allowed to play at home in the First Four, since most bracketing rules go out the window for it.
Thursday night’s schedule:
Transforming Harvard
- Memphis visits Cincinnati for a game crucial to the seeding hopes of both locks.
- VCU heads across town, looking to keep archrival Richmond from picking up a late quality win.
- Xavier hosts Villanova with the aim of repeating their Saturday win over Creighton, not their no-show performance from Monday night in Newark. Keep in mind that these Wildcats are in decent position for a No. 1 seed right now.
- Iowa visits Michigan State for a matchup of two teams that have fallen from the ranks of the protected seeds over the past few weeks.
- UCLA, meanwhile, can kiss its hopes for a spot in the Top 16 goodbye with a loss at Washington.
- LSU, a long way out, but still alive, cannot afford a loss at Vanderbilt.
Finally, five conference tournaments are in action today, but only the Atlantic Sun -- which is at its semifinal stage -- has its projected conference champion in action. Florida Gulf Coast hosts ETSU, while second-seeded Mercer welcomes dangerous USC Upstate to Macon.
Friday morning will include a fresh bracketology update. In the meantime, head over to Blogging the Bracket for my daily TV previews and morning recaps, and follow me during each night's action on Twitter @ChrisDobbertean.
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