***Bracketology March 6th 2024 1:30pm ET***

 ***Bracketology March 6th 2024 1:30pm ET***

Seed Power Team

1 1 Purdue*

1 2 Houston*

1 3 UConn*

1 4 Arizona*

2 5 North Carolina*

2 6 Tennessee*

2 7 Marquette

2 8 Baylor

3 9 Iowa St.

3 10 Kansas

3 11 Duke

3 12 Creighton

4 13 Alabama

4 14 Illinois

4 15 Auburn

4 16 Kentucky

5 17 BYU

5 18 San Diego St.

5 19 Clemson

5 20 South Carolina

6 21 Florida

6 22 Washington St.

6 23 Dayton

6 24 Wisconsin

7 25 Utah St.*

7 26 Nevada

7 27 Texas Tech

7 28 Saint Mary's (CA)*

8 29 Oklahoma

8 30 Northwestern

8 31 Gonzaga

8 32 Boise St.

9 33 Colorado St.

9 34 Texas

9 35 Nebraska

9 36 Michigan St.

10 37 TCU

10 38 Mississippi St.

10 39 Fla. Atlantic

10 40 Virginia

11a 41 Utah

11b 42 Villanova

11c 43 New Mexico

11d 44 Seton Hall

11 45 Indiana St.*

11 46 South Fla.*

12 47 Richmond*

12 48 Princeton*

12 49 Grand Canyon*

12 50 McNeese*

13 51 App State*

13 52 Samford*

13 53 Louisiana Tech*

13 54 UC Irvine*

14 55 Vermont*

14 56 Col. of Charleston*

14 57 Akron*

14 58 High Point*

15 59 Oakland*

15 60 Eastern Washington*

15 61 Morehead St.*

15 62 Colgate*

16 63 Quinnipiac*

16 64 South Dakota St.*

16a 65 Stetson*

16a 66 Norfolk St.*

16b 67 Merrimack*

16b 68 Grambling St.*

Last Four In: Seton Hall, New Mexico, Villanova, Utah

First Four Out: St. Johns, Colorado, Providence, Iowa

Next Four Out: Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, Drake

Notes:

- A big night of bubble action last night, but no changes to my field today. Tough nights for Wake Forest and Ole Miss as Wake took a bad loss at the wrong time and Ole Miss missed a chance for a Q1 road win and fell out of my first 8 out. St. Johns, Providence and Pittsburgh took care of business to remain in the conversation.

Big Bubble Games Tonight:

Villanova @ Seton Hall - As bubbly as it gets. For Nova, they finish with 2 Q1 games this one and at home against Creighton. Win both and they are a lock. A 1-1 finish is probably good enough if they avoid a bad loss in the Big East tournament, an 0-2 finish would probably require 1 quality win in the Big East tournament and hoping for no big cinderellas. Seton Hall needs to win this one and beat Depaul to end the season to have a chance. If they do that they will be in pretty good shape heading into the Big East tournament but still having to avoid a bad loss at minimum. So in short the winner of this game tonight is in pretty good shape while the loser will have work to do.

Northwestern @ Michigan St. - Both these teams are in solidly at the moment. But Michigan States overall record of 17-12 is not great. They finish with Indiana on the road Q2. If they lose both and are 17-14 heading into the Big Ten tournament they may be close enought to have to win at least once in the Big Ten tournament, as 17-15 may not cut it for them to get in. Northwestern is fine but probably needs to at least beat Minnesota at home to end the season to feel 100% lock fine.

TCU @ West Virginia - TCU is probably fine, but they are 2-10 vs Q1 which is eye popping. They finish with this game which is Q3 and at home vs UCF which is currently Q2. Win both which they should, TCU will be fine, lose both though and TCU would be squarely in danger heading into the Big 12 tournament. Split and avoid a bad loss at the Big 12 tournament is probably good enough.

FAU @ North Texas - FAU's resume all of a sudden is looking a bit shaky. 1 Q1 win over Arizona is a big win but they are 1-3 vs Q1 and have 2 Q4 losses. The are 6-2 vs Q2 which is their biggest plus along with decent average metrics (Performance=37.5 Predictive=35.5). They finish with this game which is Q2 and Memphis at home which is right now Q2. A split is probably good enough assuming they avoid a bad loss in the conference tournament. However if they lose both, they may need to win some games in the AAC tournament.

Mississippi St @ Texas A&M - Although Miss St finishes up with this game Q1 and a Q2 game at home vs South Carolina which means bad loss opportunities are not there, they are not so solid that an 0-2 finish wouldnt make things shakier. A&M has this Q2 game and a Q2 game vs Ole Miss on the road to finish up. A&M needs to win both and then they would be right there heading into the SEC tournament but probably still needing to win at least 1 if not 2 quality games.

Fresno St @ New Mexico - A must win for New Mexico. A loss here would knock them out of my bracket tomorrow. A close win may hurt too, they need win solidly. Win this and beat Utah State on the road and they are likely in. However, a win here and loss to Utah State will probably mean they need to pick up a quality win to keep their spot in the conference tournament.