Below are my Bracket Projections. It projects the field as if today were Selection Sunday, and if I was a committee of one. I am not trying to guess what the actual selection committee will do on Selection Sunday. I am merely showing you what the field would look like if today were Selection Sunday and I were on complete charge of selecting and seeding the teams. If you want to see a bracket where someone is trying to guess the committee, check out Jon Teitel’s latest Bracket in our BRACKETOLOGY Tab at the top of the page…
OTHERS CONSIDERED: New Mexico, UCLA, Calfornia, VCU, San Diego State, Seton Hall, Ohio State, West Virginia, Nevada, Oklahoma State, Tulsa
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COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-It would be both cruel and hilarious if things played out this way, but never has a #1 seed been more cursed than Connecticut by the bracketing rules of this particular bracket. They are sent to the South Regional where they could conceivably have to play Houston in Houston in the Elite Eight, but may also have to face Villanova in Philadelphia and Texas Tech in Houston along the way. So much for being protected!!!
-Arizona is still my overall #1 seed despite the loss at Kansas. It does not undo all of the good that they’ve done, and holy crap have they done a lot of good! Including a true road win at UConn, which is perhaps the single most impressive win that any team has managed this season.
-The teams that have moved the most for me are probably Missouri and Miami FL. In fact I think this is the first time I’ve actually selected Missouri, and I have them several lines inside the bubble on the #9 line. The top of their profile is really good and they had a great win at Texas A&M the other night.
-Below are some comments from the staff. If any of them says anything that is critical of the masterpiece of a bracket I have put together, or if they simply disagree with anything….THEY ARE WRONG!!!!
STAFF COMMENTS:
From Chad:
- I don’t have as many disagreements with the top of this bracket as I normally do with Griggs, though Vanderbilt as a 6 seed perplexes me. The Commodores have bounced back from their three game losing streak to win 4 of 5, including a road win at Auburn. This team is still in prime position for a protected seed, and they should not be any lower than the 5 line.
- Miami (FL) seems bit high to me on the 9 line. I get that they beat Carolina, but as Griggs would say, it was only a home win so it should not even count. Further, that is their only win against an at-large caliber team. I would have the ‘canes in as well, but in or very close to the First Four.
- Virginia Tech and TCU would not be in for me right now, but both teams are very close. TCU’s profile is all over the place, with wins and losses in all 4 tiers. Va Tech has a lot of losses for a profile with only 2 wins of note. I would probably choose UCLA and New Mexico right now, with a strong look at Ohio State.
- Finally, I know that Griggs wrote this bracket before St. Thomas lost at Omaha tonight, but why are the Tommies even in the field over conference leader North Dakota State? It makes no sense to me, and the only answer is that he is just a #StupidPuppet. For this reason, despite doing a great job on the rest of the bracket, I give his efforts a solid D-. Which is better than the F I gave him last time!
From Stalica:
- Chad has acquired a copy of the Selection Committee’s Rules and Procedures for 2026; it typically doesn’t allow for conference matchups until the Sweet 16 if teams match up twice during the season. That rule CAN be relaxed if a conference has 9 or more teams in the NCAA Tournament. The Big East will get at most 3 bids this year without a bid thief in the conference tournament. While I do appreciate the Puppet’s efforts to troll Zach, the UConn-Villanova matchup would not be permissible this early in the bracket.
- While Vanderbilt has been wildly inconsistent, I don’t see how they should be lower than a 5 seed. They do have 6 games against teams that are likely to be in the field versus only one loss against a team not in the field. And isn’t the Puppet always harping on teams needing a great record away from home? The Commodores are 9-2 away from home.
- I agree that Georgia is a team that should not feel safe as far as NCAA Tournament inclusion. Texas A&M and Auburn also need to start feeling a sense of urgency; Auburn is the first team in this field to reach double-digit losses, although none of them are against non-tournament teams. If not for their win at Florida, Auburn might not even be in this field. Texas A&M is now on a 3-game losing streak since the difficulty of their SEC schedule started to get much higher.
- I actually agree with Griggs when it comes to including TCU and Santa Clara in the First Four, but I also believe the Hoosiers may actually be safer than he thinks they are. Winning at UCLA might be a fatal blow for the Bruins, and the Wisconsin win looks better now that the Badgers are starting to look like more than a 1-trick pony.
- It’s very UTRish, but could the Horizon be down on the 16-line this year? Neither Wright State nor Oakland seem to want to win the top seed, and it’s very much possible that Doug Gottlieb could be the Comeback Coach of the Year should the Phoenix win the Horizon autobid this year.
