There was nearly a shakeup at the top of the bracket Wednesday as Auburn, the projected No. 2 overall seed and No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region, struggled at Mississippi State. The Tigers were able to hang on and eventually win in overtime and remain the No. 2 overall seed in Thursday’s projected NCAA Tournament bracket.
Alabama took another head-scratching loss, falling at home to Texas A&M 87-71. The Crimson Tide dropped down a line to a No. 5 seed.
UConn joined Alabama in that drop after losing at Creighton. Moving up to a No. 4 seed was Arkansas, a 77-76 winner over LSU, and UCLA.
There was a lot of seed shifting in the middle of the bracket as well. Marquette (a No. 9 seed) and Wyoming (a No. 10 seed) were among the teams that lost and saw their seed fall.
Notre Dame was part of that group also, dropping to a No. 10 seed after losing at Florida State.
Bracketology top seeds
Check out Palm’s latest bracket, full field of 68 and all the teams on the bubble on the Bracketology hub.
ACC still struggling
How bad is it going for the ACC this season? The Irish, a No. 10 seed, are the second highest-seeded team in the bracket from the ACC, eight seeds lower than Duke. Miami, a No. 11 seed, is the only other ACC team in the bracket at the moment, but Wake Forest and North Carolina are the first two teams out. The last time the ACC had only three teams in the NCAA Tournament was in 2000, when it was still a nine team league.
Thursday features big games for bracket
There are a couple of big games Thursday among teams not on the bubble.
- TCU is at Kansas in a rematch of the Horned Frogs’ win just two days ago. Kansas may stay as a No. 2 seed with a loss, but they would be no better than the bottom of that group.
- In the Big Ten, two teams headed in the wrong direction meet in Columbus, Ohio. Michigan State, a No. 7 seed, has lost six of its last eight games, most recently at Michigan on Tuesday night. Normally, we see Tom Izzo’s teams start peaking at this time of year, but that is not the case this season.
- Meanwhile, No. 7 seed Ohio State has lost back-to-back games at Maryland and at home to last place Nebraska. This is the second of three straight home games to finish the regular season for the Buckeyes.
