West Virginia entered Sunday on the bubble of getting a hosting spot in the NCAA Tournament. But why leave your fate in the hands of the selection committee? By beating TCU and winning the Big 12 Tournament, the Mountaineers put themselves in an excellent position to stay in Morgantown for the first two rounds of March Madness.
That win caused a ripple effect in the projected bracket. North Carolina, which rose to a No. 4 seed following its terrific end of the season, fell back to a No. 5. But TCU, which rose to a No. 2 seed following Michigan’s loss in the Big Ten semifinals, also fell to a No. 3 seed, replaced by ACC Champion Duke.
While the No. 1 seeds remain the same as they have been for a while now, we did see movement within the top line. Texas is now the No. 3 overall seed, switching places with South Carolina after the SEC Championship Game. This should allow the Longhorns to play in the Fort Worth regional and stay in the state of Texas until the Final Four. South Carolina will have to go cross-country to Sacramento for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight.
Nine automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament have been handed out so far. Congratulations to UCLA, Texas, Duke, West Virginia, South Dakota State, Rhode Island, Western Illinois, High Point and Samford. That leaves 22 conferences still to crown a champion, and a couple of potential final wrinkles to the at-large outlook.
Bracketology — March 9
Last four in
- Nebraska
- Arizona State
- Virginia
- BYU
First four out
- Texas A&M
- Richmond
- Stanford
- Utah
Next four out
- Mississippi State
- North Dakota State
- Kansas
- Indiana
Can Virginia and BYU hold onto final spots?
Perhaps the biggest winners over the weekend were two teams that didn’t even play. By Princeton beating out Columbia for the No. 1 seed in the Ivy League Tournament and South Dakota State beating North Dakota State in the Summit League Championship, both conferences now only have one team in the projected NCAA Tournament field.
Those two new at-large spots go to Virginia and BYU. After winning at Louisville on Feb. 22, Virginia looked one win away from locking up an NCAA Tournament bid. However, the Cavaliers finished the season 0-3 and will be cutting it close on Selection Sunday.
BYU has no Quad 1 wins but will be hoping that eight Quad 2 wins and a 5-1 close to the season will be enough to earn a spot.
There are two remaining possibilities for these new spots to be taken away. First, if Princeton loses in the Ivy League Tournament, the Ivy League will regain its second bid, as Princeton will make the field of 68 either way. Secondly, if Fairfield loses the MAAC Championship to Quinnipiac on Monday, the Stags could potentially be rewarded with an at-large spot.
