NCAA Tournament Projections: Tennessee moves up; Wisconsin, Kentucky on the bubble

Last updated: 2023/01/27 at 9:32 PM

BigP Published January 27, 2023

Welcome to the top-seed line, Tennessee.

Following their eighth win in the past nine games, the Volunteers find themselves as a newly-minted No. 1 seed in FOX Sports bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy‘s updated NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament projections, which were released Friday. They are joined by Purdue, Houston and Alabama on the 1-line.

Jerome Tang’s Kansas State squad, which appeared as a No. 1 seed in Tuesday’s tournament projections, dropped to the 2-line following an 80-76 loss at Iowa State. Joining K-State on the 2-line is Arizona, Kansas and UCLA. The Wildcats have won three in a row, while the Jayhawks and Bruins are trying to put an end to a midseason slump.

Zach Freemantle and the Xavier Musketeers continue to build their lead in the Big East standings, now sitting at 9-1 in conference play following an impressive 82-79 win over UConn Wednesday night. Xavier moved up to a No. 3 seed in DeCourcy’s latest projections, joined by Iowa State, Virginia and Texas.

Gonzaga, Marquette, Baylor and TCU make up the No. 4 seeds.

When it comes to conference representation, the Big Ten leads the way with nine bids, followed by seven from the ACC. The Big 12 and SEC have six teams represented. The Big East has five teams in DeCourcy’s latest projections, while the Pac-12 and Mountain West have four teams represented. The WCC and American each have two.

Looking at teams on the bubble, DeCourcy has Wisconsin, Kentucky, Creighton and Nevada as the last four teams in, with Wake Forest, Texas A&M, Utah and Penn State on the outside looking in.

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