Some of the biggest brands in college basketball continue to tumble down our projected 68-team field, led by North Carolina and Kansas.
Once one of the No. 1 seeds, UNC is now down to a No. 3 after Wednesday’s road loss to Syracuse. The Tar Heels have dropped three of five games and are only a half-game up in the ACC.
The Jayhawks’ road woes continued with a 29-point loss on Tuesday to Texas Tech. Now a No. 4 seed, Kansas has dropped four in a row away from home and is just 7-5 in a very crowded Big 12, fifth in the conference.
On the flip side, Baylor keeps rising in Big 12 standings and in our field. After handing Oklahoma a 79-62 loss this week, the Bears are up to 18-6 overall, third place in the conference and a No. 2 seed.
Moving in this week with Richmond’s loss that knocked them out of the Atlantic 10 lead is Gonzaga. The Bulldogs are aiming for their 25th consecutive tournament appearance.
Last four in
Mississippi, Utah, Boise State, Nevada.
First four out
Cincinnati, Wake Forest, Villanova, Seton Hall.
Next four out
Providence, St. John’s, Colorado, Pittsburgh.
Conference breakdown
Multi-bid leagues: Big 12 (9), SEC (9), Big Ten (6), Mountain West (6), ACC (4), Big East (4), Pac-12 (3), American Athletic (2), West Coast Conference (2).
NCAA tournament bubble games to watch
Friday, Feb. 16
Villanova at Georgetown, 7 p.m., CBSSN
Virginia Commonwealth at Saint Louis, 7 p.m., ESPN2
New Mexico at San Diego State, 10 p.m., FS1
Saturday, Feb. 17
Texas A&M at Alabama, noon, ESPN
Wake Forest at Virginia, noon, ESPN2
TCU at Kansas State, noon, ESPNU
Penn State at Nebraska, noon, Big Ten
Creighton at Butler, 12:30 p.m., Fox
Texas at Houston, 1 p.m., CBS
Florida at Georgia, 1 p.m., SEC
Virginia Tech at North Carolina, 2 p.m., ACC
Arkansas at Mississippi State, 2 p.m., ESPNU
Cincinnati at Central Florida, 4 p.m., ESPN+
Utah State at Colorado State, 5:30 p.m., CBSSN
Stanford at Washington State, 6 p.m., Pac-12
Louisville at Pittsburgh, 8:30 p.m., ACC
Fresno State at Boise State, 7:30 p.m., CBSSN
DePaul at Providence, 7:30 p.m., FS1
Missouri at Mississippi, 8:30 p.m., SEC
Pacific at Gonzaga, 9 p.m., ESPN+
Colorado at Southern California, 10 p.m., ESPN
Nevada at UNLV, 11:30 p.m., FS1
Sunday, Feb. 18
Memphis at SMU, 4 p.m., ESPN
Seton Hall at St. John’s, FS1, 5 p.m.
Utah at UCLA, FS1, 7 p.m.