Bracketology: St. John’s makes big move heading into Big East showdown vs. UConn

St. John’s is the biggest mover in Friday’s bracket, up to a No. 6 seed from a No. 8 following a win at home over Marquette on Tuesday. That is the Red Storm’s first win over a likely NCAA Tournament team. They also have a home win over Mountain West leader New Mexico and a sweep of Xavier, each of which are bubble teams. The Johnnies also have no bad losses. In fact, they have no losses outside of Quad 1.

Strength of schedule has been what is holding St. John’s back in the bracket. It is starting to get tougher now. They still have a home-and-home with UConn, the first of which is Friday on the road. There is also a home tilt with Creighton, which won the first matchup between the two, and the return trip to Marquette.

It is a schedule that provides St. John’s a great opportunity to move up the bracket quickly. It could also level them out some. Time will tell.

Bracketology top seeds

Check out Palm’s bracket and full field of 68 at the Bracketology hub. 

SEC loses teams at top

The SEC still has 13 teams in the bracket, but only six in the top 16. That is the league’s lowest total at the top since I started doing twice-a-week brackets a month ago. As the league beats each other up in conference play, that number coming down a bit seems inevitable. The overall total will probably shrink a little as well as the season grinds on.

The Big Ten is up to ten teams in the bracket. Nebraska is the newest edition following three straight wins, including one over Illinois at home and another at Oregon. They hardly look like the same team that I saw lose by almost 40 at Purdue a few weeks ago.

Hoosiers hovering near cut line

Also in the Big Ten, Indiana is still hanging around just on the wrong side of the cut line. The Hoosiers are the second team out. It has been season of underachieving for a team that was ranked in the preseason and spent a ton of money in the portal in the off-season. Students have been chanting “fire Mike Woodson” at home games. They may soon get their wish as reports indicate that the school and Woodson are negotiating a severance.

Pitt slips out

Pitt has been a regular in the bracket all season, but fell out Friday following a loss at home to Virginia. That is a Quad 3 loss and the Panthers’ sixth in their last eight games.

With Pitt dropping out for now, there are only four ACC teams in the bracket. The last time the league put so few teams in the field was in 2013.