Bracketology: Tennessee joins No. 1 seeds, Alabama falls to a No. 2 after Volunteers’ victory vs. Crimson Tide

There is a change Sunday on the top line of the Bracketology projected NCAA Tournament bracket. Tennessee is back to a No. 1 seed and is fourth overall following its 79-76 win vs. Alabama on a buzzer-beater. Houston moved up a spot to third overall, while the Crimson Tide fell off the top line and are now the top No. 2 seed.

Kentucky lost at home to No. 1 overall seed Auburn 94-78. After the game, it was announced that the Wildcats’ Jaxson Robinson, their second leading scorer, would miss the rest of the season with a wrist injury. He had already missed all but 12 minutes of the last five games.

This could impact Kentucky’s seed in the NCAA Tournament if the Wildcats play relatively poorly without him. When it comes to players missing time due to injury or other circumstances, the selection committee puts a little more weight on how a team performed with the roster it is taking into the tournament. The operative word there is “little” as in you may not even notice.

The Wildcats dropped from a No. 3 seed to a No. 5 seed in Sunday’s bracket, but that was only five spots on the 1-68 list (from No. 12 to No. 17.)

All of the focus has been on Duke, Houston and four SEC teams in the battle for No. 1 seeds, but there is one other team that could make a run at a No. 1 seed. Big Ten co-leader Michigan State has nine Quad 1 wins entering Sunday’s game with Wisconsin. The Spartans have three regular-season games remaining and each is against a Quad 1 opponent. If they win out to a Big Ten Tournament title as well, they would likely pick up a few more Quad 1 wins and would have at least 14 on Selection Sunday. That might be enough to get them at least into the conversation for the top line.

Bracketology top seeds

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

Saturday was bad for bubble teams 

The bubble had its usual share of ups and downs on Saturday. Mostly downs, of course. That’s why those teams are on the bubble.

No team is more down than Texas right now. The Longhorns got run by Georgia on their home floor 83-67. That is their second no-show performance in the last three games. They got drilled at South Carolina last week. Sandwiched in between those games was an overtime loss at Arkansas, so it’s three losses in a row for Texas and six out of seven. They look like they have had enough of this season. They are on the wrong end of the bubble for now as one of the “next four out.”

Arkansas is the last team in the field of 68 after following its win at Texas with a no-show of its own. The Razorbacks shot 3 of 24 in the first half of a 72-53 loss at South Carolina. The Gamecocks’ only two conference wins of the season have been blowouts of teams fighting for survival on the bubble. Heads up, Georgia. You get them on Tuesday.

One team that played its way off the right side of the bubble is Vanderbilt. The Commodores came from behind to beat Missouri 97-93 in overtime. That is three wins in a row, all over teams in the top 25 of the bracket.

Nebraska has been trending the wrong way lately, and nothing says that better than its 67-65 home loss to Minnesota. The Cornhuskers have now lost four out of five and are now the first team out. They were replaced in the bracket by Baylor, a 71-61 winner over Oklahoma State.

Nine conferences, including the West Coast Conference, finished up their regular seasons on Saturday and released their conference tournament brackets. The Missouri Valley Conference finishes up regular-season play Sunday. The first automatic bid will go out to the Ohio Valley Conference champion on Saturday.