NCAA Tournament Bracket Scouting Daily: Virginia, Texas Tech & K-State

Three ranked teams are in action Monday night and each plays an unranked opponent, including Virginia and Kansas State, whose opponents are currently projected to be NCAA Tournament teams.

As for Syracuse, Texas and TCU, they’re all currently on the right side of the bubble as a projected No. 9, No. 10 and No. 11 seed, respectively, but each could use a Quadrant 1 win to stay on the right side of the bubble and potentially improve their seeding.

Here’s a look at the biggest games Monday night and how the outcomes could affect the NCAA Tournament resumes of the teams involved. The projected NCAA Tournament seeds listed below are from Stadium’s latest projections, which were published Monday.

No. 2 Virginia at Syracuse, 7 p.m. ET

Virginia (26-2) | No. 2 NET | 9-2 Quadrant 1, 5-0 Quadrant 2, 5-0 Quadrant 3, 7-0 Quadrant 4

Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projection: No. 1 seed

Syracuse (19-10) | No. 39 NET | 3-6 Quadrant 1, 5-2 Quadrant 2, 7-2 Quadrant 3, 4-0 Quadrant 4

Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projection: No. 9 seed

Virginia is in the hunt to potentially earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. If the Cavaliers win out, which means winning at least a share of the ACC regular season championship and the tournament championship, they likely will.

The ‘Hoos finish the regular season with a pair of Quadrant 1 games at Syracuse and home against Louisville, which could improve their Quadrant 1 record to an impressive 11-2 entering postseason play.

Likewise, Syracuse’s final two regular season games fall in the top quadrant. It has a top-end Quadrant 1 win at Duke and two lower-end Quadrant 1 wins against Louisville and Ohio State. The Orange could potentially improve to 5-6 in Quadrant 1 if they beat Virginia and Clemson, which could improve their seeding from a projected No. 9 seed, and they probably only need one more win to effectively clinch an at-large berth.

[RELATED: Stadium’s Latest NCAA Tournament Projections]

Texas at No. 8 Texas Tech, 9 p.m. ET

Texas (16-13) | No. 33 NET | 5-8 Quadrant 1, 4-3 Quadrant 2, 4-2 Quadrant 3, 3-0 Quadrant 4

Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projection: No. 10 seed

Texas Tech (24-5) | No. 10 NET | 5-5 Quadrant 1, 9-0 Quadrant 2, 2-0 Quadrant 3, 8-0 Quadrant 4

Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projection: No. 4 seed

Texas is flirting with the bubble, given that it’s only three games over .500 and has 13 losses. The most losses ever for an at-large team is 15, so the Longhorns need to at least split their final two regular season games against Texas Tech and TCU.

Monday is their final opportunity in the regular season to add a Quadrant 1 win and if they can pull off the upset on the road, a 6-8 Quadrant 1 record is better than that of teams with similar resumes that find themselves between a No. 10 seed and the wrong side of the bubble.

Texas Tech, meanwhile, is in the midst of a competitive Big 12 regular season title race. The Red Raiders are tied for first with Kansas State and the two schools lead Kansas by just one game. If Texas Tech can beat Texas and Iowa State, it’ll win at least a share of the title. The Red Raiders are 9-0 in Quadrant 2 games and Monday’s game against Texas falls under Quadrant 2, so it is the type of matchup that Texas Tech should be expected to win.

The Red Raiders could make a run at a No. 2 seed if they win both the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles.

No. 18 Kansas State at TCU, 9 p.m. ET

Kansas State (22-7) | No. 28 NET | 6-5 Quadrant 1, 5-2 Quadrant 2, 8-0 Quadrant 3, 3-0 Quadrant 4

Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projection: No. 6 seed

TCU (18-11) | No. 48 NET | 2-7 Quadrant 1, 5-4 Quadrant 2, 7-0 Quadrant 3, 4-0 Quadrant 4

Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projection: No. 11 seed

TCU’s back is against the wall of the NCAA Tournament bubble, but the Horned Frogs can get some breathing room in the last week of the season. They have a pair of Quadrant 1 games before the start of the Big 12 Tournament against first-place Kansas State and at Texas. Both games would go on the short list of TCU’s best wins this season.

An 0-2 week would drop the Horned Frogs to 18-13 (6-12 in the Big 12) and potentially on the wrong side of the bubble with a 2-9 Quadrant 1 record.

Kansas State beat TCU by 10 the last time these teams met and the Wildcats could use another win as they try to close out the regular season in first place. For a potential high-major regular season conference champion, Kansas State’s projected seeding is somewhat low.

The Wildcats are a No. 6 seed in Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projections and they finish with a Quadrant 1 game against TCU and a Quadrant 2 game against Oklahoma, so there’s still time for their resume to improve.

MORE: 2019 NCAA Tournament Schedule, Dates, Locations