Stadium’s NCAA Tournament Projections – Wednesday, March 13


Of the possible bid stealers we talked about, never did we bring up the West Coast Conference. And really with good reason. Gonzaga has raced through the league undefeated. So dominate were the Zags that they defeated the second place team in the league, Saint Mary’s, twice by a combined total of 62 points. So when the teams met in Las Vegas for the third time in the finals of the WCC, another rout was expected. But what a shock we witnessed on Tuesday night as Saint Mary’s stunned the college basketball world with a 60-47 upset over the Bulldogs.

Not only was the final result shocking, but it was the way the Gaels did it. They held one of the highest-scoring offenses in the country to 47 points. Gonzaga could never get on track. Credit the Gaels with some great defense and slowing the tempo down but to be fair, the Zags were off in a big way Tuesday, missing many shots they normally make.

So how does it affect the bracket? First for Gonzaga, the Bulldogs will remain a one-seed. They do slide down to the last No. 1 seed. There is a better than a 50/50 chance that the Zags stay there come selection Sunday.

In fact, the margin is still very thin between UNC, Kentucky and Gonzaga. For changes to occur we would need Michigan State blowing through to win the Big Ten tourney and maybe a Duke conference crown as well.

For Saint Mary’s, they jumped 15 spots in the seed line, moving up to an 11-seed. And with the addition of Saint Mary’s, it bumped one team from the field. Clemson now falls to the first team out. Tigers won’t have to wait long; they take on NC State, the second-to-last team in, at noon ET Wednesday in the first game of the day in the ACC tournament. In a true bubble game, the loser could well find themselves on the outside looking in with no chance to get back in the field. A win does not guarantee a spot in the field, but certainly puts the team who is victorious in a good spot.


I will update the bracket again after Wednesday’s games. Follow me on twitter @tkbrackets. Look for my Bracket Bits daily to keep you updated on the bracket.

A note about the automatic bids. In each conference the winner of the conference tournament or the highest seed remaining in the conference tournament will get the automatic bid.


LAST FOUR IN

St. John’s, Indiana, NC State, Alabama

FIRST FOUR OUT

Clemson, UNC-Greensboro, Belmont, Creighton

NEXT FOUR OUT

Florida, Texas, Georgetown, Xavier

 

CONFERENCES WITH MULTIPLE BIDS

Big Ten (9)

ACC (8)

Big 12 (7)

SEC (7)

AAC (4)

Big East (4)

Pac-12 (2)

Mountain West (2)

WCC (2)

MORE: One of These Nine College Basketball Teams Will Win The National Championship