March is officially here which means madness is just around the corner.
The regular season is rapidly approaching and the NCAA Tournament picture is starting to take shape. Teams will play their final few games this week before getting into conference tournaments the following week.
An exciting slate of games on Saturday saw a handful of ranked matchups, which led to a shake-up in the latest Bracketology from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
Unsurprisingly, Lunardi kept Auburn as the top overall seed as Bruce Pearl’s squad downed Kentucky at Rupp Arena for the first time since 1988 to clinch a share of the SEC regular season title. The Tigers won the SEC regular season crown outright thanks to Tennessee’s win over Alabama later on Saturday.
Speaking of the Vols, they jumped from a No. 2 seed to a No. 1 seed in Lunardi’s latest projection with their win over the Crimson Tide. Tennessee veteran Jahmai Mashack sealed the thrilling win with a go-ahead three at the buzzer.
Tennessee has matchups against Ole Miss and South Carolina to round out the regular season as it looks to earn a No. 1 seed for the first time in program history.
Along with the two SEC squads, Lunardi had Duke and Houston as No. 1 seeds in the latest Bracketology. The Blue Devils are coasting through ACC play and have held steadfast as a No. 1 seed for much of the year. It feels unlikely that much will change in the coming weeks.
The Cougars were a No. 2 seed last week but jumped to a No. 1 seed thanks to wins over Texas Tech and Cincinnati this week.
Michigan State, Iowa State, Florida and Alabama all still have a strong case to be No. 1 seeds but will need to bolster their resumes in the final week of the regular season and their respective conference tournaments.
Baylor has had a recent rough stretch but got back on track with a win over Oklahoma State to remain in Lunardi’s group of last four byes. Indiana, San Diego State and Ohio State all picked up wins on Saturday to stay in the mix as well.
Georgia had a strong start to the year before struggling in conference play, but an upset win over Florida this week bolstered the Bulldogs’ resume as they landed in Lunardi’s last four in group.
John Calipari’s squad took a major blow on Saturday when it lost to SEC bottom-feeder South Carolina. It was just the second SEC win for the Gamecocks.
Nebraska and Oklahoma lost each of their games this week, hurting their chances of staying in the tournament mix.
North Carolina missed the tournament just one time in the Roy Williams era, but now the Tar Heels are threatening to miss the big dance for the second time in three years. Hubert Davis’ group is still in the mix thanks to five consecutive wins, but it would seemingly take a massive upset over rival Duke on Saturday for North Carolina to find its way into the tournament.
