BRACKET BREAKDOWN: Jan. 27th

Who’s ready for a new weekly column?

Between now and Selection Sunday, each Friday I’ll give a “BRACKET BREAKDOWN” with my 68 projected teams for the 2023 NCAA Tournament along with my Top 16 seeds as well as emerging trends.

The team who is currently in first place in their respective conference will be listed as that league’s “automatic qualifier”.

The Current Field

Atlantic Sun (1)
Liberty (AQ)

America East (1)
Vermont (AQ)

American Athletic Conference (2)
Houston (AQ), Memphis

Atlantic 10 (1)
VCU (AQ)

ACC (7)
Clemson (AQ), Miami, Pitt, Virginia, Duke, North Carolina, NC State

Big 12 (6)
Iowa State (AQ), Kansas, Baylor, Texas, Kansas State, TCU

Big East (5)
Xavier (AQ), Providence, Marquette, Creighton, UConn

Big Sky (1)
Eastern Washington (AQ)

Big South (1)
UNC Asheville (AQ)

Big Ten (10)
Purdue (AQ), Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, Rutgers, Iowa, Maryland, Northwestern

Big West (1)
UC Santa Barbara (AQ)

CAA (1)
Charleston (AQ)

Conference-USA (1)
Florida Atlantic (AQ)

Horizon League (1)
Northern Kentucky (AQ)

Ivy League (1)
Princeton (AQ)

MAAC (1)
Siena (AQ)

MAC (1)
Kent State (AQ)

MEAC (1)
Maryland-Eastern Shore (AQ)

Missouri Valley (1)
Southern Illinois (AQ)

Mountain West (4)
San Diego State (AQ), Boise State, New Mexico, Nevada

NEC (1)
Fairleigh Dickinson  (AQ)

OVC (1)
SEMO (AQ)

Pac-12 (3)
UCLA (AQ), Arizona, USC

Patriot League (1)
Colgate (AQ)

SEC (5)
Alabama (AQ), Missouri, Tennessee, Auburn, Arkansas

Southern (1)
Samford (AQ)

Southland (1)
SE Louisiana (AQ)

SWAC (1)
Southern (AQ)

Summit (1)
Oral Roberts (AQ)

Sun Belt (1)
Louisiana (AQ)

WCC (2)
Saint Mary’s (AQ), Gonzaga

WAC (1)
Seattle (AQ)

First Four Out

West Virginia, Arizona State, Kentucky, Penn State

Top 16 Seeds

1: Purdue, Alabama, Tennessee, Houston
2: Arizona, Kansas, UCLA, Iowa State
3: Texas, Kansas State, Xavier, Gonzaga
4: TCU, Marquette, Baylor, Virginia

Five Things To Know

• Six of the Top 16 seeds in the bracket above are from the Big 12.
• Following Wednesday night’s win at UConn, Xavier now has as many Quad 1 wins — six — as Alabama, Texas, Baylor, and Iowa State. Only Purdue, Kansas, and Arizona have more. 
• Five teams from the Mountain West — Boise State, San Diego State, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah State — are ranked in the Top 36 of the NET. The Aggies — who still do not own a Quad 1 win — are the only team from that group that is not part of the bracket above. 
• USC is 4-1 with 7-1 freshman Vince Iwuchukwu in the lineup and 11-5 when he is not.
• Texas A&M has won eight of its last nine games, but is still outside the bracket above. Why? The Aggies’ early season losses against Murray State and Wofford were Quad 3 and 4 defeats. There’s still more work to be done in College Station.

Jon Rothstein has been a college basketball insider for CBS Sports since 2010 and a contributor to the CBS Broadcast Network since 2016. He joined FanDuel in 2022 as a Content Creator. Rothstein is also the host of the College Hoops Today Podcast via Compass Media Networks.