BRACKET BREAKDOWN: March 3rd

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)
Kennesaw State (AQ)

America East (1)
Vermont (AQ)

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

Atlantic 10 (1)
VCU (AQ)

ACC (5)
Pitt (AQ), Miami, Virginia, Duke, NC State

Big 12 (7)
Kansas (AQ), Texas, Baylor, Kansas State, Iowa State, TCU, West Virginia

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

Big Sky (1)
Eastern Washington (AQ)

Big South (1)
UNC Asheville (AQ)

Big Ten (9)
Purdue (AQ), Illinois, Michigan State, Indiana, Rutgers, Iowa, Maryland, Northwestern, Wisconsin

Big West (1)
UC Santa Barbara (AQ)

CAA (1)
Hofstra (AQ)

Conference-USA (1)
Florida Atlantic (AQ)

Horizon League (1)
Youngstown State (AQ)

Ivy League (1)
Yale (AQ)

MAAC (1)
Iona (AQ)

MAC (1)
Toledo (AQ)

MEAC (1)
Howard (AQ)

Missouri Valley (1)
Bradley (AQ)

Mountain West (3)
San Diego State (AQ), Boise State, Nevada

NEC (1)
Fairleigh Dickinson  (AQ)

OVC (1)
Morehead State (AQ)

Pac-12 (4)
UCLA (AQ), Arizona, USC, Arizona State

Patriot League (1)
Colgate (AQ)

SEC (8)
Alabama (AQ), Missouri, Tennessee, Auburn, Arkansas, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Mississippi State

Southern (1)
Furman (AQ)

Southland (1)
Texas A&M Corpus Christi (AQ)

SWAC (1)
Alcorn State (AQ)

Summit (1)
Oral Roberts (AQ)

Sun Belt (1)
Southern Miss (AQ)

WCC (2)
Saint Mary’s (AQ), Gonzaga

WAC (1)
Utah Valley (AQ)

First Four Out

Penn State, Oklahoma State, Michigan, North Carolina

Top 16 Seeds

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

Five Things To Know

• Kansas has 15 Quad 1 wins. No other team that’s in contention for the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament has more than nine. If the Jayhawks aren’t the top overall seed on Selection Sunday, someone’s going to have some explaining to do.
• Since the 2013-14 season, UConn is 10-6 at Madison Square Garden. The Huskies will play at the World’s Most Famous Arena next week in the Big East Tournament and could return for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight if they’re placed in the East Region. 
• Four of UCLA’s last five Final Four appearances came from the West Region. The only one that didn’t was in 2021 in the bubble in Indianapolis. 
• Utah State (22-7) is now 22nd in the NET, but still does not own a Quad 1 win. That will change if the Aggies can beat Boise State (22-7) on Saturday in Logan. 
• Four teams in the Atlantic 10 — VCU, Dayton, Fordham, and Duquesne — have won 20 or more games and not a single one is remotely close to an at-large bid. At what point does this league take a strong look at altering its scheduling philosophy?

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.