North Carolina remains on the top line of the updated Bracketology NCAA Tournament bracket, still as the fourth overall seed. Kansas has a pretty similar resume, but the quality of the Tar Heels’ wins and losses are still slightly better than those of the Jayhawks. Both will get big tests Saturday as Kansas hosts Houston and North Carolina visits Duke.
In fact, it is a great weekend for big games. Saturday also features Tennessee at Kentucky, Utah State at San Diego State and Saint Mary’s at Gonzaga.
Purdue visits Wisconsin for first place in the Big Ten on Sunday. Monday’s bracket could look a lot different at the top.
Bracketology top seeds
Check out Palm’s latest bracket and full field of 68 at the Bracketology hub.
Nebraska still lacks quality road wins
Nebraska came from 16-points down at the half on Thursday to beat No. 2 seed Wisconsin at home. The Cornhuskers now have two wins over top-10 teams on their home floor this season. However, the NCAA Tournament is not played on their home floor and they could not play there if it was.
One thing the selection committee particularly values is the ability to beat quality opposition off the home floor. Wins at neutral sites or on the road against good teams are a must for teams to get at-large bids. The best win away from home for Nebraska this season came Dec. 17 at Kansas State, a borderline tournament team. The Cornhuskers are a No. 9 seed in the updated bracket.
The biggest Home Court Hero in the Big Ten is Northwestern. The Wildcats have wins over Purdue, Illinois, Dayton and Michigan State in Evanston, Illinois, but their best win away from home came at Penn State. Northwestern is going to have to find a way to get a better win than that on the road or in the Big Ten Tournament if it hopes to make the field. The Wildcats just missed Wednesday when they fell at Purdue in overtime. The Wildcats last remaining road game against a potential tournament team is at Michigan State on Mar. 6.
South Carolina is the biggest mover this week, from a No. 8 seed to a No. 4 seed after winning at Tennessee. That filled a big hole in the Gamecocks’ resume, which was missing a quality win away from home. That was the best potential road win on their schedule this season. They will probably need to pick up more quality wins if they want to stay at this level of the bracket.
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