Bracketology: Predicting the 2024 NCAA Tournament Bracket, Week 16

So, over the weekend, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee revealed the top sixteen teams in their current tournament field, and there weren't all that many surprises. Kansas on the 2-line? A case could be made that Iowa State should be ahead of the Jayhawks. San Diego State on the 4-line? Hmm, maybe the committee is giving a little more respect to the Mountain West than I was anticipating. Wisconsin on the 4-line? Well that's gotta change, given the Badgers 1-5 record in the month of February, right?

Thanks to some results over the weekend, I took it upon myself to make a couple of minor changes.

-Wisconsin lost to Iowa on the road in an overtime thriller, their fifth loss in their last six games, and that meant I couldn't in good conscience have them on the 4-line, as the selection committee did. As you'll soon see, I bumped Creighton — who scored an impressive 22-point win on the road against Butler — up to a 4-seed, and Wisconsin down to the 5-seed.

-With all due respect to Purdue, even before their loss to Ohio State on Sunday afternoon, they clearly weren't the best team in the country. That distinction belongs to the defending champion Connecticut Huskies, who dismantled 4th-ranked Marquette on Saturday afternoon, securing a dominant 28-point win which is the largest in NCAA history in a matchup between teams ranked in the top 5 of the AP Poll. Given those two results, I moved Connecticut up to the #1 overall seed.

Bracketology Bracket 

Bracketology Breakdown 

Top Seeds: Connecticut Huskies (East Region), Purdue Boilermakers (Midwest Region), Houston Cougars (South Region), Arizona Wildcats (West Region)

Multi-Bid Leagues: AAC (2), ACC (4), Big East (5), Big Ten (6), Big 12 (9), Mountain West (6), Pac-12 (2), SEC (9), WCC (2)

Bracketology Bubble Watch 

Last Four Byes: Mississippi State, Boise State, Butler, Nebraska

Last Four In: Nevada, Gonzaga, Seton Hall, Ole Miss

First Four Out: Providence, Cincinnati, Colorado, Wake Forest

Next Four Out: Utah, St. John's, Villanova, Pittsburgh

Five Most Intriguing Games of the Week

Iowa State at Houston – Mon. Feb. 19th, 9:00 PM ET, ESPN

Connecticut at Creighton – Tue. Feb. 20th, 8:30 PM ET, FS1

Washington State at Arizona – Thu. Feb. 22nd, 11:00 PM ET, FS1

North Carolina at Virginia – Sat. Feb. 24th, 4:00 PM ET, ESPN

Alabama at Kentucky – Sat. Feb. 24th, 4:00 PM ET, CBS

And One! 

I referenced this pick in my “Hypothetical College Basketball All-Star Game” column that I wrote yesterday, but I've got my eye on that Alabama/Kentucky game on Saturday afternoon. Specifically, I'm focused on Mark Sears and Antonio Reeves, two big-time scorers in the SEC — Sears is the top scorer in the conference and Reeves is third in the league. In that column, I stated, “Don't be surprised if Reeves and Sears both go for 30+ points on February 24th.” I'm gonna walk that back just a little bit for my And One! prediction of the week: I'm going to say that either Sears or Reeves scores 30+ on Saturday afternoon.

Past And One! Predictions

11/6/23 – Maryland will win the Asheville Championship early season tournament (INCORRECT)

11/13/23 – 50 Point Scorer during the week (INCORRECT)

11/20/23 – I will eat entirely too much food on Thanksgiving (CORRECT)

11/27/23 – SEC will win the ACC/SEC Challenge (TIE)

12/11/23 – Connecticut to beat Gonzaga by 10+ points (CORRECT)

12/18/23 – Oklahoma to defeat North Carolina and FAU to defeat Arizona (INCORRECT)

12/26/23 – Mid-Major Conference Leader pulls upset over Power 5 Opponent (CORRECT)

1/1/24 – James Madison will be the final undefeated team in the country (INCORRECT)

1/8/24 – Washington Huskies to defeat the Michigan Wolverines for the National Championship (INCORRECT)

1/15/24 – Conference Championship Gauntlet — Duke, Connecticut, Purdue, Kansas, Arizona, Auburn to win their conference tournaments (TBD)

1/22/24 – UAB to defeat Memphis (CORRECT)