Happy New Year friends, family, and random readers who I've never met! Thank you for stopping by the check out the most recently Bracketology update here at ClutchPoints, the first of the year 2024! We've got a jam-packed ‘And One!' section toward the bottom of this page, so let's skip the foreplay and dive right into this thing!
Bracketology Bracket
Bracketology Breakdown
Top Seeds: Purdue (Midwest Region), Kansas (South Region), Houston (West Region), Connecticut (East Region)
Multi-Bid Leagues: AAC (2), ACC (5), Big 12 (8), Big East (5), Big Ten (6), MWC (5), Pac-12 (3), SEC (10)
Bracketology Bubble Watch
Last Four Byes: Nevada, Arkansas, Northwestern, New Mexico
Last Four In: Florida, TCU, South Carolina, Utah State
First Four Out: Indiana, Butler, Oregon, Indiana State
Next Four Out: Nebraska, St. John’s, NC State, Wake Forest
Five Most Intriguing Games of the Week
Colorado at Arizona – Thu. Jan. 4, 9:30 pm ET, ESPN
Illinois at Purdue – Fri. Jan. 5, 8:30 pm ET, FS1
North Carolina at Clemson – Sat. Jan. 6, 12:00 pm ET, ESPN2
Providence at Creighton – Sat. Jan. 6, 2:00 pm ET, FS1
Ole Miss at Tennessee – Sat. Jan. 6, 6:00 pm ET, SEC Network
And One!
Now that we're into January and conference play has begun, this is when we can begin looking at the remaining unbeaten teams and really start wondering, Which of these schools will be the last team standing? Three teams made it to 2024 without a blemish on their record, and they are Houston, James Madison, and Ole Miss. Now conventional wisdom would say that Houston, because they are the highest-ranked and likely best team of this trio, will be the last team standing. However, Houston now has to enter the gauntlet of Big 12 conference play after going through what was a pretty cushy non-conference schedule — their best wins came against Texas A&M (a 7-seed in my most recent Bracketology field), Utah (9-seed), and Dayton (10-seed). Is Houston as good as their record? Maybe, but until they play the likes of BYU, Texas, Baylor, and Kansas, I don't think we know for sure.
As for Ole Miss, well, I don't see the Rebels surviving their next game, a visit to Rocky Top to face Rick Barnes' Tennessee Volunteers squad that is as battle tested as any team in the nation. The Vols have their losses to their name so far, and they all came within a week span to Purdue, Kansas, and North Carolina. In addition to those brutal games, Tennessee has defeated two Big Ten contenders (Wisconsin and Illinois) and a frisky bubble team in NC State. Again, I'm shading the Rebels on Saturday evening.
That leaves James Madison, who surprised everyone early in the year with a win over perceived Final Four contender Michigan State, and has since beat up on a parade of teams that likely won't sniff the tournament field come March. Yet even still, because James Madison doesn't have a single heavy hitter on their schedule the rest of the way, I actually think the Dukes have a shot to at least come close to running the table the rest of the way.
So, that's my prediction, and it may take a while for it to cash in, but I'm saying that James Madison will be the final unbeaten team standing this year.
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)
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