We're inside a month until the conference tournaments get underway, and the projected NCAA Tournament field is getting clearer and clearer.
The top five in the AP poll was flipped on its head over the weekend, with three of those teams going down in big games on the road. UConn was the first to fall on Friday night, as Dan Hurley's squad couldn't keep pace with an ascending St. John's team at Madison Square Garden.
Two more giants went down on Saturday evening, as Duke blew a double-digit lead against North Carolina in a classic edition of the best rivalry in the sport before Seth Trimble called game with a 3-pointer from the corner. Later that night, Illinois couldn't survive a late rally from Michigan State in East Lansing, eventually falling in overtime.
While those losses won't necessarily do major damage to those teams' projected seeds in this Bracketology, but it is enough for some slight shuffling at the top. Where do those teams land, and what does the bubble look like as another week is in the books?
Bold = Automatic Qualifier
Note – Now that conference play is in full swing, the AQ for each conference is given to the team in first place in the conference standings as of the morning of Monday, Feb. 9.
West Region
1. Arizona
16. Bethune-Cookman/NJIT
8. NC State
9. Villanova
5. Saint Louis
12. Stephen F. Austin
4. Florida
13. Utah Valley
6. St. John's
11. Santa Clara
3. Gonzaga
14. Portland State
7. Kentucky
10. Indiana
2. Nebraska
15. Wright State
Midwest Region
1. Michigan
16. Merrimack
8. Texas A&M
9. St. Mary's
5. BYU
12. Yale
4. North Carolina
13. Liberty
6. Louisville
11. USC
3. Purdue
14. North Dakota State
7. Iowa
10. Miami (OH)
2. Iowa State
15. Austin Peay
East Region
1. UConn
16. UT Martin
8. Auburn
9. SMU
5. Tennessee
12. South Florida
4. Virginia
13. Hawai'i
6. Alabama
11. UCLA/California
3. Kansas
14. Troy
7. Utah State
10. Miami (FL)
2. Illinois
15. Charleston
South Region
1. Duke
16. Long Island/Morgan State
8. UCF
9. Georgia
5. Texas Tech
12. Belmont
4. Vanderbilt
13. High Point
6. Clemson
11. Texas/New Mexico
3. Michigan State
14. East Tennessee State
7. Arkansas
10. Wisconsin
2. Houston
15. Navy
Bubble Watch
Last Four Byes: Indiana, Miami (FL), Wisconsin, USC
Last Four In: UCLA, Texas, New Mexico, California
First Four Out: Ohio State, San Diego State, Missouri, Virginia Tech
Next Four Out: Seton Hall, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Baylor
Multi-bid leagues
Big Ten – 10
SEC – 10
ACC – 9
Big 12 – 7
Big East – 3
WCC – 3
Mountain West – 2
Games of the Week
Monday, Feb. 9 – Arizona at Kansas
Monday, Feb. 9 – NC State at Louisville
Tuesday, Feb. 10 – Purdue at Nebraska
Wednesday, Feb. 10 – Florida at Georgia
Friday, Feb. 12 – Michigan State at Wisconsin
Saturday, Feb. 13 – Clemson at Duke
Saturday, Feb. 13 – Kansas at Iowa State
Saturday, Feb. 13 – Texas Tech at Arizona
Saturday, Feb. 13 – Kentucky at Florida
Saturday, Feb. 13 – Gonzaga at Santa Clara
Biggest storylines to watch
Let's start out west! The West Coast Conference race is starting to heat up after Gonzaga's shocking loss to Portland, which put Santa Clara into the driver's seat in the league. The Broncos will have a chance to back up that standing in front of that should be a great home atmosphere on Saturday night when the Zags come to town.
Nebraska jumps back up onto the two line with Gonzaga's loss just before the Cornhuskers welcome a struggling Purdue squad to Lincoln on Tuesday night. Purdue is still well within protected seed range, but Matt Painter and company are coming off of an underwhelming victory at home against a bad Oregon team.
Arizona's undefeated record is still well intact after crushing Oklahoma State on Saturday, but now the Wildcats have one of their toughest tests yet on the road against Kansas on Monday night. The Jayhawks moved up to the three line with an impressive week that included a road win over Texas Tech, and Bill Self is 38-0 in home games on Big Monday.
UConn, Duke and Illinois all losing over the weekend wasn't enough to drop them in this Bracketology, but it did close the gap between the three of them and the likes of Houston and Iowa State. The Cougars especially are surging as the season goes along, as a Kelvin Sampson team usually does, and got a great road win against BYU on Saturday.
A very big week lies ahead for Florida, arguably the hottest team in college basketball and the new team at the top of the SEC. Florida is our top team on the four line at the moment, but two more wins this week against Georgia and Kentucky would very likely bump the Gators up to a three. At the moment, Todd Golden's squad is the team nobody wants to see across from them in the bracket.
