Fewer than three weeks remain before we’ll have a bracket in hand for the 2024 men’s NCAA tournament. In that time, much will change: Huge late-season clashes and conference tournament action will play a part in who ends up dancing on Selection Sunday. However, each week brings us more and more clarity on how the field of 68 will look. For instance, the Washington State Cougars locked themselves into the field last week by winning at the Arizona Wildcats, while other teams like the Butler Bulldogs and Utah Utes continued recent swoons to knock themselves out of the picture.
Here’s a look at where things stand in ’s latest projection.
On the BubbleLast Four Byes:
Nevada Wolf Pack
Michigan State Spartans
Seton Hall Pirates
Providence Friars
Last Four In:
Virginia Cavaliers
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
New Mexico Lobos
Gonzaga Bulldogs
First Four Out:
Villanova Wildcats
Utah Utes
Ole Miss Rebels
Butler Bulldogs
Next Four Out:
Texas A&M Aggies
Colorado Buffaloes
James Madison Dukes
St. John’s Red Storm
Welcome to the projected field, Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons got the breakthrough win they needed to back up their lofty performance metrics, beating the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday afternoon in a win that pushed them into the Big Dance field, at least for now. A 3–1 finish to the regular season should have Steve Forbes’s team sitting pretty, though 2–2 wouldn’t be catastrophic.
In a bad weekend overall for bubble teams, no team had a worse go than New Mexico, which lost a ghastly Quad 4 home game to the Air Force Falcons to seriously jeopardize the Lobos’ NCAA tournament hopes. It doesn’t knock them out just yet, but the margin of error is now incredibly slim, especially given New Mexico’s entire résumé has been built on the work it has done in league play. The Lobos would be advised to win at either the Boise State Broncos or Utah State Aggies down the stretch to secure a bid.
Forde Minutes: Closer Look at Bubble Teams and Selection Committee Questions
Midwest Region
No. 1 Purdue Boilermakers* vs. No. 16 Grambling State Tigers*/Merrimack Warriors*
No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners vs. No. 9 Boise State Broncos
No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats vs. No. 12 Princeton Tigers*
No. 4 San Diego State Aztecs vs. No. 13 Akron Zips*
No. 6 Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. No. 11 Indiana State Sycamores*
No. 3 Duke Blue Devils vs. No. 14 Charleston Cougars*
No. 7 South Carolina Gamecocks vs. No. 10 Nevada Wolf Pack
No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks vs. No. 15 Eastern Washington Eagles*
The UConn Huskies’ stay at No. 1 overall is short-lived, with Purdue reasserting itself in the top spot following the Huskies’ loss to the Creighton Bluejays. The Boilermakers could add some distance between themselves and the field with a strong finish against a schedule that features games against Michigan State, the Wisconsin Badgers and Illinois Fighting Illini before conference tournament time.
Meanwhile, it’s worth zooming in on Kansas’s potential case for a No. 1 seed after the Jayhawks dominated the Texas Longhorns over the weekend. Kansas has an elite win over UConn and 12 total wins against the top two quadrants. The Jayhawks may have the best chance of anyone to usurp Arizona for the fourth and final No. 1 seed.