It’s that time of year again! Conference play is set to ramp up full-time across all of Division 1 within the next week and a half, and it’s time to start seriously looking at bracketology. For those of you reading this who aren’t familiar with my process, here’s a brief explanation:

My rankings are based on a computer formula I designed that is mostly based on current resume – this is not a projection of where teams will stand midway through March, but rather, my viewpoint of where teams stand at this point in time. Of course, I do include predictive ratings such as KenPom, BPI, and Sagarin, so there is still a little predictive influence, but it’s predominantly resume-based. That’s why you’ll see San Diego State and Butler on the 1 seed line over teams like Kansas and Ohio State, both of whom you could argue for being a clear 1 seed. At this point in time, San Diego State is 5-0 and Quad 1 & Quad 2 opponents, #1 in NET & SOR, and 2-0 against Quad 1A opponents, which is the highest tier of Q1. If I were projecting out to March, I would absolutely place Ohio State on the 1 seed above the Aztecs, as they’ll have many, many more opportunities to earn Q1 victories in the Big 10 compared to the Mountain West. But, for now, San Diego State has a resume that I’m comfortable placing over the Buckeyes. And for those wondering about Butler being on the one seed line, my response is why not? They have more victories against Q1 and Q2 opponents than ANYONE in the country, are ranked in the top 5 of NET and SOR, and in the top 10 of BPI and KenPom. They’re tied with my #1 overall, Duke, with 4 Quad 1 victories as well. Factors that go into my ratings include:

NET, KPI (not included today as it hasn’t been released yet), SOR, BPI, KenPom, Sagarin

Non-Conference Strength of Schedule (new to the formula this year)

Records against each Quadrant (1-4)

Now, here’s the bracket – italics indicate the auto-bid.

Midwest Region (Indianapolis) St. Louis, MO

1 Butler (#3 overall)

16 St. Francis (PA)/Coppin State

8 Utah State

9 Georgetown Albany, NY

5 Villanova

12 Yale

4 Michigan

13 Vermont Cleveland, OH

6 Saint Mary’s

11 Houston

3 Louisville

14 Belmont St. Louis, MO

7 Marquette

10 Florida

2 Kansas

15 Radford East Region (New York City) Greensboro, NC

1 Duke (#1 overall)

16 Hofstra

8 Xavier

9 Arkansas Sacramento, CA

5 Memphis

12 Washington/Minnesota

4 Iowa

13 Stephen F. Austin Albany, NY

6 Indiana

11 Stanford

3 West Virginia

14 Wright State Cleveland, OH

7 Seton Hall

10 Texas Tech

2 Ohio State

15 Rider



West Region (Los Angeles) Spokane, WA

1 Gonzaga (#2 overall)

16 Oral Roberts/Texas Southern

8 Colorado

9 Virginia Tampa, FL

5 Penn State

12 East Tennessee State

4 Florida State

13 Louisiana Tech Greensboro, NC

6 Arizona

11 Tennessee/Oklahoma

3 Maryland

14 Georgia State Spokane, WA

7 Creighton

10 Oklahoma State

2 Oregon

15 New Mexico State

South Region (Houston) Sacramento, CA

1 San Diego State (#4 overall)

16 Hawaii

8 BYU

9 NC State Omaha, NE

5 Dayton

12 Northern Iowa

4 Michigan State

13 Kent State Omaha, NE

6 Wichita State

11 Purdue

3 Baylor

14 Northern Colorado Tampa, FL

7 Liberty

10 DePaul

2 Auburn

15 Colgate

Last 4 Byes

DePaul

Houston

Stanford

Purdue

Last 4 In

Tennessee

Oklahoma

Washington

Minnesota

First 4 Out

Kentucky

Temple

Rutgers

USC

Next 4 Out

VCU

Iowa State

Illinois

Wisconsin

Waiting List

UNC

UNC Greensboro

LSU

Texas

St. John’s



Multi-Bid Conferences

AAC: 3 teams

ACC: 5 teams

Big 10: 9 teams

Big 12: 6 teams

Big East: 8 teams

Mountain West: 2 teams

Pac 12: 5 teams

SEC: 4 teams

WCC: 3 teams