Can North Carolina Tar Heels do enough to make March Madness?
USA TODAY Sports’ Jordan Mendoza breaks down some notable teams on the March Madness bubble including North Carolina, Arkansas and San Diego State.
Sports Pulse
As Selection Sunday inches closer, NCAA men’s basketball tournament watchers tend to focus on two areas of the bracket. Those are the top, where the battle for No. 1 regional seeds could come down to the final days of conference tournaments, and the so-called bubble, where at-large candidates are running out of opportunities to improve their resumes.
Our latest bracketology has significant changes in both those areas. Tennessee has claimed a spot on the No. 1 line thanks to its head-to-head victory against Alabama over the weekend.
The Volunteers join SEC leader Auburn along with Duke and Houston. But the race is far from over with Selection Sunday less than two weeks away. The Crimson Tide have a huge opportunity against Auburn later this week and fellow No. 2 seed Florida can make a run in the SEC tournament. The Big Ten holds down the rest of the No. 2 line with Michigan State and Wisconsin.
There is major movement at the bottom of the bracket, too. Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas all fall out after weekend losses. Moving in are Georgia, Indiana and Xavier, which are benefiting from a strong push as the regular season nears conclusion.
March Madness: NCAA Tournament bracketology projecting field
Last four in
Boise State, Ohio State, Xavier, Indiana.
First four out
Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, North Carolina.
NCAA Tournament bids conference breakdown
Multi-bid leagues: SEC (12), Big Ten (10), Big 12 (8), Big East (5), Mountain West (4), ACC (3), West Coast (2).
