Texas Longhorns

College GameDay's Kirk Herbstreit covers Alabama's No. 1 ranking, his expectations for USC, Mack Brown's future at Texas, Notre Dame's 6-0 start, the state of the Big Ten and more.

Listen to the complete ESPN Radio interview.

Penn State kicker Anthony Fera will visit Texas on Sunday, a source close to the kicker told HornsNation.

The redshirt junior placekicker and punter will then sit down with his family and sort out his options. He has made no other visit plans and has no timetable for a decision on whether he’ll transfer or remain at Penn State.

Fera, a graduate of Houston St. Pius X High, is traveling home to Cypress, Texas, on Saturday and is interested in seeing what the Longhorns have to offer.

Texas is in need of a new placekicker and punter following the graduation of do-everything kicker Justin Tucker. The opportunity to take over both roles and play close to home prompted Fera’s interest.

Longhorns coaches have not promised him any starting roles, the source said, but Fera is merely looking for a chance to compete and get a fair shake.

The fact that Fera is set to earn his degree from Penn State in December will also be a factor in his decision, and he is still strongly considering going back to Happy Valley.

As a sophomore, Fera earned first-team All-Big Ten honors from ESPN.com and second-team honors from media and coaches after connecting on 14 of 17 field goals and averaging 42 yards on 64 punts.

Cassidy Hubbarth and the college football bloggers bring you the best from the spring and what that means for the games in the fall.

Ivan Maisel and Gene Wojciechowski debate whether the bowls or a playoff system is the way to go.

Cassidy Hubbarth and the college football bloggers go around the country to explain how a playoff system would help everyone.

Check back Friday morning for Joe Lunardi's full bracket, but here are his basic projections through Thursday night's action.

SINCE THE LAST UPDATE

• Texas moves above “Last Four In” (No. 47 overall) with its victory over Iowa State.
• Mississippi State drops to “Last Four In” with its loss to Georgia.
• South Florida stays in the field (No. 46 overall) despite its loss to Notre Dame.
• Oregon moves from "First Four Out" to the last spot on "Next Four Out."

LAST FOUR IN

Washington
Mississippi State
Drexel
Seton Hall

FIRST FOUR OUT

Tennessee
Northwestern
NC State
Miami (Fla.)

NEXT FOUR OUT

Iona
Arizona
Saint Joseph's
Oregon

Also considered: Dayton, Marshall, Ole Miss

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN

Big East (10)
Big Ten (6)
Big 12 (6)
SEC (5)
ACC (4)
Mountain West (4)
Atlantic 10 (3)
West Coast (3)
Colonial (2)
Conference USA (2)
Missouri Valley (2)
Pac-12 (2)

AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS

Belmont (Atlantic Sun)
Creighton (Missouri Valley)
Davidson (Southern)
Detroit (Horizon)
Harvard (Ivy)
Lehigh (Patriot)
LIU Brooklyn (Northeast)
Loyola-Md. (MAAC)
Montana (Big Sky)
Murray State (OVC)
Saint Mary's (West Coast)
South Dakota State (Summit)
UNC Asheville (Big South)
VCU (Colonial)
Western Kentucky (Sun Belt)

Editor’s note: This update does not include BYU-Gonzaga in the WCC tournament.

NOTABLE

• North Carolina moves up to top line as projected No. 1 seed.
• Belmont (Atlantic Sun) clinches fifth NCAA bid in seven years.
• Texas falls out of field, replaced by Xavier (“Last Team In”).

Last Four In
Xavier
Northwestern
South Florida
Colorado State

First Four Out
Texas
VCU
Oregon
NC State

Next Four Out
Miami
Tennessee
Saint Joseph’s
Dayton

BRACKET MATH

Take the “solid” at-large candidates (current Tournament Odds at 90% or better) and there are now 34 teams in the field. Add in the remaining automatic qualifiers and that’s another 20 spots. All told there are 54 of the 68 spots accounted for, with 14 still up for grabs among current “Bubble” teams.

S-CURVE PROJECTIONS

1-KENTUCKY 2-SYRACUSE 3-KANSAS 4-NO. CAROLINA
8-Ohio State 7-Missouri 6-Duke 5-Michigan State*
9-Marquette 10-Georgetown 11-Baylor 12-Michigan
16-UNLV 15-Florida 14-Indiana 13-Wisconsin
17-Louisville 18-Wichita State 19-Florida State 20-TEMPLE
24-CREIGHTON 23-Notre Dame 22-Murray State 21-Vanderbilt
25-Gonzaga 26-New Mexico 27- San Diego State* 28-MEMPHIS
32-Purdue 31-Kansas State 30-Iowa State 29-SAINT MARY’S
33-Alabama 34-Cincinnati 35-Virginia 36-Southern Miss
40-Connecticut 39-Washington* 38-California 37-Saint Louis
41-West Virginia 42-Seton Hall 43-Harvard* 44-LONG BEACH STATE
48-Colorado State 47-Mississippi State 46-Brigham Young 45-Arizona
49-South Florida 50-Northwestern 51-Xavier 52-IONA
56-NEVADA 55-ORAL ROBERTS 54-DREXEL 53-MIDDLE TENNNESSEE
57-Belmont 58-DAVIDSON 59-AKRON 60-VALPARAISO
64-UNC Asheville 63-UT ARLINGTON 62-MONTANA 61-BUCKNELL
65-LONG ISLAND 66-STONY BROOK 67-MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 68-SAVANNAH STATE
72-NC State 71-Oregon 70-VCU 69-Texas
73-Miami (Fla.) 74-Saint Joseph’s 75-Dayton 76-Tennessee

Bold - automatic qualifier; * - current conference leader.
ALL CAPS: Regular-season champion (NIT auto-bid if needed)

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN

Big East (10)
Big Ten (7)
Big 12 (5)
SEC (5)
ACC (4)
Mountain West (4)
Atlantic 10 (3)
Pac-12 (3)
West Coast (3)
Conference USA (2)
Missouri Valley (2)

NCAA AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS

UNC Asheville (Big South)
Murray State (Ohio Valley Conference)
Belmont (Atlantic Sun)

Here's an abbreviated rundown of Joe Lunardi's Bracketology outlook after Saturday's games. Come back to ESPN.com on Monday morning for Joe's complete bracket.

TOP SEED PAIRINGS
EAST/Syracuse vs. WEST/Kansas (1 vs. 4)
SOUTH/Kentucky vs. MIDWEST/Missouri (2 vs. 3)

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN (projected bids in parentheses)
Big East (9)
Big Ten (7)
Big 12 (6)
ACC (5)
SEC (5)
Atlantic 10 (3)
Mountain West (3)
Pac-12 (3)
West Coast (3)
Conference USA (2)
Missouri Valley (2)

BUBBLE BREAKDOWN (with odds to remain in field)

Last Four In
Seton Hall (55 percent)
Miami (Fla.) (50 percent)
Texas (50 percent)
Northwestern (40 percent)

First Four Out
NC State (45 percent)
Central Florida (30 percent)
Colorado State (30 percent)
Minnesota (30 percent)

Next Four Out
Oregon (30 percent)
Saint Joseph’s (25 percent)
VCU (25 percent)
Illinois (30 percent)