Bracket Math: Kentucky falling
Wildcats, Sun Devils, Terps not in field; Hoyas drop to No. 2 seed
This edition of Bracket Math includes games through March 7. Rankings reflect an up-to-date S-curve from yours truly, posing as one hypothetical member of the NCAA men's basketball committee.
Notes on the "new" math:
• Time to exhale. For the first time in a couple of weeks, Friday gives us zero games that can affect the top lines of the bracket and none involving current bubble teams. The respite gives me a chance to complete a full "seed scrub" heading into the teeth of Championship Week. What data have I missed? Whose seed should be tweaked a bit? Is there a school sneaking into consideration that's been missed? Believe it or not, even I can make a gaffe when the results are as unpredictable as they have been this season.
Just because there are no bubble games Friday doesn't mean we can't find ourselves with a new bubble team on the board. Belmont begins its postseason with an Ohio Valley Conference tournament semifinal Friday night against Tennessee State. If the Bruins were to lose in the semis or final, we'll have our first major storyline of Championship Week. Just call it our first official Bid Thief Alert.
• Most impactful Friday games: Princeton at Yale; Kent State at Akron; Tennessee State vs. Belmont (OVC tournament in Nashville, Tenn.); Columbia at Harvard; Wichita State versus Missouri State and Northern Iowa versus Illinois State at the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in St. Louis.
• Most impactful Saturday games: Syracuse at Georgetown; Providence at Connecticut; Florida at Kentucky; Ole Miss at LSU; La Salle at Saint Louis; Nebraska at Iowa; San Diego State at Boise State; Missouri at Tennessee; Georgia at Alabama; Arizona State at Arizona; Army at Bucknell; Kansas at Baylor; Louisiana Tech at Denver; Central Florida at Southern Miss; Duke at North Carolina; Northern Arizona at Montana.
The Bracket
This is where I project teams would fall if Selection Sunday were today. Remember, the S-curve flows left to right, then right to left, then back again as you read down the chart.
To read more from Joe Lunardi on how the bubble looks, find out which weekend games are most impactful and see how the latest S-curve breaks down, sign up for ESPN Insider today.
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