The final CBS Sports Bracketology projection is in ahead of the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on CBS. Duke is the No. 1 overall seed, followed by Michigan, Arizona and Florida, who round out the top line.
In the event of a Purdue victory over Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament title game, Arizona and Michigan would swap spots within the No. 1 seed hierarchy and the Wildcats would be the No. 2 overall seed. However, that would not result in any changes to the bracket.
Regardless of the outcome, Duke will be slotted in the East, Michigan in the Midwest, Arizona in the West and Florida in the South. Purdue will remain a No. 2 seed in CBS Sports Bracketology, regardless of the outcome of the Big Ten Tournament title game.
The Blue Devils won the ACC regular season and tournament titles, and they also possess a valuable Feb. 21 head-to-head victory over Michigan on a neutral court that served as a separator in a fierce battle for the top spot in the seeding order.
Arizona mounted an impressive charge for the No. 1 overall seed by stacking a Big 12 Tournament title on top of a Big 12 regular season title. But the Wildcats entered Selection Sunday roughly even with Duke in results-based metrics and lagging slightly behind the Blue Devils in predictive metrics.
Bracketology top seeds
Check out the full field of 68 at the CBS Sports Bracketology hub.
Iowa State gets a No. 2 seed
Vanderbilt entered Sunday’s SEC Tournament title game with a path to being a No. 2 seed. With a win over Arkansas, that’s where the Commodores would have landed in the final CBS Sports Bracketology projection. However, a loss to the Razorbacks led to the ‘Dores being slotted as a No. 3 seed in the final projection.
Iowa State received the nod over Michigan State for a No. 2 seed after a side-by-side “scrub” of the Cyclones and Spartans revealed an edge for ISU in a variety of key indicators. Notably, the Cyclones own 18 victories over Quads 1 and 2 compared to 14 for Michigan State. Iowa State also owns a significant edge in predictive metrics.
Vanderbilt as a No. 3 seed
Vanderbilt is a worthy No. 3 seed in CBS Sports Bracketology after mounting a charge that included three “Quad 1A” victories between March 7-14. Among them was a needle-moving SEC Tournament semifinal win over Florida. The 91-74 drubbing of the reigning national champions was the best win of anyone in college basketball during championship week, and it sent Vanderbilt soaring to a top-10 level in every results-based metric used by the committee.
SMU hangs on to the final projected spot
VCU punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament as an automatic qualifier with a wire-to-wire win over Dayton on Sunday. The Rams will be a No. 11 seed avoiding the First Four in CBS Sports Bracketology with the win. The win eliminates the possibility of a three-bid Atlantic 10. But the A-10 will likely have two bids in the field since Saint Louis looks solid as an at-large candidate. This result is great news for SMU, which will remain among the Last Four In within CBS Sports Bracketology. A Dayton win would have hurt the Mustangs’ chances of making the field.