Arizona has capitalized on its strong start in the Big 12 to overcome early setbacks, securing a comfortable position as a No. 3 seed in the upper quadrant of the bracket. Meanwhile, Purdue’s impressive performance in the Big Ten has propelled them to the No. 2 seed line. The projected No. 1 seeds, including Duke and a trio of SEC teams, have maintained their positions at the forefront of the competition. The SEC has particularly strengthened its case with a strong showing over the weekend, while the NCAA Tournament field projection sees Georgia, Virginia Commonwealth, Ohio State, and San Diego State as the last four in. On the other hand, Arkansas, Brigham Young, North Carolina, and SMU find themselves on the outside looking in as the first four out. The distribution of NCAA Tournament bids across conferences reveals the dominance of multi-bid leagues such as the SEC (13), Big Ten (10), Big 12 (8), ACC (4), Big East (4), Mountain West (3), Atlantic 10 (2), and West Coast (2). Kansas and Kentucky have notably fallen in the projected field, as reported by USA TODAY in an analysis of NCAA tournament Bracketology.
