It’s that time of year: March Madness is almost here as conference championships continue throughout all 31 conferences (26 mid-major conferences and five power five conferences). Each conference tournament winner will secure an automatic bid into March Madness. However, just because you do not win your conference does not mean you can’t get it in. The tournament is made up of 68 teams and the conference tournament winners only take up 31 of those spots. The other spots can be solidified by building a resume by beating opponents ranked in the Quad 1 NET rankings.
As we wind down conference tournaments, ESPN lead bracketologist Joe “Brackets” Lunardi is giving us updates on the outlook of what he thinks the selection committee will decide on selection Sunday, which is March 16. Lunardi is always on the ball, updating his bracket forecast after every possible spot swinging game. The parts of the bracket that are focused on the most are the top 4 seeds and the bubble.
The bubble is split up into four sections: Last 4 Byes, Last 4 In, First 4 Out, and Next 4 Out. The bubble is crucial as it is almost constantly changing as teams on the bubble either win or lose. Teams in the “Last 4 Byes” section are safely in the tournament and likely 10 or 11 seeds. “Last 4 In,” is four teams that have to play their way in against each other with only two of the teams earning a spot, usually earning an 11 seed, sometimes a 12 seed. “First 4 Out” is self-explanatory, the top 4 teams that miss the tournament completely by a slight bit, and the “Next 4 Out” are the four behind that group. Lunardi might be an expert bracketologist, but fans sometimes forget he does not make the final decisions, as his job is just to give the fans his perspective on what he thinks the selection committee decides. The committee isn’t allowed to reveal much of anything.
The format of the March Madness bracket can be tricky to the average fan. Usually the top 11 and sometimes 12 seeds of the bracket are filled up by the schools that are in the five Power Five Conferences (ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC). The Mountain West, WCC, Atlantic 10, and American conferences also put more than one team in the field of 68 on regular occasions. Those nine conferences usually fill up those top 11 seeds. Seeds 12-16 are filled up by mid-major conference tournament winners or in other words “one-bid conferences.” Regularly, these mid-majors are known for showing up and surprising the world by knocking off the top contenders in the early rounds of March Madness and if they are lucky, possibly make a run to the Sweet 16, Elite 8 or the Final 4 round. This sequence is called a Cinderella run, everyone’s favorite part of March Madness. Notable “Cinderella” teams over the recent years: Oakland Golden Grizzlies, FDU Knights, Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, Princeton Tigers, St. Peter’s Peacocks, UMBC Retrievers, and Loyola Chicago Ramblers.
Making a space in this article just dedicated to the SEC conference seems right. The conference reigned dominance this year; 14/16 teams in the conference are projected to make the March Madness field as of March 14. That would break the original record of most teams put in the tournament originally held by the Big East with 11 in 2011. Auburn has abused opponents ranked in Quad 1 this year with a 15-4 record in just Quad 1 alone. Alabama and Florida are top 5 in the nation in scoring amongst all 364 teams. Other teams such as Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss have been dominant at different moments of the season. Mississippi State, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Texas all had losing in-conference records, but have good enough resumes that should propel them into the tournament. LSU and South Carolina both had losing overall records and losing in-conference records, so they are essentially eliminated from March Madness contention. Watch out for SEC teams to make statement runs this year.
March Madness has its contenders, pretenders, sleepers, and Cinderellas. Notable contenders include: Auburn, Duke, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Iowa State, and Houston. Potential pretenders: Arizona, Michigan, and Kansas. Potential sleepers: Missouri, BYU, and Memphis. Potential Cinderellas: Drake, McNeese, UC San Diego, VCU, Akron, High Point, and Utah Valley. So far, Drake, McNeese, and High Point are the only ones of that potential Cinderellas group that have officially punched their ticket to March Madness. The other four have yet to finish their conference tournament, but are the betting favorites to win it this weekend, so it is not guaranteed they will get in the tournament.
Want to enjoy March Madness? Fill out some brackets, watch with family and friends, and root for the madness. 2025 March Madness is right around the corner.
Selection show: Sunday, March 16 @ 6:00P.M.
