Bracketology 2022: Updates, upsets, teams to watch on Sunday, March 6

Ladies and gentlemen, we are now just one week away from Selection Sunday as we have officially reached the finish line for the regular season in college basketball.

We experienced a frantic Saturday slate yesterday where the field for several conference tournaments became clear. More teams will wrap up their respective regular season slates this afternoon while two leagues will crown a tournament champion to represent them in the NCAA Tournament.

There’s a lot of moving parts this time of the year in regards to where things stand for the 68-team dance so bear with us as we try to sort through the madness.

Last night’s bubble watch

• North Carolina 94, No. 4 Duke 81: The story of the day was Coach K’s farewell to Cameron Indoor Stadium and rival North Carolina crashing the festivities with a 13-point win. With a five-game winning streak to end the season, the Tar Heels are officially off the bubble and will be safely in the field of 68 come next Sunday.
• Kentucky 71, Florida 63: The Gators made the score respectable in their season finale but didn’t have any answers for Oscar Tshiebwe and the Wildcats. UF needs a nice showing at the SEC Tournament to have a prayer at the NCAAs.
• Purdue 69, Indiana 67: A victory over the No. 8 team in the country would’ve done wonders for IU in its quest to get off the bubble but its efforts came up just short. The Hoosiers must now pull off a deep run in the Big Ten Tournament for any hope of making the big dance.
• Louisiana 79, Texas State 72: Texas State entered the Sun Belt Tournament as the No. 1 seed and their hopes for an NCAA Tournament were shot down with an upset loss to Louisiana. The Bobcats had posted 21 wins heading into Pensacola.

Games to watch today

• No. 14 Houston at Memphis, 12 p.m. ET, CBS: Houston is trying to end the regular season by picking up its first Quad 1 win while Memphis is trying to get off the bubble with a quality home win of its own.
• Longwood vs. Winthrop, 12 p.m. ET, ESPN2: One of these teams will punch its ticker to the NCAA Tournament in the Big South Championship Game. Longwood defeated Winthrop 92-88 earlier in the season.
• No. 23 Ohio State vs. Michigan, 12:30 p.m. ET, Fox: A potentially shorthanded Ohio State could continue to add on to its tournament resume while a bubble team like Michigan could get a much-need Quad 1 victory heading into the Big Ten Tournament.
• Loyola-Chicago vs. Drake, 2 p.m. ET, CBS: The second conference championship game will take place in St. Louis as these two teams will battle for the Missouri Valley title.

Bubble teams per Bracketwag.com

Last 4 in - SMU, Rutgers, North Carolina, Memphis
First 4 out - VCU, Michigan, Indiana, Florida
Next 4 out - St. Bonaventure, Virginia Tech, Belmont, Dayton

Conference breakdown per ESPN’s Joe Lunardi

Big Ten 8
Big East 7
Big 12 6
SEC 6
ACC 5
Mountain West 4
WCC 3
Pac-12 3
American 2
Missouri Valley 2