The college basketball season tips off just a few weeks from now. On Monday, November 6, the march to March begins. While there are hundreds of games yet to be played, we’re taking a look at the preseason bracketology from Joe Lunardi at ESPN.
For those who need to brush up on last year’s tournament, we saw one of the more interesting Final Fours in recent history, featuring four teams seeded in the 4-9 range. We saw No. 1 Purdue upset in the first round of the tournament and an Elite Eight that featured no No. 1 seeds.
Here are our thoughts on the way-too-early projections for the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
The No. 1 seeds
Lunardi has the Kansas Jayhawks as the No. 1 overall seed. The Jayhawks were a No. 1 last year, but fell to Arkansas in the second round of the 2022 tournament. They lost nine players from last year’s roster, but will return Kevin McCullar Jr., Dajuan Harris Jr., and K.J. Adams Jr. They also hit the transfer portal hard in the offseason, adding Hunter Dickinson from Michigan, among others.
Purdue, Duke, and Michigan State round out the No. 1 seeds. The Boilermakers return Zach Edey, a unanimous preseason All-American who stands well over seven feet tall. Duke, last year’s ACC champions, will return some big names in ACC rookie of the year Kyle Filipowski and Jeremy Roach.
None of last year’s Final Four teams find themselves with a No. 1 seed in the first bracketology — even national champion UConn, who are a No. 2.
The Bubble
We’re seeing a lot of Big Ten schools floating around the edge of the bubble — Indiana and Ohio State fall in the last four byes, Northwestern is in the last four in, and Michigan and Rutgers are in the next four out. It’s going to be a tight race in the conference this season, and some teams will likely feel snubbed as they end up just outside the 68 come March.
From the Big 12, Iowa State, West Virginia, Texas Tech, and BYU are all on the bubble. West Virginia had a push last season and ended up with a No. 9 seed after an impressive stretch of conference play. With a new coach and question marks on eligibility for some transfers, the Mountaineers could be looking at the NIT.
Last year’s Cinderellas
Where is everyone’s favorite Final Four team? San Diego State grabs a No. 6 spot to open the season, and Florida Atlantic sits at No. 4. Princeton, who reached the Sweet Sixteen as a 15-seed, are not anywhere to be found in the first round of bracketology.