It's here. Selection Sunday is finally here.
Before we learn what the bracket is, March Madness correspondent Andy Katz has updated his projections for the 2022 NCAA men's basketball tournament. Many teams have already clinched automatic qualifying bids.
Here's how Katz projects the 68-team field to look, through games played on Saturday, March 13.
First, here's the bracket in table form (scroll to the right to view the full bracket).
March Madness bracket predictions
| SEED | WEST | EAST | MIDWEST | SOUTH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gonzaga | Baylor | Kansas | Arizona |
| 16 | Cal State Fullerton | Norfolk State | Bryant/Wright State | Texas Southern/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
| 8 | TCU | Seton Hall | Murray State | Colorado State |
| 9 | Marquette | San Diego State | Memphis | San Francisco |
| 5 | Iowa | Houston | UConn | Texas |
| 12 | UAB | Notre Dame/Texas A&M | South Dakota State | Rutgers/Wyoming |
| 4 | Arkansas | Illinois | UCLA | Providence |
| 13 | Chattanooga | Princeton OR Yale | New Mexico State | Vermont |
| 6 | Saint Mary's | LSU | Alabama | USC |
| 11 | Virginia Tech | Indiana | Loyola Chicago | Michigan |
| 3 | Texas Tech | Duke | Wisconsin | Tennessee |
| 14 | Montana State | Longwood | St. Peter's | Akron |
| 7 | Ohio State | Michigan State | North Carolina | Boise State |
| 10 | Miami (FL.) | Creighton | Davidson | Iowa State |
| 2 | Villanova | Kentucky | Auburn | Purdue |
| 15 | Colgate | Delaware | Georgia State | Jacksonville State |
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Let's take a closer look at Katz's bracket.
The top seeds in the NCAA bracket
The one seeds in Andy Katz's final bracket projections, in order of overall seeding, are Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas and Baylor, respectively. No surprises among the top three overall seeds as each team won its conference tournament.
Gonzaga, the WCC champion, at 26-3 gets the top overall seed; the Zags enter Selection Sunday No. 1 in the AP Poll, NET rankings and Coaches Poll.
Arizona won the Pac-12 title with another win over UCLA. If the Wildcats land a No. 1 seed as Katz projects, head coach Tommy Lloyd will join North Carolina's Bill Guthridge (1998) and Indiana State's Bill Hodges (1979) as the third coach to earn a No. 1 seed in their first season as a Division head coach.
Kansas won the Big 12 tournament, giving the Jayhawks their ninth sweep of the regular-season and conference titles under Bill Self. Katz projects Kansas to sit atop the Midwest region.
The final No. 1 seed goes to Baylor. The Bears grab the last top seed despite losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals. The other contenders for the final No. 1 seed entering the weekend were Auburn, Kentucky, Duke and Wisconsin. All lost in their conference tournaments.
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Number of bids by conference
| Conference | Total Teams | Teams (Automatic Qualifier in Bold) |
|---|---|---|
| Big Ten | 9 | Purdue*, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, Rutgers |
| SEC | 7 | Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee*, Arkansas, LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M |
| Big East | 6 | Villanova, Providence, UConn, Seton Hall, Marquette, Creighton |
| Big 12 | 6 | Kansas, Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas, TCU, Iowa State |
| ACC | 5 | Duke, North Carolina, Miami (FL.), Virginia Tech, Notre Dame |
| Mountain West | 4 | Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State, Wyoming |
| Pac-12 | 3 | Arizona, UCLA, Southern California |
| WCC | 3 | Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, San Francisco |
| AAC | 2 | Houston*, Memphis |
*Projected conference tournament winner
What's changed in Katz's final bracket predictions ?
Most notably, Virginia Tech enters the field as an 11 seed after winning the ACC tournament. Five days ago, the Hokies were in Katz's next four out.
Texas A&M also joins the March Madness party after an impressive run of its own. The Aggies will play Tennessee for the SEC title. Texas A&M's inclusion in the field gives the SEC the second-most teams in this year's projected tournament field.
Wyoming is the final new addition in Katz's bracket predictions, giving the Mountain West four teams in the field. The AAC and A10 each lost a team in the final projections, falling from three and two teams, respectively.
The Big Ten stands strong in yet another bracket projection as the conference remains in the lead with nine teams after an exciting conference tournament.
PREDICTIONS: 68 March Madness predictions, made prior to Selection Sunday
Teams on the outside looking in
Here are Katz's first four teams out of his projected bracket.
First four out
1. SMU
2. Wake Forest
3. Xavier
4. VCU
SMU is Andy Katz's first team left out of this year's field. The Mustangs lost 70-63 to Memphis in the AAC tournament semifinals. SMU only has two Quad I wins on its resume so it will need some help if it wants to sneak into the tournament.
Wake Forest just misses the tournament after a surprise loss to 13th-seeded Boston College in the second round of ACC tournament. The Demon Deacons did not win a game in the ACC tournament and are 6-4 since February. Wake Forest will enter Selection Sunday with a record of 23-9.
Xavier suffered a tough loss to Butler in the first round of the Big East tournament. The Musketeers have lost losing eight of its last 10 games to close the season.
VCU finds itself on the outside looking in after losing to Richmond in the quarterfinals of the A10 tournament. The Rams end the season with back-to-back losses.
PAST BRACKETS: Five days before selections | March 1| Post top-16 reveal | One month before selections | 50 days out | New Year's | Opening night | Preseason
Andy Katz's automatic qualifiers
Here are Katz's 32 automatic qualifiers, most of which have officially secured a bid.
| CONFERENCE | AUTOMATIC QUALIFIER (CLINCHED IN BOLD) |
|---|---|
| America East | Vermont |
| American | Houston |
| Atlantic 10 | Davidson |
| ACC | Virginia Tech |
| ASUN | Jacksonville State |
| Big 12 | Kansas |
| Big East | Villanova |
| Big Sky | Montana State |
| Big South | Longwood |
| Big Ten | Purdue |
| Big West | Cal State Fullerton |
| CAA | Delaware |
| Conference USA | UAB |
| Horizon | Wright State |
| Ivy | Princeton OR Yale |
| MAAC | Saint Peter's |
| MAC | Akron |
| MEAC | Norfolk State |
| Missouri Valley | Loyola Chicago |
| Mountain West | Boise State |
| NEC | Bryant |
| OVC | Murray State |
| Pac-12 | Arizona |
| Patriot | Colgate |
| SEC | Tennessee |
| Southern | Chattanooga |
| Southland | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
| SWAC | Texas Southern |
| Summit League | South Dakota State |
| Sun Belt | Georgia State |
| WCC | Gonzaga |
| WAC | New Mexico State |
Andy Katz's field of 68
Here is Katz's full seed list in order, from one through 68:
| RANK | SEED | TEAM | CONFERENCE (AQ BOLDED IF CLINCHED) |
|---|
| 1. 1 -- Gonzaga | WCC (AQ) |
| 2. 1 -- Arizona | Pac-12 (AQ) |
| 3. 1 -- Kansas | Big 12 (AQ) |
| 4. 1 -- Baylor | Big 12 |
| 5. 2 -- Auburn | SEC |
| 6. 2 -- Kentucky | SEC |
| 7. 2 -- Purdue | Big Ten (AQ) |
| 8. 2 -- Villanova | Big East (AQ) |
| 9. 3 -- Duke | ACC |
| 10. 3 -- Tennessee | SEC (AQ) |
| 11. 3 -- Wisconsin | Big Ten |
| 12. 3 -- Texas Tech | Big 12 |
| 13. 4 -- UCLA | Pac-12 |
| 14. 4 -- Illinois | Big Ten |
| 15. 4 -- Providence | Big East |
| 16. 4 -- Arkansas | SEC |
| 17. 5 -- Iowa | Big Ten |
| 18. 5 -- Houston | AAC (AQ) |
| 19. 5 -- UConn | Big East |
| 20. 5 -- Texas | Big 12 |
| 21. 6 -- Saint Mary's | WCC |
| 22. 6 -- LSU | SEC |
| 23. 6 -- Alabama | SEC |
| 24. 6 -- Southern California | Pac-12 |
| 25. 7 -- Michigan State | Big Ten |
| 26. 7 -- North Carolina | ACC |
| 27. 7 -- Ohio State | Big Ten |
| 28. 7 -- Boise State | Mountain West (AQ) |
| 29. 8 -- Colorado State | Mountain West |
| 30. 8 -- Murray State | OVC (AQ) |
| 31. 8 -- Seton Hall | Big East |
| 32. 8 -- TCU | Big 12 |
| 33. 9 -- Memphis | AAC |
| 34. 9 -- Marquette | Big East |
| 35. 9 -- San Francisco | WCC |
| 36. 9 -- San Diego State | Mountain West |
| 37. 10 -- Iowa State | Big 12 |
| 38. 10 -- Creighton | Big East |
| 39. 10 -- Miami (FL.) | ACC |
| 40. 10 -- Davidson | A10 (AQ) |
| 41. 11 -- Michigan | Big Ten |
| 42. 11 -- Loyola Chicago | MVC (AQ) |
| 43. 11 -- Indiana | Big Ten |
| 44. 11 -- Virginia Tech | ACC (AQ) |
| 45. 12 -- Notre Dame | ACC |
| 46. 12 -- Texas A&M | SEC |
| 47. 12 -- Rutgers | Big Ten |
| 48. 12 -- Wyoming | Mountain West |
| 49. 12 -- UAB | CUSA (AQ) |
| 50. 12 -- South Dakota State | Summit (AQ) |
| 51. 13 -- Chattanooga | SoCon (AQ) |
| 52. 13 -- Vermont | America East (AQ) |
| 53. 13 -- New Mexico State | WAC (AQ) |
| 54. 13 -- Princeton OR Yale | Ivy (AQ) |
| 55. 14 -- Akron | MAC (AQ) |
| 56. 14 -- Montana State | Big Sky (AQ) |
| 57. 14 -- St. Peter's | MAAC (AQ) |
| 58. 14 -- Longwood | Big South (AQ) |
| 59. 15 -- Colgate | Patriot (AQ) |
| 60. 15 -- Georgia State | Sun Belt (AQ) |
| 61. 15 -- Delaware | CAA (AQ) |
| 62. 15 -- Jacksonville State | ASUN (AQ) |
| 63. 16 -- Cal State Fullerton | Big West (AQ) |
| 64. 16 -- Norfolk State | MEAC (AQ) |
| 65. 16 -- Bryant | NEC (AQ) |
| 66. 16 -- Wright State | Horizon (AQ) |
| 67. 16 -- Texas Southern | SWAC (AQ) |
| 68. 16 -- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | Southland (AQ) |
