Mar 04, 2026
3 min read
That forecast still favors Illinois and Purdue, though they've combined to lose five of six games.
Editor's note: This article is part of a Bracket Central series on men's and women's NCAA tournament preparation, including tournament analysis and picks.
Michigan looked like the best team again until Duke played Virginia, Arizona humiliated Kansas, Florida made Arkansas look like Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and an upset at Illinois. You can't leave out a UConn team that had one of the worst second halves of basketball this century or any other outside of St. John's last week.
The top three teams on the list will be No. 1 seeds, and the No. 1 overall team is still within reach.Florida looks to be a strong contender for the fourth No. 1 seed, which is UConn again this week.The Huskies' 4-point win over the Gators in December is working.currently
While this matchup and activity around the bubble has gotten the most attention — for more on that later, see Jim Root's Bubble Watch — the No.3 line is very interesting heading into the final week of the regular season.It's always better to be No.3 than No.4 means that you don't have to face No.1 until the regional finals.This year, it's more like urgency than desire.
Sure, the number 2 seed is better, but the number 3 seed is still good. An extra round to let someone else attack one of the monsters can make a difference.And that's the new Big Ten tournament, now that Michigan has dusted everyone off to win the regular season.This week's full seeding list includes four straight Big Ten teams.
#8 overall (and last #2 seed) Nebraska: #5 wins above bubble, #16 KPI, #5 record strength, #15 BPI, #11 KenPom, #12 Torvik, #12 NET, 12-4 vs. quads 1 & 2, 10-2 road/net, no bad losses at Michigan 2, no bad three Michigan state, 2 best wins at Illinois2, Michigan.Ten teams in question.
No. 9 overall (and the first No. 3 seed) Michigan State: No. 9 Wins Above Bubble, No. 9 KPI, No. 7 Strength of Record, No. 12 BPI, No. 9 KenPom, No. 11 Torvik, No. 11 NET, 15-5 vs. Quads 1 and 2, 10-3 road/neutral, bad loss at Minnesota, best three wins at Purdue, Illinois, North Carolina (neutral), 2-1 vs. the other three Big Ten teams in question.
No. 10 overall Illinois: No. 12 Wins Above Bubble, No. 14 KPI, No. 15 Strength of Record, No. 6 BPI, No. 5 KenPom, No. 6 Torvik, No. 5 NET, 14-7 vs. Quads 1 and 2, 9-4 road/neutral, no bad losses, best three wins at Nebraska, at Purdue, Texas Tech, 2-2 vs. the other three Big Ten teams in question.
11th overall: 10th wins over the bubble, 11th KPI, 16th record power, 9th BPI, 8th Kenpom, 7th Torvick, 9th NET, 12-7 opponents 1st and 2nd, 10-3 road/neutral, no bad losses, best three wins at Nebraska, Alabama, Alabama
They still favor Illinois and Purdue despite losing five of six games.The Boilermakers have dropped three of four to help the Big Ten bubble this season with losses to rival Indiana State, UCLA and Ohio State.Illinois also suffered a heavy loss to the Bruins.
Incredibly close.No. 2 seeds Houston and Iowa State are close enough to pull through.Texas Tech, defying all the statements of misfortune associated with JT Toppin, has the last seed No. 3. Next are Kansas and Alabama, both of which have a great opportunity to advance a notch.Alabama may need to knock off Florida in the SEC tournament to gain enough momentum.
With nine teams for seven coveted spots and enough basketball before March 15th that swinging from here to there can be amazing.
|first four out |Next four out |last four in |last four at |
Auburn |Calais |Santa Clara |Texas A&M |
Eta San Diego |Virginia Tech |Nouvo Meksik |UCLA |
VCU | Seton Hall | TCU | SMU |
USC |West Virginia |Indiana |Ohio State
Top Ten |10 |10
SEC |10 |
ACC | 8 |
Mawr 12 |8 |
Big East |3 |
WCC |3 |
West Mountain |2 |
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