Welcome to our Bracketology page! Here we plan to prep you for everything that will take place during March Madness! To come up with our bracketology predictions, we use a combination of variables including our own NCAA college basketball ratings, RPI, strength of schedule (SOS), and few other factors to come up with the Bracket Rating. As is customary with the NCAA tournament, we also include the automatic qualifiers which are the champions from the conference tournaments. If the conference champion hasn’t yet been determined, then the highest rated team is predicted to be the champion. All of the factors that we use are key indicators that are very good predictors of which teams will make the final tournament.
Note that below there are 68 teams that make the NCAA tournament, and the winners of each conference are automatically included in the tournament. Because there are four play-in games, there are 2 seed groups that will have more than 4 teams.
Early in the season (pre-January) a lot of the teams may appear to have some strange seedings. Before teams get into conference play, there is a lot of projection that needs to be done to seed the teams. As we get into January and February, the projections are slowly worked out of the equation and only actual results are used.
* denotes that the team gets an automatic bid due to winning their conference.
# denotes first round play-in game
Updated on 12/10/2018.
Bracketology – NCAA Tournament – Bubble Teams
| Last Four In |
First Four Out |
Next Four Out |
Utah St
Clemson
Oregon
LSU |
Mississippi
Seton Hall
Xavier
West Virginia |
NC State
San Francisco
Arkansas
Iowa |
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Bracketology – 2019 NCAA Tournament Seeding Predictions
| Projected Seed |
Team |
Conf |
Record |
Bracket Rating |
SOS (Rank) |
| 1 Seeds |
Kansas |
Big 12* |
8-0 |
15.12 |
1.557 (1) |
| Duke |
ACC* |
9-1 |
13.32 |
0.592 (31) |
| Michigan |
Big Ten* |
10-0 |
13.16 |
0.460 (47) |
| Gonzaga |
WCC* |
9-1 |
12.88 |
1.127 (5) |
| 2 Seeds |
Michigan St |
Big Ten |
8-2 |
11.21 |
0.874 (14) |
| Tennessee |
SEC* |
7-1 |
11.20 |
0.501 (41) |
| Wisconsin |
Big Ten |
8-2 |
10.92 |
1.057 (8) |
| Nevada |
MWC* |
10-0 |
10.85 |
0.430 (50) |
| 3 Seeds |
Virginia |
ACC |
9-0 |
10.20 |
-0.35 (168) |
| Florida St |
ACC |
8-1 |
9.228 |
0.627 (29) |
| Villanova |
Big East* |
8-2 |
9.179 |
0.406 (53) |
| North Carolina |
ACC |
7-2 |
9.079 |
0.436 (49) |
| 4 Seeds |
Auburn |
SEC |
8-1 |
8.966 |
-0.11 (129) |
| Ohio St |
Big Ten |
8-1 |
8.956 |
0.082 (97) |
| Indiana |
Big Ten |
8-2 |
8.944 |
0.666 (26) |
| Texas Tech |
Big 12 |
8-0 |
8.831 |
-0.39 (181) |
| 5 Seeds |
Oklahoma |
Big 12 |
8-1 |
8.577 |
1.110 (6) |
| Purdue |
Big Ten |
6-4 |
8.027 |
1.181 (3) |
| Virginia Tech |
ACC |
8-1 |
7.904 |
-0.17 (141) |
| Marquette |
Big East |
8-2 |
7.653 |
0.569 (34) |
| 6 Seeds |
Louisville |
ACC |
6-3 |
7.575 |
0.958 (11) |
| Nebraska |
Big Ten |
8-2 |
7.375 |
0.324 (58) |
| Syracuse |
ACC |
7-2 |
7.266 |
0.317 (60) |
| Arizona |
Pac-12* |
7-3 |
7.178 |
0.854 (16) |
| 7 Seeds |
Cincinnati |
AAC* |
9-1 |
7.177 |
-0.09 (128) |
| Arizona St |
Pac-12 |
7-1 |
7.142 |
0.174 (81) |
| Kentucky |
SEC |
7-2 |
7.043 |
-0.27 (159) |
| Mississippi St |
SEC |
8-1 |
7.029 |
-0.18 (142) |
| 8 Seeds |
Buffalo |
MAC* |
9-0 |
6.943 |
-0.41 (184) |
| Maryland |
Big Ten |
8-2 |
6.795 |
0.125 (90) |
| Texas |
Big 12 |
6-3 |
6.687 |
0.889 (13) |
| Butler |
Big East |
7-2 |
6.471 |
0.280 (67) |
| 9 Seeds |
Kansas St |
Big 12 |
6-2 |
6.339 |
0.077 (99) |
| Florida |
SEC |
5-4 |
6.330 |
0.930 (12) |
| Creighton |
Big East |
6-3 |
6.192 |
1.078 (7) |
| Washington |
Pac-12 |
7-3 |
6.175 |
0.815 (20) |
| 10 Seeds |
Minnesota |
Big Ten |
8-2 |
6.145 |
0.582 (33) |
| Iowa St |
Big 12 |
8-2 |
6.098 |
-0.17 (140) |
| TCU |
Big 12 |
7-1 |
6.022 |
-0.15 (136) |
| Houston |
AAC |
8-0 |
6.005 |
-0.81 (270) |
| 11 Seeds |
St John’s |
Big East |
9-0 |
5.790 |
-0.75 (255) |
| UCLA |
Pac-12 |
7-2 |
5.748 |
-0.07 (122) |
| LSU |
SEC# |
7-2 |
5.658 |
0.093 (95) |
| Oregon |
Pac-12# |
5-3 |
5.526 |
0.238 (74) |
Clemson |
ACC# |
6-3 |
5.278 |
0.225 (76) |
| Utah St |
MWC# |
8-2 |
5.220 |
0.110 (92) |
| 12 Seeds |
Davidson |
A-10* |
8-1 |
4.813 |
-0.08 (124) |
| Belmont |
OVC* |
7-1 |
4.333 |
-0.36 (171) |
| Lipscomb |
ASUN* |
7-2 |
4.317 |
-0.37 (174) |
| New Mexico St |
WAC* |
7-2 |
4.227 |
-0.18 (144) |
| 13 Seeds |
Wofford |
Southern* |
8-3 |
3.887 |
-0.64 (236) |
| UC Irvine |
Big West* |
9-2 |
3.816 |
-0.19 (147) |
| S Illinois |
MVC* |
7-3 |
3.709 |
0.175 (80) |
| Georgia St |
Sun Belt* |
6-3 |
3.635 |
0.693 (23) |
| 14 Seeds |
Liberty |
Big South* |
7-2 |
3.421 |
-1.05 (313) |
| Yale |
Ivy* |
4-3 |
3.264 |
0.793 (21) |
| N Colorado |
Big Sky* |
5-1 |
3.091 |
-0.64 (237) |
| Col Charleston |
Colonial* |
8-2 |
2.980 |
-0.69 (246) |
| 15 Seeds |
Vermont |
AEC* |
7-3 |
2.871 |
0.030 (108) |
| WKU |
CUSA* |
5-4 |
2.597 |
0.372 (56) |
| N Kentucky |
Horizon* |
8-3 |
2.119 |
-1.06 (315) |
| Holy Cross |
Patriot* |
6-4 |
1.906 |
0.286 (66) |
| 16 Seeds |
S Dakota St |
Summit* |
8-3 |
1.756 |
-1.20 (329) |
| Abilene Chr |
Southland* |
9-1 |
1.673 |
-1.78 (352) |
| Howard |
MEAC*# |
5-3 |
-1.57 |
-0.93 (291) |
| St Francis NY |
NEC*# |
5-4 |
-2.14 |
-1.02 (309) |
TX Southern |
SWAC*# |
4-6 |
-2.72 |
0.710 (22) |
| Rider |
MAAC*# |
2-3 |
-3.01 |
-0.02 (116) |
There is currently one team that is ineligible for the 2019 tournament due to APR. That team is Alabama A&M.
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Bracketology – 2019 NIT Tournament Bracket Predictions
For the hardcore college basketball fan, we have now introduced bracketology for the NIT tournament (otherwise known as NITology). The NIT takes the next 32 best teams that did not make the NCAA tournament.
All regular season champions that did not win their conference tournament automatically qualify for the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). It is important to note that early predictions will be flawed because of this rule. Typically, there are about seven to nine teams that win their conference in the regular season but don’t win their conference tournament and end up in the NIT. So, in early predictions, if your team is a seven or eight seed, then it is likely they won’t make the tournament because of these auto qualifiers.
* denotes that the team gets an automatic bid due to winning their conference in the regular season.
| Seed |
Team |
Conf |
Record |
Bracket Rating |
SOS (Rank) |
| 1 Seeds |
Mississippi |
SEC |
6-2 |
5.220 |
0.413 (52) |
| Seton Hall |
Big East |
6-3 |
5.173 |
0.462 (45) |
| Xavier |
Big East |
6-4 |
5.087 |
0.819 (18) |
| West Virginia |
Big 12 |
6-3 |
4.983 |
-0.05 (119) |
| 2 Seeds |
NC State |
ACC |
8-1 |
4.876 |
-1.32 (338) |
| San Francisco |
WCC |
8-1 |
4.816 |
-0.70 (248) |
| Arkansas |
SEC |
6-2 |
4.809 |
-0.12 (131) |
| Iowa |
Big Ten |
7-2 |
4.771 |
0.615 (30) |
| 3 Seeds |
UCF |
AAC |
7-2 |
4.766 |
0.047 (103) |
| Notre Dame |
ACC |
6-3 |
4.580 |
0.162 (85) |
| VA Commonwealth |
A-10 |
7-3 |
4.548 |
0.534 (39) |
| Colorado |
Pac-12 |
7-1 |
4.455 |
-0.47 (193) |
| 4 Seeds |
Temple |
AAC |
7-2 |
4.448 |
0.135 (87) |
| Vanderbilt |
SEC |
6-2 |
4.396 |
-0.38 (178) |
| Alabama |
SEC |
6-3 |
4.375 |
0.453 (48) |
| Oregon St |
Pac-12 |
6-2 |
4.288 |
0.036 (107) |
| 5 Seeds |
St Louis |
A-10 |
7-2 |
4.183 |
-0.11 (130) |
| Georgetown |
Big East |
7-2 |
4.114 |
-0.02 (117) |
| Fresno St |
MWC |
7-2 |
4.098 |
-0.32 (166) |
| San Diego |
WCC |
8-2 |
4.094 |
-0.38 (177) |
| 6 Seeds |
St Mary’s CA |
WCC |
6-4 |
3.870 |
0.272 (69) |
| Penn St |
Big Ten |
5-4 |
3.867 |
0.860 (15) |
| BYU |
WCC |
7-3 |
3.858 |
-0.43 (188) |
| Dayton |
A-10 |
5-4 |
3.845 |
0.380 (54) |
| 7 Seeds |
Providence |
Big East |
7-3 |
3.832 |
0.169 (84) |
| Toledo |
MAC |
9-1 |
3.826 |
-0.82 (272) |
| Georgia Tech |
ACC |
5-3 |
3.810 |
0.237 (75) |
| UNC Greensboro |
Southern |
8-2 |
3.713 |
-0.65 (238) |
| 8 Seeds |
Miami FL |
ACC |
5-4 |
3.712 |
0.073 (100) |
| Connecticut |
AAC |
7-3 |
3.694 |
-0.29 (163) |
| Loy Marymount |
WCC |
9-1 |
3.661 |
-0.83 (273) |
| Furman |
Southern |
10-0 |
3.608 |
-1.55 (346) |
