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 1/14/2020 @ 10:00am ET.
Bracketology – NCAA Tournament – Bubble Teams
Last Four In |
First Four Out |
Next Four Out |
Seton Hall
BYU
Syracuse
Richmond |
Boise St
SMU
St Bonaventure
VCU |
Wichita St
St Mary’s CA
Utah St
Georgia Tech |
The team listed at the top of the “Last Four In” is the most vulnerable to miss the tournament.
Bracketology – 2021 NCAA Tournament Seeding Predictions
Projected Seed |
Team |
Conf |
Record |
Bracket Rating |
SOS (Rank) |
1 Seeds |
Gonzaga |
WCC* |
12-0 |
10.95 |
0.281 (132) |
Michigan |
B10* |
11-0 |
10.21 |
1.119 (30) |
Baylor |
B12* |
11-0 |
10.16 |
-0.12 (220) |
Villanova |
BE* |
8-1 |
9.098 |
0.900 (55) |
2 Seeds |
Iowa |
B10 |
11-2 |
9.008 |
1.008 (44) |
Texas |
B12 |
10-2 |
8.957 |
1.457 (8) |
Kansas |
B12 |
9-3 |
8.426 |
1.680 (3) |
Tennessee |
SEC* |
9-1 |
8.188 |
0.690 (74) |
3 Seeds |
Houston |
AAC* |
10-1 |
7.949 |
0.773 (65) |
Wisconsin |
B10 |
10-3 |
7.895 |
1.126 (28) |
Creighton |
BE |
10-2 |
7.667 |
0.899 (56) |
Illinois |
B10 |
9-4 |
7.637 |
1.237 (23) |
4 Seeds |
West Virginia |
B12 |
9-4 |
7.615 |
1.526 (5) |
Clemson |
ACC* |
9-1 |
7.361 |
0.944 (49) |
Texas Tech |
B12 |
11-3 |
6.911 |
0.242 (137) |
Louisville |
ACC |
9-1 |
6.817 |
1.033 (41) |
5 Seeds |
Alabama |
SEC |
10-3 |
6.507 |
1.233 (24) |
Oregon |
P12* |
9-2 |
6.337 |
0.628 (79) |
UCLA |
P12 |
9-2 |
6.305 |
0.925 (53) |
Colorado |
P12 |
9-3 |
6.305 |
0.765 (66) |
6 Seeds |
Florida St |
ACC |
6-2 |
6.286 |
0.999 (45) |
Connecticut |
BE |
7-1 |
6.279 |
0.727 (70) |
Ohio St |
B10 |
10-3 |
6.250 |
0.915 (54) |
Virginia |
ACC |
8-2 |
6.224 |
0.389 (106) |
7 Seeds |
Virginia Tech |
ACC |
10-2 |
6.215 |
0.700 (71) |
LSU |
SEC |
9-2 |
6.196 |
0.551 (84) |
USC |
P12 |
9-2 |
6.095 |
0.776 (63) |
Minnesota |
B10 |
10-4 |
5.891 |
1.446 (10) |
8 Seeds |
San Diego St |
MWC* |
8-2 |
5.852 |
1.011 (43) |
North Carolina |
ACC |
8-4 |
5.814 |
1.100 (33) |
Indiana |
B10 |
8-5 |
5.721 |
1.304 (18) |
Missouri |
SEC |
7-2 |
5.668 |
1.488 (7) |
9 Seeds |
Oklahoma St |
B12 |
9-3 |
5.624 |
1.121 (29) |
Xavier |
BE |
10-2 |
5.388 |
0.931 (51) |
Stanford |
P12 |
8-3 |
5.296 |
0.774 (64) |
Oklahoma |
B12 |
7-4 |
5.290 |
1.087 (35) |
10 Seeds |
St Louis |
A10* |
7-1 |
5.278 |
-0.11 (219) |
Rutgers |
B10 |
7-4 |
5.119 |
1.453 (9) |
Michigan St |
B10 |
8-4 |
5.093 |
0.646 (76) |
Arkansas |
SEC |
9-3 |
5.075 |
0.180 (143) |
11 Seeds |
Florida |
SEC |
6-3 |
5.060 |
0.966 (47) |
Purdue |
B10 |
8-5 |
5.054 |
1.267 (21) |
Duke |
ACC |
5-3 |
4.730 |
0.619 (80) |
Richmond |
A10# |
9-3 |
4.676 |
0.745 (67) |
Syracuse |
ACC# |
7-3 |
4.542 |
0.546 (86) |
12 Seeds |
BYU |
WCC# |
8-3 |
4.420 |
0.778 (62) |
Seton Hall |
BE# |
9-5 |
4.326 |
1.200 (26) |
Drake |
MVC* |
11-0 |
3.744 |
-0.61 (312) |
WKU |
CUSA* |
9-4 |
2.887 |
0.422 (102) |
Toledo |
MAC* |
11-3 |
2.635 |
-0.02 (194) |
13 Seeds |
Furman |
SC* |
6-3 |
2.370 |
0.089 (162) |
S Dakota St |
SL* |
7-3 |
2.183 |
-0.04 (198) |
Winthrop |
BSo* |
11-0 |
2.115 |
-0.98 (338) |
Belmont |
OVC* |
11-1 |
1.855 |
-1.09 (342) |
14 Seeds |
Georgia St |
SBC* |
5-2 |
1.783 |
0.497 (92) |
Abilene Chr |
SLC* |
6-2 |
1.668 |
-0.35 (263) |
Wright St |
HL* |
8-3 |
1.546 |
-0.68 (321) |
Colgate |
PL* |
3-1 |
1.520 |
0.162 (148) |
15 Seeds |
Liberty |
ASC* |
8-4 |
1.357 |
-0.34 (259) |
Siena |
MAAC* |
4-0 |
1.309 |
-0.47 (287) |
UC Santa Barbara |
BWC* |
4-3 |
-0.16 |
0.103 (160) |
Vermont |
AEC* |
5-3 |
-0.46 |
-1.22 (346) |
16 Seeds |
Bryant |
NEC* |
8-2 |
-0.52 |
-0.28 (250) |
Southern Utah |
BSC* |
6-1 |
-0.77 |
-1.33 (352) |
Grand Canyon |
WAC*# |
4-3 |
-1.20 |
-0.50 (296) |
Drexel |
CAA*# |
5-4 |
-2.04 |
-0.62 (313) |
Morgan St |
MEAC*# |
4-2 |
-4.06 |
-0.57 (307) |
TX Southern |
SWAC*# |
1-6 |
-7.12 |
1.018 (42) |
There are currently nine teams that are ineligible for the 2021 tournament due to various reasons. Alabama, Arizona, Dixie State, California Baptist, Georgia Tech, Merrimack, Tarleton State, UC San Diego and North Alabama. Also note that the Ivy League canceled their season. This means that there is one extra at-large bid available
Bracketology – 2021 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 |
Boise St |
MWC |
11-1 |
4.137 |
-0.31 (257) |
SMU |
AAC |
7-2 |
3.988 |
0.037 (172) |
St Bonaventure |
A10 |
5-1 |
3.846 |
0.162 (146) |
VCU |
A10 |
10-3 |
3.795 |
0.272 (135) |
2 Seeds |
Wichita St |
AAC |
6-3 |
3.498 |
1.442 (11) |
St Mary’s CA |
WCC |
9-3 |
3.349 |
0.168 (144) |
Utah St |
MWC |
8-3 |
3.180 |
-0.43 (279) |
Georgia Tech |
ACC |
6-3 |
3.102 |
0.295 (130) |
3 Seeds |
Loyola-Chicago |
MVC |
6-3 |
3.069 |
-0.19 (231) |
South Carolina |
SEC |
3-2 |
3.046 |
1.100 (34) |
Pittsburgh |
ACC |
6-2 |
2.942 |
0.368 (113) |
NC State |
ACC |
6-4 |
2.863 |
0.388 (108) |
4 Seeds |
TCU |
B12 |
9-5 |
2.801 |
0.863 (59) |
Dayton |
A10 |
7-3 |
2.782 |
0.318 (127) |
Colorado St |
MWC |
6-2 |
2.781 |
0.337 (119) |
Memphis |
AAC |
6-4 |
2.721 |
-0.09 (213) |
5 Seeds |
Marshall |
CUSA |
7-2 |
2.687 |
-0.16 (228) |
Tulsa |
AAC |
6-4 |
2.072 |
0.939 (50) |
Davidson |
A10 |
7-5 |
1.986 |
0.473 (96) |
Maryland |
B10 |
7-6 |
1.942 |
1.666 (4) |
6 Seeds |
Texas A&M |
SEC |
7-4 |
1.789 |
0.398 (105) |
Mississippi St |
SEC |
8-5 |
1.658 |
0.143 (154) |
UAB |
CUSA |
8-1 |
1.646 |
-1.18 (345) |
Washington St |
P12 |
9-2 |
1.597 |
-0.47 (288) |
7 Seeds |
Marquette |
BE |
7-6 |
1.513 |
1.332 (17) |
San Francisco |
WCC |
8-6 |
1.451 |
0.332 (122) |
Santa Clara |
WCC |
5-1 |
1.385 |
-0.15 (227) |
Louisiana Tech |
CUSA |
9-4 |
1.283 |
-0.39 (267) |
8 Seeds |
Missouri St |
MVC |
7-1 |
1.227 |
-0.52 (298) |
Georgia |
SEC |
6-4 |
1.168 |
0.478 (94) |
Bowling Green |
MAC |
8-3 |
0.878 |
-0.24 (246) |
Loy Marymount |
WCC |
6-3 |
0.795 |
0.500 (91) |