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 3/11/2018 @ 4:35pm ET.
Bracketology – NCAA Tournament – Bubble Teams
| Last Four In |
First Four Out |
Next Four Out |
St Mary’s CA
Oklahoma
USC
Texas |
Arizona St
Louisville
Marquette
Oklahoma St |
Syracuse
Baylor
MTSU
Notre Dame |
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Bracketology – 2018 NCAA Tournament Seeding Predictions
| Projected Seed |
Team |
Conf |
Record |
Actual Seed |
SOS (Rank) |
| 1 Seeds |
Virginia |
ACC* |
31-2 |
NCAA – 1 |
0.979 (22) |
| Villanova |
Big East* |
30-4 |
NCAA – 1 |
1.039 (11) |
| Kansas |
Big 12* |
27-7 |
NCAA – 1 |
1.212 (2) |
| Xavier |
Big East |
28-5 |
NCAA – 1 |
1.007 (17) |
| 2 Seeds |
North Carolina |
ACC |
25-10 |
NCAA – 2 |
1.331 (1) |
| Duke |
ACC |
26-7 |
NCAA – 2 |
1.000 (21) |
| Cincinnati |
AAC* |
29-4 |
NCAA – 2 |
0.390 (82) |
| Purdue |
Big Ten |
28-6 |
NCAA – 2 |
0.750 (49) |
| 3 Seeds |
Michigan St |
Big Ten |
29-4 |
NCAA – 3 |
0.605 (70) |
| Michigan |
Big Ten* |
28-7 |
NCAA – 3 |
0.680 (60) |
| Tennessee |
SEC |
25-8 |
NCAA – 3 |
1.155 (3) |
| Auburn |
SEC |
25-7 |
NCAA – 4 |
0.814 (41) |
| 4 Seeds |
West Virginia |
Big 12 |
24-10 |
NCAA – 5 |
0.957 (24) |
| Arizona |
Pac-12* |
27-7 |
NCAA – 4 |
0.741 (52) |
| Texas Tech |
Big 12 |
24-9 |
NCAA – 3 |
0.880 (37) |
| Gonzaga |
WCC* |
30-4 |
NCAA – 4 |
0.087 (119) |
| 5 Seeds |
Kentucky |
SEC* |
24-10 |
NCAA – 5 |
1.150 (4) |
| Wichita St |
AAC |
25-7 |
NCAA – 4 |
0.688 (59) |
| Clemson |
ACC |
23-9 |
NCAA – 5 |
0.956 (25) |
| Ohio St |
Big Ten |
24-8 |
NCAA – 5 |
0.806 (43) |
| 6 Seeds |
Houston |
AAC |
26-6 |
NCAA – 6 |
0.368 (87) |
| Arkansas |
SEC |
23-11 |
NCAA – 7 |
1.038 (12) |
| Florida |
SEC |
20-12 |
NCAA – 6 |
1.042 (10) |
| Miami FL |
ACC |
22-9 |
NCAA – 6 |
0.748 (50) |
| 7 Seeds |
Texas A&M |
SEC |
20-12 |
NCAA – 7 |
1.113 (8) |
| TCU |
Big 12 |
21-11 |
NCAA – 6 |
1.037 (13) |
| Nevada |
MWC |
27-7 |
NCAA – 7 |
0.439 (80) |
| Seton Hall |
Big East |
20-11 |
NCAA – 8 |
0.942 (26) |
| 8 Seeds |
Virginia Tech |
ACC |
21-11 |
NCAA – 8 |
0.669 (61) |
| Rhode Island |
A-10 |
25-7 |
NCAA – 7 |
0.371 (85) |
| Missouri |
SEC |
20-12 |
NCAA – 8 |
0.879 (38) |
| Providence |
Big East |
21-12 |
NCAA – 10 |
1.006 (18) |
| 9 Seeds |
Kansas St |
Big 12 |
22-11 |
NCAA – 9 |
0.895 (34) |
| Creighton |
Big East |
20-11 |
NCAA – 8 |
0.659 (63) |
| NC State |
ACC |
21-11 |
NCAA – 9 |
0.628 (67) |
| Butler |
Big East |
20-13 |
NCAA – 10 |
1.025 (14) |
| 10 Seeds |
Florida St |
ACC |
20-11 |
NCAA – 9 |
0.780 (46) |
| St Bonaventure |
A-10 |
25-7 |
NCAA – 11 |
0.219 (98) |
| Alabama |
SEC |
19-15 |
NCAA – 9 |
1.127 (6) |
| UCLA |
Pac-12 |
21-11 |
NCAA – 11 |
0.760 (48) |
| 11 Seeds |
Texas |
Big 12# |
19-14 |
NCAA – 10 |
1.105 (9) |
| USC |
Pac-12# |
23-11 |
NIT – 1 |
0.721 (54) |
| Oklahoma |
Big 12# |
18-13 |
NCAA – 10 |
1.135 (5) |
| St Mary’s CA |
WCC# |
28-5 |
NIT – 1 |
-0.06 (145) |
Loyola-Chicago |
MVC* |
27-5 |
NCAA – 11 |
0.045 (127) |
| San Diego St |
MWC* |
22-10 |
NCAA – 11 |
0.203 (103) |
| 12 Seeds |
New Mexico St |
WAC* |
28-5 |
NCAA – 12 |
-0.44 (246) |
| Davidson |
A-10* |
21-11 |
NCAA – 12 |
0.327 (89) |
| S Dakota St |
Summit* |
28-6 |
NCAA – 12 |
-0.37 (216) |
| Murray St |
OVC* |
26-5 |
NCAA – 12 |
-0.65 (296) |
| 13 Seeds |
Buffalo |
MAC* |
27-9 |
NCAA – 13 |
0.038 (129) |
| UNC Greensboro |
Southern* |
25-7 |
NCAA – 13 |
-0.36 (211) |
| Col Charleston |
Colonial* |
26-7 |
NCAA – 13 |
-0.44 (244) |
| Marshall |
CUSA* |
24-10 |
NCAA – 13 |
-0.24 (175) |
| 14 Seeds |
Montana |
Big Sky* |
25-7 |
NCAA – 14 |
-0.32 (198) |
| Bucknell |
Patriot* |
25-9 |
NCAA – 14 |
-0.41 (233) |
| Wright St |
Horizon* |
25-9 |
NCAA – 14 |
-0.59 (284) |
| SF Austin |
Southland* |
27-6 |
NCAA – 14 |
-0.98 (341) |
| 15 Seeds |
Georgia St |
Sun Belt* |
24-10 |
NCAA – 15 |
-0.52 (271) |
| Lipscomb |
ASUN* |
23-9 |
NCAA – 15 |
-0.64 (294) |
| Iona |
MAAC* |
20-13 |
NCAA – 15 |
-0.22 (173) |
| Penn |
Ivy* |
23-8 |
NCAA – 16 |
-0.54 (277) |
| 16 Seeds |
CS Fullerton |
Big West* |
20-11 |
NCAA – 15 |
-0.29 (189) |
| UMBC |
AEC* |
23-10 |
NCAA – 16 |
-0.75 (317) |
| Radford |
Big South*# |
22-12 |
NCAA – 16 |
-0.53 (276) |
| Long Island |
NEC*# |
17-16 |
NCAA – 16 |
-0.78 (324) |
TX Southern |
SWAC*# |
15-19 |
NCAA – 16 |
-0.46 (255) |
| NC Central |
MEAC*# |
18-15 |
NCAA – 16 |
-1.32 (351) |
There are currently three teams that are ineligible for the 2018 tournament due to APR. These teams are Alabama A&M, Grambling and SE Missouri St.
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Bracketology – 2018 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 |
Actual Seed |
SOS (Rank) |
| 1 Seeds |
Arizona St |
Pac-12 |
20-11 |
NCAA – 11 |
0.701 (57) |
| Louisville |
ACC |
20-13 |
NIT – 2 |
0.934 (27) |
| Marquette |
Big East |
19-13 |
NIT – 2 |
1.001 (20) |
| Oklahoma St |
Big 12 |
19-14 |
NIT – 2 |
0.923 (30) |
| 2 Seeds |
Syracuse |
ACC |
20-13 |
NCAA – 11 |
0.906 (33) |
| Baylor |
Big 12 |
18-14 |
NIT – 1 |
0.887 (35) |
| MTSU |
CUSA* |
24-7 |
NIT – 3 |
0.106 (112) |
| Notre Dame |
ACC |
20-14 |
NIT – 1 |
0.795 (44) |
| 3 Seeds |
Penn St |
Big Ten |
21-13 |
NIT – 4 |
0.644 (65) |
| Nebraska |
Big Ten |
22-10 |
NIT – 5 |
0.616 (69) |
| Mississippi St |
SEC |
22-11 |
NIT – 4 |
0.486 (76) |
| LSU |
SEC |
17-14 |
NIT – 3 |
0.882 (36) |
| 4 Seeds |
Boise St |
MWC |
22-8 |
NIT – 4 |
0.237 (96) |
| Utah |
Pac-12 |
19-11 |
NIT – 2 |
0.641 (66) |
| WKU |
CUSA |
23-10 |
NIT – 4 |
0.207 (102) |
| Oregon |
Pac-12 |
22-12 |
NIT – 3 |
0.481 (78) |
| 5 Seeds |
Maryland |
Big Ten |
18-13 |
Out |
0.741 (51) |
| Washington |
Pac-12 |
20-12 |
NIT – 5 |
0.602 (71) |
| Boston College |
ACC |
19-15 |
NIT – 5 |
0.715 (55) |
| BYU |
WCC |
24-10 |
NIT – 6 |
0.100 (114) |
| 6 Seeds |
Old Dominion |
CUSA |
25-7 |
Out |
-0.19 (166) |
| ULL |
Sun Belt* |
27-6 |
NIT – 6 |
-0.46 (256) |
| Vermont |
AEC* |
27-7 |
NIT – 6 |
-0.46 (254) |
| UC Davis |
Big West* |
22-10 |
NIT – 7 |
-0.30 (193) |
| 7 Seeds |
Rider |
MAAC* |
22-9 |
NIT – 6 |
-0.22 (172) |
| N Kentucky |
Horizon* |
19-9 |
NIT – 7 |
-0.53 (274) |
| FL Gulf Coast |
ASUN* |
22-11 |
NIT – 7 |
-0.75 (316) |
| Harvard |
Ivy* |
18-13 |
NIT – 7 |
-0.25 (177) |
| 8 Seeds |
Wagner |
NEC* |
23-9 |
NIT – 8 |
-0.90 (337) |
| SE Louisiana |
Southland* |
22-11 |
NIT – 8 |
-0.84 (330) |
| UNC Asheville |
Big South* |
20-12 |
NIT – 8 |
-0.39 (227) |
| Hampton |
MEAC* |
18-15 |
NIT – 8 |
-1.04 (343) |
