It didn't take long for there to be some new teams in the top 16 of the bracket, replacing some from the bracket the NCAA Tournament selection committee gave us last Saturday.
Indiana and Xavier were No. 4 seeds in the eyes of the committee last week, but each of them lost this week and dropped down to the No. 5 line. They were replaced by UConn and Miami. In fact, the Huskies are now the last of the No. 3 seeds. They were able to take advantage of losses by Tennessee and Virginia as well. Each of those teams dropped to the No. 4 line, while Gonzaga also moved up to a No. 3.
The top line is still the same: Alabama, Houston, Purdue and Kansas. The Boilermakers have the biggest challenge of the four this weekend when Indiana visits on Saturday. The loss to the Hoosiers on Feb. 4 started Purdue's current rough stretch of play.
The only change to the No. 2 seeds has Kansas State replacing Baylor. The Wildcats completed a season sweep of the Bears on Tuesday with a 75-65 win in Manhattan, Kansas.
Bracketology top seeds
Check out Palm's latest bracket, full field of 68 and all the teams on the bubble on the Bracketology hub.
Texas A&M is the biggest riser this week after the Aggies beat Tennessee on Tuesday. They moved up two seed lines from No. 10 to No. 8. The Aggies did a lot of damage to its tournament resume in nonconference play, but has done well in SEC play. A favorable schedule has helped. Texas A&M, a No. 8 seed for now and still on the bubble, only gets Alabama and Tennessee once each and both games are at home.
Nick Smith Jr. is back and rounding into form for Arkansas. The Razorbacks star missed 19 games with an injury. He is coming off a 26-point effort against Georgia last time out. We'll have to see if Arkansas, a No. 9 seed for now but still on the bubble, can finish the season on a roll.
The committee usually puts a little more weight on how a team performs with the roster it is taking into the tournament vs. otherwise, however all the results count. The committee does not pretend a team would have won a game if it was at full strength, nor does it pretend the game didn't happen.
The next bracket update will be Monday, the day that conference tournaments begin. The bracket will get updated daily if needed from Monday all the way through Selection Sunday on March 12.
