For those that didn’t have a Valentine the other day here’s a bracketology to cheer you up. I ended up getting 14 out of the 16 correct in the bracket reveal. I was a homer and put Wisconsin in. I also had USC in. The Trojans are never liked by the committee, but I though for sure this was the year. And to be fair, majority of the bracketologists had the Badgers in as a top-four seed.

The biggest differential were to the two teams I didn’t have in. I had Missouri 19, and it was 16. Texas Tech was 17 in my field. It was 14. From what I saw, many bracketologists missed on Oklahoma. The Sooners were a toss up with the Red Raiders for the final spot. Second was either USC or Wisconsin. The committee said the next teams in no particular order were Florida State, USC and a handful of Big Ten teams. I’m guessing the handful of Big Ten teams were Wisconsin, Purdue and maybe Rutgers.

I made my adjustments accordingly. The bracket reveal had Virginia No. 9. Bracketologists put the Cavaliers back in as a two seed. After last night’s debacle to Florida State, we’re keeping the top nine the way the committee had it. With Tennessee continuing to lose I couldn’t keep it in as a No. 3 seed. In fact, the Seminoles win on Monday night shot them in as a four seed, really dropping the Vols. I really like Missouri and its resume is good, but the Tigers keep falling down the metric line and have rattled off some losses. I still think USC deserves to be a four seed, which is why I replaced them with Missouri.

The bubble is starting to take shape. I was really considering just naming eight teams out now instead of my usual 12. Loyola-Chicago and Drake split. It helps the Badgers. Maybe it helps the Missouri Valley as well. I still have Drake as the auto-bid because of its overall record. The Bulldogs sit over just three at-large teams. The Ramblers snuck in. Maryland has to go on some sort of winning streak. Minnesota also has to win a road game. The Atlantic-10 and the Mountain West continue to dominate the bubble. I’m not sure what to do with UConn, Syracuse, Oregon and Xavier. I’m also going to probably die on Stanford’s hill this year. And LSU and Arkansas got their quality wins they need to be safely above the bubble.

Conference play is going to start coming to an end. Stay tuned for the update on tournaments. Keep holding hope they all go on without a hitch. Enjoy the ride.

As always, check us all out on the Bracket Matrix.

Pod 1

1 Gonzaga
16 Prairie View A&M/NC A&T

8 Seton Hall
9 VCU

5 Wisconsin
12 Utah State

4 Florida State
13 Colgate

6 Florida
11 St. Bonaventure/Colorado State

3 Oklahoma
14 Liberty

7 San Diego State
10 North Carolina

2 Villanova
15 UMBC

Pod 4

1 Ohio State
16 Texas State

8 Colorado
9 Clemson

5 Tennessee
12 Toledo

4 Texas Tech
13 Belmont

6 Kansas
11 Drake

3 Iowa
14 South Dakota State

7 Virginia Tech
10 Stanford

2 Alabama
15 Siena

Pod 2

1 Baylor
16 James Madison/Bryant

8 BYU
9 Arkansas

5 Purdue
12 Loyola-Chicago/Boise State

4 USC
13 UCSB

6 Creighton
11 Indiana

3 West Virginia
14 UNCG

7 OK State
10 Xavier

2 Illinois
15 Cleveland State

Pod 3

1 Michigan
16 Southern Utah

8 LSU
9 UCLA

5 Missouri
12 Western Kentucky

4 Texas
13 Winthrop

6 Rutgers
11 Oregon

3 Virginia
14 Abilene Christian

7 Louisville
10 Minnesota

2 Houston
15 Grand Canyon

Last four byes

Xavier
Stanford
Indiana
Oregon

Last four in

St. Bonaventure
Colorado State
Loyola-Chicago
Boise State

First four out

Maryland
Saint Louis
UConn
Syracuse

Next four out

SMU
Richmond
Georgia Tech
St. John’s

Four more

Memphis
Wichita State
Marshall
Providence

Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics