NCAA.com’s Andy Katz has made his first NCAA men’s basketball event predictions of 2023.
You can watch Andy run by them within the video above. We’re additionally breaking them down right here.
First, this is the bracket in desk kind (scroll to the correct to view the complete bracket). These are based mostly on video games by Sunday, Jan. 8.
2023 March Madness men’s bracket predictions
| SEED | MIDWEST | WEST | SOUTH | EAST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston | Alabama | Kansas | Purdue |
| 16 | Southern/FDU | Eastern Washington | Norfolk State | TAMU-CC/Samford |
| 8 | Clemson | Saint Mary’s | Illinois | Baylor |
| 9 | Indiana | Maryland | Mississippi State | Northwestern |
| 5 | TCU | Providence | North Carolina | Ohio State |
| 12 | Creighton/Utah | Southern Miss. | Dayton | Kent State |
| 4 | Arkansas | Miami (Fla.) | Xavier | Virginia |
| 13 | Oral Roberts | Utah Valley | UCSB | Indiana State |
| 6 | Michigan State | Marquette | Wisconsin | duke |
| 11 | Memphis | Arizona State | NC State/West Virginia | Florida Atlantic |
| 3 | Kansas State | Texas | Gonzaga | Iowa State |
| 14 | Sienna | Longwood | Vermont | Princeton |
| 7 | Auburn | Missouri | San Diego State | Rutgers |
| 10 | Charleston | New Mexico | Pitt | Kentucky |
| 2 | UCLA | Arizona | Tennessee | UConn |
| 15 | American | Stetson | SIU Edwardsville | Milwaukee |
Let’s take a better have a look at Katz’s predictions:
Top seeds within the NCAA bracket
The No. 1 seeds in these newest bracket predictions, so as of general seeding, included Houston, Kansas, Purdue and Alabama Of the 4, Houston and Purdue are the one two to have ranked No. 1 within the AP ballot this season with the Cougars at the moment holding the highest spot after Purdue’s undefeated season got here to an finish with a loss to Rutgers final week. Each of the highest groups, with the exception of Alabama, has just one loss this season.
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Guard Marcus Sasser has been electrical for Houston this season averaging 15.8 factors per sport and main his group to a 16-1 file. With a slew of unranked opponents on the horizon, there are not any indicators of the Cougars slowing down.
Kansas, ranked second on this week’s AP ballot, continues to be a powerful pressure within the Big 12. The Jayhawks and ahead Jalen Wilson, who leads his group in each scoring and rebounds averaging 20.2 factors and eight.8 boards, headlined this week’s Power 36 rankings. The group faces a tricky January, nonetheless, as back-to-back conferences in opposition to Iowa State, Kansas State and TCU will present what this squad is de facto made of.
Purdue leads a powerhouse Big Ten convention. After a heartbreaking loss to Rutgers, the Boilermakers adopted the defeat with a slender victory in opposition to then-24-ranked Ohio State and unranked Penn State. Furthermore, heart Zach Edey has cemented himself within the Player of the Year dialog averaging a double-double this season (21.9 factors and 13.2 rebounds.)
The Tide retains rollin’. Alabama has put collectively a formidable resume this 12 months with wins in opposition to Michigan State, North Carolina, and Mississippi State and is the one group within the nation to have bested Houston.
Number of bids by convention
*These are conferences with a number of groups in Katz’s bracket predictions
| CONFERENCE | TOTAL TEAMS | TEAMS |
|---|---|---|
| Big Ten | 9 | Purdue, Ohio State, Michigan State, Rutgers, Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, Maryland, Wisconsin |
| acc | 7 | Virginia, Miami (Fla.), North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Pitt NC State |
| Big 12 | 7 | Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, TCU, Texas, West Virginia, Baylor |
| SEC | 7 | Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Auburn, Missouri, Mississippi State, Kentucky |
| Big East | 5 | UConn, Xavier, Providence, Marquette, Creighton |
| Pac-12 | 4 | Arizona, UCLA, Arizona State, Utah |
| AAC | 2 | Houston, Memphis |
| Mountain West | 2 | San Diego State, New Mexico |
| WCC | 2 | Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, |
The Big Ten leads the best way with probably the most projected bids for this 12 months’s event, whereas a three-way tie for the second most bids between the Big 12, acc and SEC show that a number of conferences shall be robust competitors on the best way to the final word prize.
RELATED: Andy Katz’s 2023 March Madness men’s bracket predictions one month into the season
Although the Big 12 is tied for second-most bids, this convention will be the strongest, taking one of the projected No. 1 seeds and three of the projected No. 3 seeds
The ACC, SEC, Big East and Pac-12 function a plethora of applications which might be no stranger to the Big Dance.
New Mexico rounds out the Mountain West and was the final undefeated group DI men’s basketball earlier than shedding two straight in opposition to Fresno State and UNLV.
Teams on the surface trying in
First 4 out:
- Wake Forest
- LSU
- Southern California
- Utah State
Since beginning 9-0, Utah State has gone 4-3 with its most up-to-date sport leading to an 82-59 beat-down in opposition to Boise State. Southern California started this season with a loss in opposition to FGCU and has struggled to search out footing in a aggressive Pac-12, whereas Wake Forest’s The 11-5 season has quietly landed this system at 4th within the ACC. None of these groups had been featured on this week’s Power 36 with LSU dropping out after being featured on the twenty first spot final week. The Tigers slipped to eighth within the SEC after consecutive losses to Kentucky and Texas A&M.
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Andy Katz’s subject of 68
Here is Katz’s full seed checklist so as, from one by 68:
| Rank | SEED — Team | Conference |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 — Houston | AAC |
| 2 | 1 — Kansas | Big 12 |
| 3 | 1 — Purdue | Big Ten |
| 4 | 1 — Alabama | SEC |
| 5 | 2 — Arizona | Pac-12 |
| 6 | 2 — Tennessee | SEC |
| 7 | 2 — UConn | Big East |
| 8 | 2 — UCLA | Pac-12 |
| 9 | 3 — Gonzaga | WCC |
| 10 | 3 — Kansas State | Big 12 |
| 11 | 3 — Texas | Big 12 |
| 12 | 3 — Iowa State | Big 12 |
| 13 | 4 — Xavier | Big East |
| 14 | 4 — Virginia | acc |
| 15 | 4 — Miami (Fla.) | acc |
| 16 | 4 — Arkansas | SEC |
| 17 | 5 — TCU | Big 12 |
| 18 | 5 — North Carolina | acc |
| 19 | 5 — Ohio State | Big Ten |
| 20 | 5 — Providence | Big East |
| 21 | 6 — Duke | acc |
| 22 | 6 — Michigan State | Big Ten |
| 23 | 6 — Wisconsin | Big Ten |
| 24 | 6 — Marquette | Big East |
| 25 | 7 — Rutgers | Big Ten |
| 26 | 7 — San Diego State | MWC |
| 27 | 7 — Auburn | SEC |
| 28 | 7 — Missouri | SEC |
| 29 | 8 — Saint Mary’s | WCC |
| 30 | 8 — Baylor | Big 12 |
| 31 | 8 — Clemson | acc |
| 32 | 8 — Illinois | Big Ten |
| 33 | 9 — Indiana | Big Ten |
| 34 | 9 — Northwestern | Big Ten |
| 35 | 9 — Mississippi State | SEC |
| 36 | 9 — Maryland | Big Ten |
| 37 | 10 — Kentucky | SEC |
| 38 | 10 — New Mexico | MWC |
| 39 | 10 — Pitt | acc |
| 40 | 10 — College of Charleston | CAA |
| 41 | 11 — Florida Atlantic | CUSA |
| 42 | 11 — Arizona State | Pac-12 |
| 43 | 11 — Memphis | AAC |
| 44 | 11 — NC State | acc |
| 45 | 11 — West Virginia | Big 12 |
| 46 | 11 — Creighton | Big East |
| 47 | 12 — Utah | Pac-12 |
| 48 | 12 — Dayton | A10 |
| 49 | 12– Kent State | MAC |
| 50 | 12 — Southern Miss | Sun Belt |
| 51 | 13 — Oral Roberts |Summit |
| 52 | 13 — Utah Valley | WAC |
| 53 | 13 — UC Santa Barbara | Big West |
| 54 | 13 — Indiana State | MVC |
| 55 | 14 — Princeton | ivy |
| 56 | 14 — Siena | MAAC |
| 57 | 14 –Vermont | America East |
| 58 | 14 — Longwood | Big South |
| 59 | 15 — SIU Edwardsville | OVC |
| 60 | 15 — Milwaukee|Horizon |
| 61 | 15 — American | Patriot |
| 62 | 15 — Stetson | ASUN |
| 63 | 16 — Eastern Washington | Big Sky |
| 64 | 16 — Norfolk State | MEAC |
| 65 | 16 — Texas AM CC | Southland |
| 66 | 16 — Samford | Southern |
| 67 | 16 — Southern | SWAC |
| 68 | 16 — FDU | NEC |