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Joe Lunardi updates bracket projections ahead of final weekend of regular season
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Joe Lunardi swapped Tennessee out for Florida on the top seed line in his latest bracket projections for ESPN Thursday morning.
Following the midweek round of games in the SEC — where Tennessee was upset by Ole Miss and Florida edged out Alabama on the road — ESPN’s leading bracketologist moved the Gators up to the fourth overall spot in his NCAA Tournament bracket. The Gators join Auburn, Duke, and Houston as 1-seeds in the field. Tennessee moved back to fifth overall, just ahead of Alabama as the top 2-seeds in the field.
There are 12 SEC teams in total in Lunardi’s latest projections.
Texas A&M is a 3-seed. Kentucky is a 4-seed. Georgia and Arkansas have spots among the last 4 teams to get byes into the Tournament. Oklahoma is the first team out of the field despite notching an upset win over Mizzou on Wednesday. Texas is the third team to miss the cut.
North Carolina (second team out) and Nebraska (fourth team out) comprise the rest of the “first 4 out” group in Lunardi’s bracket projections. San Diego State, Indiana, Boise State, and Xavier are all firmly on the cutline.
For now, it seems Arkansas has stabilized itself. The Razorbacks (18-12, 7-10 SEC) bounced back from a brutal loss last weekend by beating Vandy 90-77 earlier this week. They’ll close the regular season at home against Mississippi State.
Oklahoma (18-12, 5-12) closes out the regular season against Texas (17-13, 6-11) on Saturday. As things currently stand, a win for the Sooners would give them a sixth Quad 1 victory. A win for the Longhorns would be a Quad 2 victory. Texas (No. 40) ranks 10 spots higher in the NET, but it has 4 Q2 losses compared to the Sooners, who are 4-1 in such games.
Stay up to date with all the latest March Madness odds and Final Four odds ahead of Selection Sunday on March 16.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
