It may be only December, but it's never too early to try to project the 68-team field for the March Madness men's tournament.
NCAA.com correspondent Andy Katz has put together his first in-season bracket predictions for the 2023 NCAA men's basketball tournament. Here's how he projects things to shake out, through games played on Wednesday, Dec. 7.
First, here's the bracket in table form (scroll to the right to view the full bracket).
2023 March Madness men's bracket predictions
SEED | MIDWEST | WEST | SOUTH | EAST |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Houston | Virginia | Purdue | UConn |
16 | Northwestern State | High Point/Sacred Heart | Norfolk State/Grambling | UMass Lowell |
8 | Ohio State | Kansas State | Xavier | Miami (Fla.) |
9 | Southern California | Rutgers | Virginia Tech | UNLV |
5 | Iowa State | Kentucky | UCLA | TCU |
12 | Kent State | Charleston | UAB | Iona |
4 | Arkansas | Baylor | Gonzaga | Illinois |
13 | Murray State | Florida Gulf Coast | Cleveland State | Portland State |
6 | Creighton | Mississippi State | Wisconsin | Arizona State |
11 | Missouri | UMass | Butler/New Mexico | LSU/Iowa |
3 | Indiana | Arizona | Alabama | Duke |
14 | Chattanooga | Seattle | Cornell | Southern Miss |
7 | San Diego State | North Carolina | Auburn | Michigan State |
10 | Marquette | Texas Tech | Michigan | Utah |
2 | Kansas | Maryland | Texas | Tennessee |
15 | UC Santa Barbara | American | Denver | SIU Edwardsville |
Let's take a closer look at Katz's predictions:
Top seeds in the NCAA bracket
The No. 1 seeds in Andy Katz's first bracket predictions, in order of overall seeding, are Houston, Purdue, UConn and Virginia. This is a far cry from the preseason rankings. In the initial AP top 25, Houston checked in at No. 3, with North Carolina first, Gonzaga second and Kentucky fourth. Each of those teams have dropped down in the early going, but Katz still has them all in the tournament.
LATEST RANKINGS: Click or tap here to view the latest AP Top 25
Houston has surged out of the gates to 9-0, moving up to first in the polls, thanks in large part to the best defense in the nation, which has allowed just 47.3 points per game. They get a big test with No. 10 Alabama on Sunday.
Purdue, fourth in the polls, looks to be the favorite in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers are 9-0 with notable ranked wins over Gonzaga and Duke. Topping Katz's latest Power 36, Purdue looks like one of the most complete teams.
Meanwhile, UConn (10-0) is yet to start play in the Big East, but the Huskies look primed to assert their dominance on the conference. They've been strong on both sides of the ball, checking in with the fifth-best points differential at plus-23.8, and already have some hardware under their belt this season, winning the Phil Knight Invitational.
Looking at Virginia, the Cavaliers have been proving any preseason doubters wrong. At 8-0, they have big wins over Baylor, Illinois and Michigan, and look like early favorites entering ACC play. They face a huge challenge against Houston on Dec. 17.
We'll see how things shake out as conference play heats up.
Number of bids by conference
CONFERENCE | TOTAL TEAMS | TEAMS |
---|---|---|
Big Ten | 10 | Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers, Wisconsin |
SEC | 8 | Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Tennessee |
Big 12 | 7 | Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech |
Big East | 5 | Butler, Creighton, Marquette, UConn, Xavier |
ACC | 5 | Duke, North Carolina, Miami (Fla.), Virginia, Virginia Tech |
Pac-12 | 4 | Arizona, Southern California, UCLA, Utah |
Mountain West | 3 | New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV |
The Big Ten, SEC and the Big 12 are very well-represented in Katz's predictions.
POWER 36: Click or tap here to view Andy Katz's latest Power 36 rankings
Maryland, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin are all firmly in the picture in the Big Ten. Michigan and Michigan State each fell out of the latest Power 36 rankings, but they should still find their way into the field.
Next up is the SEC, which has eight teams in Katz's predicted bracket. The Big 12 follows, as reigning national champion Kansas looks set to have another strong season, while Baylor, Iowa State and TCU pose as challengers within the conference.
It's mostly the usual suspects in the Big East, ACC and Pac-12. However, definitely keep an eye on North Carolina (5-4) as the preseason favorite has fallen out of the rankings amid a brutal slump.
In the Mountain West, UNLV and New Mexico have their hats in the ring alongside San Diego State.
Teams on the outside looking in
First Four out
- San Francisco
- Utah State
- Clemson
- Oklahoma
Oklahoma and Clemson have both had early slip-ups out of the gate. Clemson dropped close ones to Iowa and South Carolina, while Sam Houston stunned Oklahoma on opening night. But the Sooners seemed to recover before falling to Villanova two games ago. Utah State is off to an undefeated 7-0 start, while San Francisco is close to joining Gonzaga out of the WCC in the 68-team field.
Andy Katz's field of 68
Here is Katz’s full seed list in order, from one through 68:
RANK | SEED | TEAM | CONFERENCE |
---|
1. 1 -- Houston | AAC |
2. 1 -- Purdue | Big Ten |
3. 1 -- UConn | Big East |
4. 1 -- Virginia | ACC |
5. 2 -- Texas | Big 12 |
6. 2 -- Tennessee | SEC |
7. 2 -- Kansas | Big 12 |
8. 2 -- Maryland | Big Ten |
9. 3 -- Duke | ACC |
10. 3 -- Arizona | Pac-12 |
11. 3 -- Alabama | SEC |
12. 3 -- Indiana | Big Ten |
13. 4 -- Arkansas | SEC |
14. 4 -- Baylor | Big 12 |
15. 4 -- Illinois | Big Ten |
16. 4 -- Gonzaga | WCC |
17. 5 -- Iowa State | Big 12 |
18. 5 -- UCLA | Pac-12 |
19. 5 -- Kentucky | SEC |
20. 5 -- TCU | Big 12 |
21. 6 -- Creighton | Big East |
22. 6 -- Wisconsin | Big Ten |
23. 6 -- Arizona State | Pac-12 |
24. 6 -- Mississippi State| SEC |
25. 7 -- North Carolina | ACC |
26. 7 -- San Diego State | Mountain West |
27. 7 -- Auburn | SEC |
28. 7 -- Michigan State | Big Ten |
29. 8 -- Ohio State | Big Ten |
30. 8 -- Xavier | Big East |
31. 8 -- Kansas State | Big 12 |
32. 8 -- Miami (Fla.) | ACC |
33. 9 -- Rutgers | Big Ten |
34. 9 -- Virginia Tech | ACC |
35. 9 -- Southern California | Pac-12 |
36. 9 -- UNLV | Mountain West |
37. 10 -- Marquette | Big East |
38. 10 -- Michigan | Big Ten |
39. 10 -- Texas Tech | Big 12 |
40. 10 -- Utah | Pac-12 |
41. 11 -- Missouri | SEC |
42. 11 -- Butler | Big East |
43. 11 -- New Mexico | Mountain West |
44. 11 -- UMass | A10 |
45. 12 -- LSU | SEC |
46. 12 -- Iowa | Big Ten |
47. 12 -- Charleston | CAA |
48. 12 -- Kent State | MAC |
49. 12 -- UAB | Conference USA |
50. 12 -- Iona | MAAC |
51. 13 -- Florida Gulf Coast | ASUN |
52. 13 -- Portland State | Big Sky |
53. 13 -- Murray State | Missouri Valley |
54. 13 -- Cleveland State | Horizon |
55. 14 -- Southern Miss | Sun Belt |
56. 14 -- Seattle | WAC |
57. 14 -- Cornell | Ivy |
58. 14 -- Chattanooga | Southern |
59. 15 -- UCSB | Big West |
60. 15 -- Denver | Summit |
61. 15 -- SIUE | Ohio Valley |
62. 15 -- American | Patriot |
63. 16 -- Northwestern State | Southland |
64. 16 -- UMass Lowell | America East |
65. 16 -- High Point | Big South |
66. 16 -- Sacred Heart | Northeast |
67. 16 -- Norfolk State | MEAC |
68. 16 -- Grambling State | SWAC |