The first March Madness men's bracket predictions of 2023, by Andy Katz

NCAA.com's Andy Katz has made his first NCAA men's basketball tournament predictions of 2023.

You can watch Andy run through them in the video above. We're also breaking them down here.

First, here's the bracket in table form (scroll to the right to view the full bracket). These are based on games through Sunday, Jan. 8. 

2023 March Madness men's bracket predictions

Let's take a closer look at Katz's predictions:

Top seeds in the NCAA bracket

The No. 1 seeds in these latest bracket predictions, in order of overall seeding, include Houston, Kansas, Purdue and Alabama. Of the four, Houston and Purdue are the only two to have ranked No. 1 in the AP poll this season with the Cougars currently holding the top spot after Purdue's undefeated season came to an end with a loss to Rutgers last week. Each of the top teams, with the exception of Alabama, have only one loss this season.

LATEST RANKINGS: Click or tap here to view the latest AP Top 25

Guard Marcus Sasser has been electric for Houston this season averaging 15.8 points per game and leading his team to 16-1 record. With a slew of unranked opponents on the horizon, there are no signs of the Cougars slowing down.

Kansas, ranked second in this week's AP poll, continues to be a strong force in the Big 12. The Jayhawks and forward Jalen Wilson, who leads his team in both scoring and rebounds averaging 20.2 points and 8.8 boards, headlined this week's Power 36 rankings. The team faces a tough January, however, as back-to-back meetings against Iowa State, Kansas State and TCU will show what this squad is really made of.

Purdue leads a powerhouse Big Ten conference. After a heartbreaking loss to Rutgers, the Boilermakers followed the defeat with a narrow victory against then-24-ranked Ohio State and unranked Penn State. Furthermore, center Zach Edey has cemented himself in the Player of the Year conversation averaging a double-double this season (21.9 points and 13.2 rebounds.)

The Tide keeps rollin'. Alabama has put together an impressive resume this year with wins against Michigan State, North Carolina, and Mississippi State and is the only team in the nation to have bested Houston. 

Number of bids by conference 

*These are conferences with multiple teams in Katz's bracket predictions

The Big Ten leads the way with the most projected bids for this year's tournament, while a three-way tie for the second most bids between the Big 12, ACC and SEC prove that multiple conferences will be tough competition on the way to the ultimate prize.

RELATED: Andy Katz's 2023 March Madness men's bracket predictions one month into the season

Though the Big 12 is tied for second-most bids, this conference may 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 feature a plethora of programs that are no stranger to the Big Dance. 

New Mexico rounds out the Mountain West and was the last undefeated team DI men's basketball before losing two straight against Fresno State and UNLV.  

Teams on the outside looking in

First four out:  

1. Wake Forest
2. LSU
3. Southern California
4. Utah State

Since starting 9-0, Utah State has gone 4-3 with its most recent game resulting in an 82-59 beat-down against Boise State. Southern California began this season with a loss against FGCU and has struggled to find footing in a competitive Pac-12, while Wake Forest's 11-5 season has quietly landed the program at 4th in the ACC. None of these teams were featured in this week's Power 36 with LSU dropping out after being featured at the 21st spot last week. The Tigers slipped to 8th in the SEC after consecutive losses to Kentucky and Texas A&M.

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Andy Katz's field of 68

Here is Katz’s full seed list in order, from one through 68: