Gonzaga Falls Hard, Saint Mary's Bolsters Resume

Gonzaga holds on to a 1 seed despite an ugly performance against Saint Mary's.  Eye has had Saint Mary's in the field all along but now there is no doubt as they secure an automatic bid.  The projection model is derived from the overall seed list released the last two years.  The bottom 18 are automatic qualifiers that need to win their respective conferences to secure a bid.

Bubble Talk
Major conference tournaments start today which will help sort out the bubble.  Seton Hall remains first team out, followed by UNCG. Ohio State, Alabama, Indiana, St. John's and NC State need deep runs to move the needle.  Given the way the numbers fall, the last four in would all play-in on the 12 line.

Bracketology
My field prognostication as of today is as follows:
#1 seeds: Virginia, Duke, North Carolina, Gonzaga
#2 seeds: Michigan State, Kentucky, Tennessee, Kansas
#3 seeds: Houston, Michigan, Texas Tech, Purdue
#4 seeds:  LSU, Florida State, Buffalo, VA Tech
#5 seeds:  Nevada, Wisconsin, Wofford*, Kansas State

#6 seeds:  Auburn, Maryland, Villanova, Mississippi State

#7 seeds:  Cincy, VCU, Louisville, UCF

#8 seeds:  Marquette, Iowa State, Saint Mary's*, Oklahoma

#9 seeds:  Utah State, Washington, Clemson, Syracuse

#10 seeds:  Baylor, Toledo, Murray State*, Minnesota

#11 seeds:  Texas, TCU, New Mexico State, Belmont

#12 seeds: Temple, Iowa, play-in: Mississippi / Arizona State, play-in: Florida / Creighton,

#13 seeds:  Northeastern*, Georgia State, Harvard, UC Irvine

#14 seeds:  Vermont, Liberty*, Old Dominion, Colgate

#15 seeds:  Montana, Northern Kentucky*, Sam Houston State, Gardner-Webb*

#16 seeds:  Prairie View, Bradley*, play-in: Fairleigh Dickinson* / Norfolk State, play-in: North Dakota State* / Iona*

First 4 out:  Seton Hall, UNCG, Davidson, Furman

* automatic bid

Bracket Matrix

Check this site out.  Great compilation of expert and amateur bracket projections:

http://www.bracketmatrix.com/