:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48835903/usa-today-9114638.0.jpg)
Note: Both KenPom and BBState (my RPI source) require a subscription.
At the top of the bracket, only the Kansas Jayhawks and Villanova Wildcats are top seeds in all three brackets, though all four teams in my projected bracket for today are in the top eight of the RPI and KenPom standings.
This week, I added the RPI and KenPom rankings for Louisville and SMU, just so you could see where they would fall if they were eligible and how their absence affects the bracket. The RPI loves the Mustangs more than KenPom does and it's the reverse for the Cardinals.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders, my second team out, and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, my eighth team out, are in both metric-driven fields. Last week, that applied to Kansas State and Saint Joseph's, and only the Hawks have improved their position in the past week. Considering the Red Raiders welcome Oklahoma on Wednesday night and the Golden Hurricane host fellow bubble team Cincinnati one night later, both will have chances to break into my Friday projection with big home wins.
Teams holding a projected auto bid are represented with an asterisk (*).
| RANK | SEED | PROJECTED BRACKET | RPI | KENPOM |
| 1 | 1 | Kansas* | Kansas* | Villanova* |
| 2 | 1 | Villanova* | Oklahoma | Virginia |
| 3 | 1 | Oklahoma | Villanova* | Michigan State |
| 4 | 1 | North Carolina* | Oregon | Kansas* |
| 5 | 2 | Maryland | Virginia | Iowa* |
| 6 | 2 | Virginia | Maryland | Oklahoma |
| 7 | 2 | Iowa* | Xavier | West Virginia |
| 8 | 2 | Xavier | North Carolina* | North Carolina* |
| 9 | 3 | Oregon | Miami | Kentucky* |
| 10 | 3 | Michigan State | West Virginia | Duke (Louisville) |
| 11 | 3 | West Virginia | Iowa* | Miami |
| 12 | 3 | Miami | Kentucky* | Wichita State* |
| 13 | 4 | Iowa State | Dayton* | Maryland |
| 14 | 4 | Kentucky* | Iowa State (SMU) | Arizona* |
| 15 | 4 | Dayton* | Duke | Iowa State |
| 16 | 4 | Purdue | Michigan State | Xavier |
| 17 | 5 | Duke | Utah | Purdue |
| 18 | 5 | Notre Dame | Notre Dame | Oregon (SMU) |
| 19 | 5 | Arizona* | Purdue | Indiana |
| 20 | 5 | Utah | Texas | Texas A&M |
| 21 | 6 | USC | USC | UConn |
| 22 | 6 | South Carolina | Texas A&M | Texas |
| 23 | 6 | Texas A&M | South Carolina | Notre Dame |
| 24 | 6 | Texas | Saint Joseph's | USC |
| 25 | 7 | Baylor | Colorado | Cincinnati |
| 26 | 7 | Indiana | Florida | Vanderbilt |
| 27 | 7 | Providence | Baylor | Valparaiso* |
| 28 | 7 | Michigan | Arizona* | Gonzaga* |
| 29 | 8 | California | Alabama (Louisville) | Syracuse |
| 30 | 8 | Colorado | St. Bonaventure | California |
| 31 | 8 | Syracuse | Texas Tech | Wisconsin |
| 32 | 8 | UConn | California | Florida |
| 33 | 9 | Florida | Monmouth* | Seton Hall |
| 34 | 9 | Monmouth* | Syracuse | Saint Joseph's |
| 35 | 9 | Pittsburgh | Indiana | Dayton* |
| 36 | 9 | Saint Joseph's | Providence | Baylor |
| 37 | 10 | Seton Hall | Oregon State | VCU |
| 38 | 10 | Wichita State | Chattanooga* | Utah |
| 39 | 10 | Temple* | UConn | Texas Tech |
| 40 | 10 | LSU* | Princeton | Creighton |
| 41 | 11 | Wisconsin | Pittsburgh | Saint Mary's |
| 42 | 11 | Alabama (12) | Wisconsin | Florida State |
| 43 | 11 | Valparaiso* | Tulsa | Little Rock* |
| 44 | 11 | Gonzaga* (12) | Wichita State* | Tulsa |
| 45 | 12 | Oregon State (11) | Michigan | Butler |
| 46 | 12 | Florida State (11) | George Washington (48) | Michigan |
| 47 | 12 | Butler (11) | South Dakota State* | Kansas State (49) |
| 48 | 12 | Cincinnati (11) | Akron* | Yale* |
| 49 | 12 | Chattanooga* | Temple* | Hawai'i* |
| 50 | 12 | San Diego State* | San Diego State* | Stony Brook* |
| 51 | 13 | Little Rock* | Stony Brook* | Monmouth* |
| 52 | 13 | Akron* | Gonzaga* | UNC Wilmington* |
| 53 | 13 | South Dakota State* | Yale* | San Diego State* |
| 54 | 13 | Stony Brook* | Little Rock* | Akron* |
| 55 | 14 | Yale* | UNC Wilmington* | South Dakota State* |
| 56 | 14 | UNC Wilmington* | Valparaiso* | Chattanooga* |
| 57 | 14 | Hawai'i* | Hawai'i* | Stephen F. Austin* |
| 58 | 14 | UAB* | UAB* | Temple* |
| 59 | 15 | Stephen F. Austin* | Stephen F. Austin* | New Mexico State* |
| 60 | 15 | Tennessee Tech* | Tennessee Tech* | UAB* |
| 61 | 15 | Montana* | New Mexico State* | UNC Asheville* |
| 62 | 15 | New Mexico State* | Montana* | Montana* |
| 63 | 16 | UNC Asheville* | UNC Asheville* | North Florida* |
| 64 | 16 | North Florida* | North Florida* | Tennessee Tech* |
| 65 | 16 | Hampton* | Hampton* | Texas Southern* |
| 66 | 16 | Bucknell* | Bucknell* | Bucknell* |
| 67 | 16 | Wagner* | Wagner | Wagner* |
| 68 | 16 | Texas Southern* | Texas Southern* | Hampton* |
| OUT | OUT | |||
| Seton Hall (49) | South Carolina (53) | |||
| Florida State (50) | LSU (56) | |||
| Butler (58) | Providence (57) | |||
| Cincinnati (61) | Pittsburgh (60) | |||
| LSU (69) | Colorado (63) | |||
| Oregon State (70) | ||||
| Alabama (74) | ||||
| LAST FOUR OUT | LAST FOUR OUT | LAST FOUR OUT | ||
| VCU | Seton Hall (49) | Clemson (50) | ||
| Texas Tech | Florida State (50) | South Carolina (53) | ||
| George Washington | Vanderbilt (54) | UCLA (55) | ||
| Clemson | VCU (57) | LSU (56) | ||
| NEXT FOUR OUT | NEXT FOUR OUT | NEXT FOUR OUT | ||
| Vanderbilt | Butler (58) | Providence (57) | ||
| St. Bonaventure | Cincinnati (61) | Princeton (58) | ||
| Washington | William & Mary (62) | Pittsburgh (60) | ||
| Tulsa | Washington (63) | BYU (61) | ||
| BY CONFERENCE | BY CONFERENCE | BY CONFERENCE | ||
| ACC: 8 | ACC: 7 | ACC: 7 | ||
| Pac-12: 7 | Big 12: 7 | Big 12: 7 | ||
| Big Ten: 7 | Big Ten: 7 | Big Ten: 7 | ||
| Big 12: 6 | Pac-12: 6 | Big East: 5 | ||
| SEC: 6 | SEC: 5 | Pac-12: 5 | ||
| Big East: 5 | Atlantic 10: 4 | American: 4 | ||
| American: 3 | American: 3 | SEC: 4 | ||
| Atlantic 10: 2 | Big East: 2 | Atlantic 10: 3 | ||
| One-Bid Leagues: 24 | Ivy: 2 | West Coast: 2 | ||
| One-Bid Leagues: 23 | One-Bid Leagues: 23 |
Be sure to follow @ChrisDobbertean on Twitter and to like Blogging the Bracket on Facebook.