Quarterfinal Friday of the Power Four conference tournaments continued the chaos that Thursday brought. We had more amazing games, incredible performances and upsets (including some upset coaches). These results continue to mold the bracket. As the number of games remaining dwindles, the final bracket picture is becoming clearer.
We will start at the top and work through some of the key points that led to the shape of this bracket:
Three of the four No. 1 seeds won on Friday (with UConn debuting on Saturday), so no changes there. Despite Vanderbilt’s loss to Mississippi, they remain a No. 2 seed. All three of the other No. 2 seeds could still move up to a No. 1, but it would most likely require one of them to win their respective conference tournaments.
Who was in the top 16 did not change, but we did have one seed line change. With Ohio State’s win over Minnesota and Oklahoma’s loss to LSU, the Buckeyes have grabbed the final No. 3 seed and dropped the Sooners to a No. 4 seed. Also, Minnesota’s loss has opened the door wider for West Virginia to jump into the top 16.
The only change on the bubble Friday was that Colorado is now officially in the field of 68. Their win over Baylor solidified them as an NCAA tournament team. Them moving into the field moved Princeton down to the last four in. As most of the bubble teams’ seasons are over, they will have their eyes heavily on the MAAC, Summit, Ivy, and Atlantic 10 conference tournaments.
The biggest beneficiaries of Friday’s results were Ohio State, Colorado, and Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish became the only team so far to win two games in a row at the 2026 ACC tournament following their victory over NC State. Notre Dame has now won nine of their last 10 games and moved up to a No. 5 seed.
Saturday’s Games with the greatest impact on the bracket
- South Carolina vs LSU
- Iowa vs Michigan
- West Virginia vs Colorado
- Louisville vs North Carolina
- Texas vs Mississippi
- Western Illinois vs Lindenwood — OVC Championship
Mid-Major Games with the greatest impact
- Richmond vs George Mason
- Davidson vs Rhode Island
Bracketology methodology
Here are some basic bracket rules that help influence my bracket:
- The top four seed lines in each region shall be from different conferences unless a conference has more than four teams in the top 16 (making this rule impossible to follow, as is the case with the SEC and Big 10 in my bracket).
- Teams from the same conference shall not be projected to meet until the Elite Eight if they met three times during the regular season, or the Sweet 16 if they met twice. Because we don’t know what will happen in conference tournaments, I am assuming every conference team will face each other one more time than what is on their schedule. I was able to keep conference teams apart until the Elite Eight.
- In order to comply with bracket rules, it is acceptable to move a team up or down one seed line. I did not have to do that with this bracket.
Bracket breakdown
Multi-Bid conferences
- Big Ten: 12
- SEC: 10
- ACC: 9
- Big 12: 7
- Big East: 2
- Ivy League: 2
- MAAC: 2
Last four in:
- Princeton
- Fairfield
- Virginia
- Nebraska
First four out:
- Arizona State
- Richmond
- BYU
- South Dakota State
Next four out:
- Utah
- Mississippi State
- Stanford
- Kansas State
Next Update: March 8th
