Arizona forward Paulius Murauskas (23) shoots a basket against Colgate guard Kyle Carlesimo (13) during the second half at McKale Center.
As regular college basketball watchers know, the ability to win on the road is one factor that separates the good teams from the potentially great ones. As a result, our latest bracketology has a change on the top line as Arizona replaces Tennessee as a projected No. 1 seed.
The Wildcats had to work overtime to win at Utah before facing a quick turnaround against a Colorado squad that desperately needed a quality win. But the ‘Cats were all business, completing the weekend road sweep in blowout fashion against the Buffaloes. On the same day, a red-hot Tennessee team got cooled considerably at Texas A&M, making the Volunteers’ stay as a No. 1 very short lived.
The other three regional headers remain the same as, with Connecticut, Purdue and Houston all posting wins over the weekend.
In other moves, Clemson and Virginia are trending in the right direction, Wisconsin and Kentucky are headed the opposite way, and a six-bid Mountain West Conference remains a possibility.
Last four in
Mississippi, Utah, Nebraska, Nevada.
First four out
Gonzaga, Cincinnati, Villanova, Wake Forest.
Next four out
Colorado, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Providence.
Conference breakdown
Multi-bid leagues: Big 12 (9), SEC (9), Big Ten (6), Mountain West (6), ACC (4), Big East (4), Pac-12 (3), American Athletic (2), Atlantic 10 (2).
NCAA tournament bubble games to watch this week
Tuesday, Feb. 13
Marquette at Butler, 6:30, FS1
Iowa State at Cincinnati, 7 p.m., ESPN2
St. John’s at Providence, 7 p.m., CBSSN
LSU at Florida, 8 p.m., SEC
Mississippi at Kentucky, 9 p.m., ESPN
New Mexico at Nevada, 11 p.m., CBSSN
Wednesday, Feb. 14
Xavier at Seton Hall, 7 p.m., CBSSN
Thursday, Feb. 15
Northwestern at Rutgers, 6:30 p.m., Big Ten
Colorado at UCLA, 9 p.m., ESPN
California at Washington State, 10 p.m., Pac-12
Utah at Southern California, FS1, 11 p.m.
All times Eastern
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bracketology: Arizona rises to men’s tournament No. 1 seed
