I know you were not expecting a new bracket Sunday, but nobody expected six of the top seven seeds to lose either. The only team in the top seven that won beat one of the other six as Baylor knocked off Kansas and supplanted the Jayhawks on the top line of the bracket. All six losing teams were on the road on Saturday.
The other No. 1 seeds, Gonzaga, Arizona and Auburn also lost, however only the order among those three changed. Sometimes, when everyone loses, nobody loses. The Zags are still the overall No. 1, but the Wildcats dropped below the Tigers because they were the only team among this group to lose to a team not contending for a spot in the bracket. Arizona lost at Colorado 79-63.
This is the first time that I can recall all four of my current No. 1 seeds losing on the same day or even the same weekend. I do know that it is the first time seven of the AP top 10 all lost on the same day.
Bracketology top seeds
Check out Palm’s latest bracket, full field of 68 and all the teams on the bubble on the Bracketology hub.
What else changed
The shuffling really started on the No. 2 line, where Kentucky and Purdue dropped down and were replaced with Big East champion Providence and current Big Ten leader Wisconsin. The Boilermakers and Badgers meet in Madison, Wisconsin, on Tuesday night.
Villanova jumped up to the No. 3 line and Tennessee moved up to the top of the No. 4 seeds, but is blocked at the moment by the fact that the two teams directly ahead of the Vols, the Wildcats and Texas Tech, each have wins over Tennessee. Selection committee chairman Tom Burnett said last week during the bracket reveal show that if teams were right next to each other in the 1-68 rankings, that head-to-head results, if they exist, would likely be a determining factor in the order of those teams.
Tennessee is also held back a bit by the fact that all of their best wins have come at home. The Vols do not have a win away from home against a team in the bracket, although North Carolina is the first team out. Tennessee beat the Tar Heels on a neutral court.
Near the bottom of the bracket, you will find all the ACC teams after Duke that are under consideration for the field. Notre Dame is the highest seeded of the bunch as a No. 9 seed. Miami is a No. 11 seed, while Wake Forest is among the last teams in the bracket.
Loss hurts Loyola
Loyola-Chicago fell off the bracket after losing at Northern Iowa to end the regular season. The Ramblers finished a game back of the Panthers in the Missouri Valley Conference and will be the No. 4 seed in Arch Madness.
The MVC is one of 10 conferences that have already finished up their regular seasons and will begin their respective conference tournaments next week. The Southern Conference finishes up its regular season today, and the Colonial concludes on Monday.
I said on Friday that daily bracket updates would begin on Monday. That started a day early, but going forward the bracket will be updated daily, if there are changes
