GopherHole’s First Ever Field of “72” NCAA Basketball Tournament Projection

Let’s take a look at my latest bracket projection, this time for the h*ll of it with 72 teams, which is where we foolishly may be headed as soon as next March. Hey NCAA, all change is not necessarily good.

I digress.

Herewith are my current selections, but teams are numbered 1 to 72 (in parentheses) using Bart Torvik’s current “T-Rank” projections. An * indicates the projected automatic qualifier in a multiple-bid conference.

FIELD OF “72” PROJECTION (May 30, 2025)
America East (1): Vermont (66)

American (2): *USF (47), Memphis (49)

ACC (6): *Duke (3), North Carolina (15), Louisville (16), NC State (37), SMU (38), Virginia (44)

ASUN (1): Queens (69)

Atlantic 10 (2): VCU (40), *Loyola-Chicago (50)

Big East (4): *Saint John’s (8), UConn (11), Creighton (22), Marquette (42)

Big Sky (1): Idaho (64)

Big South (1): High Point (55)

B1G (11): *Purdue (2), Michigan (4), UCLA (7), Illinois (9), Michigan State (18), Ohio State (19), USC (24), Wisconsin (27), Iowa (34), Indiana (36), Oregon (46)

Big XII (9): *Houston (1), BYU (6), Arizona (14), Kansas (17), Iowa State (20), Texas Tech (25), Cincinnati (29), Baylor (31), Kansas State (41)

Big West (1): UCSB (56)

Coastal (1): UNC-Wilmington (58)

Conference USA (1): Liberty (52)

Horizon (1): Oakland (68)

Ivy (1): Yale (51)

MAAC (1): Iona (61)

MAC (1): Miami-Ohio (54)

MEAC (1): Norfolk State (70)

Missouri Valley (1): Illinois State (53)

Mountain West (2): *Boise State (43), Utah State (48)

NEC (1): LIU (71)

OVC (1): Southeast Missouri State (62)

Patriot (1): Navy (67)

SEC (12): Florida (5), Arkansas (10), *Tennessee (12), Kentucky (13), Vanderbilt (21), Missouri (26), Oklahoma (28), Auburn (30), Texas (32), Mississippi State (33), Alabama (35), Ole Miss (39)

SoCon (1): East Tennessee State (63)

Southland (1): Nicholls (72)

SWAC (1): Jackson State (65)

Summit (1): Team That Shall Not Be Mentioned (60)

Sun Belt (1): James Madison (59)

WCC (2): *Gonzaga (23), Saint Mary’s (45)

WAC (1): Utah Valley (57)
————————————
Last 8 In: Missouri (26), Mississippi State (33), SMU (38), Kansas State (41), Marquette (42), Virginia (44), Saint Mary’s (45), Utah State (48)

First 4 Out: Georgia, Miami-Florida, San Diego State, Texas A&M

8 to Watch: Georgetown, Maryland, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Saint Louis, San Francisco, TCU, West Virginia

Last 8 Automatic Qualifiers: Jackson State (65), Vermont (66), Navy (67), Oakland (68), Queens (69), Norfolk State (70), LIU (71), Nicholls (72)

Non-Power 5 At-Large Bids (4): Memphis, Saint Mary’s, Utah State, VCU

Multiple-Bid Conferences (9): SEC (12), B1G (11), Big XII (9), ACC (6), Big East (4), American (2), Atlantic 10 (2), Mountain West (2), WCC (2)

Multible-Bid Conferences Last Season (7): SEC (14), Big Ten (8), Big XII (7), Big East (5), ACC (4), Mountain West (4), WCC (2)

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