Before you get too down in the dumps that college football season is officially over — congratulations to Curt Cignetti, Fernando Mendoza and the Indiana Hoosiers for winning the national championship by the way… the football national championship — I’m going to advise that you turn that frown upside down, because if you’re like me, that means it’s time to shift all of that focus that you’ve had on the gridiron since August toward the hardwood.
As of today, we’re only 54 days away from Selection Sunday. I can hear the CBS March Madness theme already, can’t you?
Well if not, then today’s the day we change that. Today, we bring you Saturday Down South Bracketology, and before you question whether this should be your source on all things March Madness from today until Selection Sunday, just know I’m a seasoned vet in the Bracketology game, having done this for over a decade now.
And not to toot my own horn, but I’ve outperformed the Godfather of Bracketology, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, on a handful of occasions in the past. That’s why, around my household, I’m referred to as Sonny Brackets.
(Okay fine, my household consists of myself, my fiancé, and our 3 pets. Our pets can’t talk, I’m not totally sure that my fiancé knows what Bracketology even is, and I’m the only person who has ever uttered the phrase “Sonny Brackets” in our household.)
Today will be a pretty straightforward exercise. I’ll start with my first mock bracket of the year, then I’ll fill you in on some of the key details, investigate what’s happening on the bubble watch front, and then deliver a rundown of the 10 biggest games of the week ahead that will have bracket ramifications before I return next Monday for another update.
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In the future, I’ll be using this introduction space to hit on one big topic that felt worthy of some additional coverage. It may be a player, or a team, or a conference, or hell, I might use this space to talk about how Bill Raftery saying “Onions!” still brings me the same amount of joy it did 25 years ago when I was just an 8 year old kid falling head over heels in love with college basketball. Anything is fair game. But for now, let’s get to the bracket!
The Bracket
Bracketology Breakdown
No. 1 Seeds: Arizona Wildcats (West Region), Michigan Wolverines (Midwest Region), UConn Huskies (East Region), Duke Blue Devils (South Region)
Multi-Bid Leagues: ACC (9), Big East (4), Big 12 (7), Big Ten (10), Mountain West (3), SEC (9), WCC (2)
Bubble Watch
Last 4 Byes: Miami FL, NC State, USC, Auburn
Last 4 In: Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, New Mexico, Indiana
First 4 Out: Texas, Stanford, Mizzou, UCLA
Next 4 Out: Baylor, LSU, George Mason, TCU
10 Biggest Games of the Week
Tuesday, January 20 — 7 p.m. ET, Peacock — Indiana at Michigan
Tuesday, January 20 — 7 p.m. ET, CBS Sports — UCF at Iowa State
Tuesday, January 20 — 9 p.m. ET, ESPN — Vanderbilt at Arkansas
Wednesday, January 21 — 9 p.m. ET, FS1 — Cincinnati at Arizona
Friday, January 23 — 8 p.m. ET, FOX — Ohio State at Michigan
Saturday, January 24 — 12:30 p.m. ET, FOX — Villanova at UConn
Saturday, January 24 — 2 p.m. ET, ESPN — North Carolina at Virginia
Saturday, January 24 — 3 p.m. ET, FOX — Illinois at Purdue
Saturday January 24 — 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN — Houston at Texas Tech
Saturday, January 24 — 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN — Tennessee at Alabama
