NCAA Bracket Prediction - 23 Feb

There were two changes this week on the 1-seed line, where Villanova and Virginia are still looking solid, and this week they were joined by two perennial contenders, Duke and Michigan State. Penn State and USC jumped in to the bracket this week, knocking out Providence and Maryland, while 5 new conference leaders joined in the lower seeds. Here is my full current bracket, with projected conference champs in bold, teams new in the bracket in italics, rising teams in green, and falling teams in red:

	EAST			SOUTH
1	Villanova		1	Virginia
16	Florida Gulf Coast/Southern		16	Nicholls/Bethune-Cookman
8	Miami		8	Saint Mary’s
9	Oklahoma		9	Arkansas
5	Arizona		5	West Virginia
12	Missouri		12	Vermont
4	Gonzaga		4	Ohio State
13	Murray State		13	New Mexico State
6	Kentucky		6	Nevada
11	Texas/Syracuse		11	Louisville
3	Cincinnati		3	Auburn
14	Charleston		14	Montana
7	Florida State		7	Seton Hall
10	Alabama		10	St. Bonaventure
2	Xavier		2	Kansas
15	UC Santa Barbara		15	Northern Kentucky
	WEST			MIDWEST
1	Duke		1	Michigan State
16	UNC Asheville		16	Wagner
8	Butler		8	Virginia Tech
9	Middle Tennessee		9	Baylor
5	Michigan		5	Rhode Island
12	Kansas State		12	USC/Penn State
4	Wichita State		4	Clemson
13	East Tennessee State		13	South Dakota State
6	Houston		6	TCU
11	Louisiana		11	Loyola-Chicago
3	Texas Tech		3	Tennessee
14	Bucknell		14	Buffalo
7	Texas A&M		7	Creighton
10	Arizona State		10	Florida
2	Purdue		2	North Carolina
15	Penn		15	Canisius

Last Four Byes

Alabama
Missouri
Louisville
Kansas State

Last Four In

Texas
Penn State
Syracuse
USC

First Four Out

NC State
Maryland
Marquette
Notre Dame

Next Four Out

Boise State
Mississippi State
Providence
UCLA

Teams by Conference

ACC - 9
Big 12 - 8
SEC - 8
Big 10 - 5
Big East - 5
American - 3
Pac 12 - 3
Atlantic 10 - 2
West Coast - 2