NCAA Bracket Prediction - 25 Jan

The top seeds remained the same this week, with Nebraska falling just short of the final #1 seed while remaining undefeated. UCLA returned to the field after upsetting Purdue, which knocked out Seton Hall, which has lost 4 games in a row. Miami (OH) remains undefeated as well, but they are still stuck as a #11 seed, thanks to their extremely weak schedule, with only 1 win against a team ranked in the top 100. Here is my full current bracket, with rising teams in green, falling teams in red, new teams in italics, and conference leaders in bold:

	WEST			SOUTH
1	Arizona		1	Duke
16	Florida A&M/Maryland-ES		16	Merrimack/UMBC
8	NC State		8	UCF
9	Texas A&M		9	Utah State
5	Arkansas		5	Alabama
12	Florida Atlantic		12	Liberty
4	Virginia		4	BYU
13	Stephen F Austin		13	Hawaii
6	Saint Louis		6	North Carolina
11	New Mexico/USC		11	Santa Clara/Virginia Tech
3	Michigan State		3	Houston
14	East Tennessee State		14	Winthrop
7	Tennessee		7	Georgia
10	Ohio State		10	Miami
2	Gonzaga		2	Purdue
15	Wright State		15	Portland State
	MIDWEST			EAST
1	Michigan		1	UConn
16	UT Martin		16	Long Island
8	Kentucky		8	Auburn
9	Saint Mary’s		9	Iowa
5	Florida		5	Clemson
12	Belmont		12	Yale
4	Kansas		4	Texas Tech
13	UNC Wilmington		13	Troy
6	Louisville		6	St. John’s
11	Miami (OH)		11	San Diego State
3	Illinois		3	Vanderbilt
14	North Dakota State		14	UT Arlington
7	SMU		7	Villanova
10	Wisconsin		10	UCLA
2	Iowa State		2	Nebraska
15	Navy		15	Austin Peay

Last Four Byes

Wisconsin

Miami

Ohio State

UCLA

Last Four In

New Mexico

USC

Santa Clara

Virginia Tech

First Four Out

Indiana

Texas

California

TCU

Next Four Out

Seton Hall

Butler

Stanford

Missouri

Teams by Conference

Big 10 - 10

SEC - 9

ACC - 9

Big 12 - 7

Big East - 3

WCC - 3

MWC - 3

NCAA Football Rankings - Final

Indiana's dominant run to the championship put the Hoosiers firmly in the #1 spot in the final rankings of the season, just ahead of Ohio State, who was #1 entering the postseason. Miami moved up to finish at #5 after reaching the title game, and Ole Miss moved into the top 10 by reaching the semifinals. Here are my full final rankings:

						Proj
Rank	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L
1	3	Indiana	-26.1	16	0	16	0
2	1	Ohio State	-23.48	12	2	12	2
3	4	Notre Dame	-22.7	10	2	10	2
4	2	Texas Tech	-21.08	12	2	12	2
5	6	Miami	-20.36	13	3	13	3
6	5	Oregon	-20.27	13	2	13	2
7	7	Utah	-18.06	11	2	11	2
8	8	Georgia	-15.91	12	2	12	2
9	9	Texas A&M	-15.65	11	2	11	2
10	13	Ole Miss	-15.04	13	2	13	2
11	10	Vanderbilt	-14.68	10	3	10	3
12	11	BYU	-14.61	12	2	12	2
13	12	USC	-14.6	9	4	9	4
14	17	Iowa	-13.92	9	4	9	4
15	19	Washington	-13.28	9	4	9	4
16	14	Alabama	-12.99	11	4	11	4
17	20	Texas	-11.97	10	3	10	3
18	16	Oklahoma	-11.76	10	3	10	3
19	21	SMU	-11.72	9	4	9	4
20	24	Penn State	-11.72	7	6	7	6
21	15	South Florida	-11.48	9	4	9	4
22	18	James Madison	-11.46	12	2	12	2
23	22	Arizona	-10.41	9	4	9	4
24	27	Illinois	-10.36	9	4	9	4
25	25	North Texas	-10.33	12	2	12	2
26	23	Michigan	-10.24	9	4	9	4
27	31	Virginia	-9.692	11	3	11	3
28	30	Louisville	-9.138	9	4	9	4
29	26	Tennessee	-9.003	8	5	8	5
30	29	Pittsburgh	-8.863	8	5	8	5
31	28	Missouri	-8.413	8	5	8	5
32	32	TCU	-8.129	9	4	9	4
33	46	Old Dominion	-7.461	10	3	10	3
34	49	NC State	-7.271	8	5	8	5
35	41	East Carolina	-7.087	9	4	9	4
36	38	Georgia Tech	-6.943	9	4	9	4
37	37	Florida State	-6.82	5	7	5	7
38	35	Iowa State	-6.786	8	4	8	4
39	34	Auburn	-6.73	5	7	5	7
40	42	Duke	-6.66	9	5	9	5
41	33	LSU	-6.638	7	6	7	6
42	36	Clemson	-6.513	7	6	7	6
43	39	Toledo	-6.201	8	5	8	5
44	44	Tulane	-5.612	11	3	11	3
45	52	Washington St	-5.443	7	6	7	6
46	47	Houston	-5.438	10	3	10	3
47	45	Arizona State	-5.407	8	5	8	5
48	48	Kansas State	-5.048	6	6	6	6
49	50	San Diego State	-5.033	9	4	9	4
50	56	Wake Forest	-4.729	9	4	9	4
51	43	Boise State	-4.466	9	5	9	5
52	40	Memphis	-4.338	8	5	8	5
53	57	Navy	-4.281	11	2	11	2
54	58	Northwestern	-4.039	7	6	7	6
55	54	Florida	-3.757	4	8	4	8
56	53	Arkansas	-3.557	2	10	2	10
57	55	South Carolina	-3.319	4	8	4	8
58	63	UT San Antonio	-3.066	7	6	7	6
59	51	Cincinnati	-2.644	7	6	7	6
60	61	Fresno State	-2.529	9	4	9	4
61	59	Nebraska	-2.241	7	6	7	6
62	67	Rutgers	-1.872	5	7	5	7
63	62	Kentucky	-1.856	5	7	5	7
64	69	Minnesota	-1.436	8	5	8	5
65	60	Mississippi St	-1.201	5	8	5	8
66	70	Wisconsin	-1.196	4	8	4	8
67	75	Texas State	-0.97	7	6	7	6
68	65	Baylor	-0.959	5	7	5	7
69	77	West Michigan	-0.868	10	4	10	4
70	66	New Mexico	-0.707	9	4	9	4
71	64	UNLV	-0.449	10	4	10	4
72	68	Kansas	-0.205	5	7	5	7
73	74	Hawaii	-0.039	9	4	9	4
74	86	Army	0.271	7	6	7	6
75	78	Michigan St	0.359	4	8	4	8
76	72	Utah State	0.7624	6	7	6	7
77	81	Ohio	0.9964	9	4	9	4
78	76	UCF	1.2874	5	7	5	7
79	83	Maryland	1.5028	4	8	4	8
80	73	Kennesaw State	1.5737	10	4	10	4
81	82	California	1.6748	7	6	7	6
82	71	Connecticut	1.7288	9	4	9	4
83	80	Louisiana Tech	1.7996	8	5	8	5
84	84	UCLA	1.8905	3	9	3	9
85	79	West Virginia	1.9789	4	8	4	8
86	85	West Kentucky	2.2945	9	4	9	4
87	88	Stanford	2.6624	4	8	4	8
88	87	Colorado	2.8509	3	9	3	9
89	92	Purdue	3.0989	2	10	2	10
90	90	Marshall	3.352	5	7	5	7
91	89	Miami (OH)	3.5762	7	7	7	7
92	91	Troy	3.9046	8	6	8	6
93	96	Virginia Tech	4.1852	3	9	3	9
94	99	Temple	4.8188	5	7	5	7
95	94	Air Force	4.8573	4	8	4	8
96	93	Central Michigan	5.0119	7	6	7	6
97	102	North Carolina	5.1728	4	8	4	8
98	100	Boston College	5.2698	2	10	2	10
99	101	Jacksonville State	5.3996	9	5	9	5
100	95	Southern Miss	5.4893	7	6	7	6
101	108	Georgia Southern	6.013	7	6	7	6
102	98	Missouri State	6.0699	7	6	7	6
103	104	Arkansas State	6.4511	7	6	7	6
104	97	Florida Intl	6.7896	7	6	7	6
105	103	Liberty	6.8385	4	8	4	8
106	106	Syracuse	6.8781	3	9	3	9
107	105	Louisiana	7.7594	6	7	6	7
108	107	Florida Atlantic	7.8342	4	8	4	8
109	109	Coastal Carolina	8.0681	6	7	6	7
110	110	South Alabama	8.2951	4	8	4	8
111	112	Wyoming	8.6022	4	8	4	8
112	113	Delaware	8.6582	7	5	7	5
113	111	Appalachian St	9.6721	5	8	5	8
114	114	Tulsa	9.7713	4	8	4	8
115	115	Buffalo	10.152	5	7	5	7
116	117	Oregon State	10.433	2	10	2	10
117	116	Oklahoma State	10.967	1	11	1	11
118	119	Bowling Green	11.02	4	8	4	8
119	121	San Jose State	11.392	3	9	3	9
120	120	Nevada	11.447	3	9	3	9
121	124	Colorado State	11.709	2	10	2	10
122	127	Eastern Michigan	12.031	4	8	4	8
123	122	Kent State	12.049	5	7	5	7
124	123	New Mexico St	12.122	4	8	4	8
125	118	Rice	12.136	5	8	5	8
126	126	Akron	12.319	5	7	5	7
127	125	UAB	12.366	4	8	4	8
128	128	Northern Illinois	13.247	3	9	3	9
129	129	UTEP	13.799	2	10	2	10
130	130	Louisiana Monroe	13.896	3	9	3	9
131	131	Georgia State	14.362	1	11	1	11
132	133	Ball State	15.539	4	8	4	8
133	132	Mid Tennessee	15.579	3	9	3	9
134	134	Charlotte	19.041	1	11	1	11
135	135	Sam Houston	20.191	2	10	2	10
136	136	UMass	26.807	0	12	0	12