2022 CSJ Sagarin NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament Projections-Mar. 12

The CSJ’s NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament using the Sagarin rankings to field of the 68 teams that make-up the tournament. This is the last projection before the actual bracket is announced later today (Sunday. March 13) evening.

Gonzaga is projected to not only a #1 seed but the top seed overall in this year’s tournament.

Another High Major team in Houston is also projected as a #2 seed.

A total of 12 High Major and 20 Mid-Major teams are projected to make the Field of 68 teams in this projection.

We use the Sagarin rankings to select our Top 25 teams currently for our Mid-Major poll and High Major poll.

Automatic Qualifiers

The following are the Division I conference champions so far with five more title game taking place on Sunday before the NCAA Tournament is announced.

Ohio Valley Conference: Murray State Racers (30-2)

Big South Conference: Longwood Lancers (26-6)

Missouri Valley Conference: Loyola Chicago Ramblers (25-7)

Sun Belt Conference: Georgia State Panthers (18-10)

Southern Conference: Chattanooga Mocs (27-7)

Atlantic Sun Conference: Jacksonville State Gamecocks (21-10)

Horizon League: Wright State Raiders (21-13)

Colonial Athletic Association: Delaware Blue Hens (22-12)

Northeastern Conference: Bryant Bulldogs (22-9)

Summit League: South Dakota State Jackrabbits (30-4)

West Coast Conference: Gonzaga Bulldogs (26-3)

Patriot League: Colgate Raiders (23-11)

America East Conference: Vermont Catamounts (28-5)

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Norfolk State Spartans (24-6)

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference: Saint Peter’s (19-11)

Big 12 Conference: Kansas Jayhawks (27-6)

Mountain West Conference: Boise State Broncos (27-7)

Southwestern Athletic Conference: Texas Southern Tigers (18-12)

Big East Conference: Villanova Wildcats (26-7)

Mid-American Conference: Akron Zips (24-9)

Big Sky Conference: Montana State Bobcats (27-7)

Atlantic Coast Conference: Virginia Tech Hokies (23-12)

Conference USA: UAB Blazers (27-7)

Pac-12 Conference: Arizona Wildcats (31-3)

Southland Conference: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (23-11)

Western Athletic Conference: New Mexico State Aggies (26-6)

Big West Conference: CSU Fullerton Titans (21-10)

SUNDAY’S CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TITLE GAMES

Ivy League: Yale vs. Princeton, 12;00 EDT (ESPN2)

Atlantic 10 Conference: Richmond vs. Davidson, 2:00 EDT (CBS)

Southeastern Conference: Texas A&M vs. Tennessee, 2:00 EDT (ESPN)

American Athletic Conference: Memphis vs. Houston, 3:15 EDT (ESPN)

Big Ten Conference: Iowa vs. Purdue, 3:30 EDT (CBS)

The bid stealers in the group could be Richmond and Texas A&M if they win. The Ivy League will get just one Their opponents of Davidson and Tennessee are projected to get in. The Ivy League will get just one. The other conferences have both championship squads solidly in the field as at-larges.

Here is a look at the championship squads in the Sagrin rakings. The ones highlighted in YELLOW are what we categorize as Mid-Major conferences. The ones highlighted in GREEN are ones we categorize as High-Major conferences. And the ones highlighted in BLUE are ones we categorize as Major conferences. The five open bids yet are not bolded and the higher ranked team in the championship game is shown.

Click on the graphic for a larger view.

Field of 68

The following are the 68 teams based on the Sagarin rankings and using the 32 automatic qualifiers (and the 36 at-large qualifiers. Note just as above, the teams highlighted in YELLOW are ones from Mid-Major conferences, in GREEN are High Major conferences, and in BLUE are from Major conferences.

Click on the graphic for a larger view.

Each of the seeds are highlighted for the four regions with the exception of the #11 and #16 seeds, which have more teams as those are the seeds in these projections that would play in the First Four games.  The eight First Four teams are highlighted on the left in ORANGE and in italics.  These teams are the last four at-large teams and the last four automatic qualifying teams.

All the Mid-Major conferences are projecting just the conference champions as qualifiers and no at-large selections.

The High Major conferences, however, have three leagues with multiple selections in the West Coast Conference, Mountain West Conference, and American Athletic Conference. The WCC has three with Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, and San Francisco. The Mountain West has three with San Diego State, Colorado State, and Boise State. The AAC also has three in the field in Houston, Memphis and SMU.

The first eight out has three High Major teams just out. BYU out of the WCC is the first team left out while two Atlantic 10 teams in Saint Louis and VCU are also out.

High Major and Mid-Major schools are as follows as the top 14 seeded schools:

#1 seed -- Gonzaga (High) (1st overall)
#2 seed -- Houston (High)
#5 seed -- Memphis (High)
#6 seed -- Saint Mary's (High)
#8 seed -- San Diego State (High)
#9 seed -- San Francisco (High)
#9 seed -- Loyola Chicago (High) 
#10 seed -- Colorado State (High)
#10 seed -- Boise State (High)
#11 seed -- SMU (High)
#12 seed -- UAB (High)
#12 seed -- Davidson (High)
#12 seed -- Murray State (Mid)
#12 seed -- South Dakota State (Mid)