NCAA Bracketology – 2023 March Madness men’s field predictions
RULES
ESPN’s Bracketology efforts are focused on projecting the NCAA Tournament court, just as we expect the NCAA Division I Basketball Committee to select the court in March. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi uses the same data points favored by the committee, including schedule strength and other metrics throughout the season, including NET and team roster data similar to this which is available to the NCAA, in its field projections. Visit the NCAA website for a better understanding of NCAA Selection Criteria.
Support for 68 teams
The 68-team pool is the standard version of the NCAA Tournament Field that has been in place since 2011. While the 2021 field is made up of 68 teams, there will, however, be a few key differences from previous years.
The main adjustment from a normal year is, of course, playing the entire NCAA tournament at one venue. This eliminates the need for geographic considerations in seeding. Additionally, there will be at least one less automatic qualifier this season, as the Ivy League’s decision to forfeit the 2020-21 season reduces the number of AQ entries to 31 for this season.
Support of 48 teams
In this projection, a condensed selection process would reduce the field by 10 general teams and 10 automatic qualifiers (the latter still receiving a unit of income). The top four seeds from each region would receive a bye to the second round, with four first-round matches per region – 5v12, 6v11, 7v10 and 8v9 – played without fans on the pitch. of the top seed.
To minimize travel, first-round matches will be guided by geography whenever possible. And the reduced field translates to just 32 teams competing at the central site. All participants must post a minimum conference record of 0.500 – the “Lunardi rule” – for general consideration.
Support for 16 teams
In this projection, the committee selects and ranks the best 16 teams available. There is no automatic qualification, although all non-competing conference champions receive the designated revenue unit.
To maintain a certain national balance, participation in the conference is limited to four teams. And no region should have more than one team from the same conference.