Bracket Forecast: Wake Forest falls out, Kansas rises to 1-seed
Wake Forest's loss to Boston College last Thursday has evolved from an unsightly blemish into a potentially season-ending nightmare.
The Demon Deacons were in a comfortable spot in the NCAA Tournament projections from FOX Sports bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy before ACC tournament play began, but another defeat to B.C. in the second round, not to mention a number of surging bubble teams, has knocked Wake Forest out of DeCourcy's bracket just one day from Selection Sunday.
As of Saturday morning, DeCourcy lists Wake along with Virginia Tech, Texas A&M and Oklahoma in his "First Four Out" group, while Xavier, Southern Methodist, Wyoming and Rutgers appear in his "Last Four In."
Oklahoma suffered a heart-wrenching defeat to Texas Tech on Friday night after failing to corral the rebound off a free throw, leaving the Sooners as DeCourcy's third team out with no remaining games. Meanwhile, Texas A&M continued its improbable run to tournament contention, soundly beating top-seeded Auburn. The Aggies likely secured an NCAA bid with their win over Arkansas Saturday afternoon in the SEC semifinals.
Kansas (27-6) took advantage of Auburn's slip-up Friday, sliding into a No. 1 seed along with Baylor (26-6), Arizona (30-3) and Gonzaga (26-3) in DeCourcy's projections. Auburn (27-5), Duke (27-5), Kentucky (26-6) and Wisconsin (24-7) all command 2-seeds.
The Big Ten has the most representatives in DeCourcy's compilation, leading the way with nine teams, while the Big East has seven teams in the field and the Big 12 and SEC each have six teams. The ACC and the Mountain West have four, and Pac-12, WCC and AAC boast three apiece.
Here's DeCourcy's full breakdown:
