A couple more weeks of action really shook up the NCAA and NIT bracket picture. Part of this is because while the "elite" teams aren't quite as good this season, there is a lot of depth in the 39-50 range of the predictive rankings, which is where the last bubble teams and the top seeds of the NIT can typically be found. Last season for instance teams like Texas A&M (#33 in KenPom), Wake Forest (#35), Dayton (#45), Mississippi St. (#49) and Xavier (#53) were all NIT teams.
This parity means that the bracket looks complete different this time around. A few teams in here are projected NCAA Tournament teams at the moment, but this projection is for the end of the season. That's why some power conference teams with poor power ratings slip into this bracket instead (ahem, Kentucky and LSU, ahem).
Last 8 NCAA Tournament: West Virginia, Wisconsin, Memphis, Penn St., Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Northwestern, Michigan
Not Projected to be .500: Villanova, Butler, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Washington, Washington St., Notre Dame, Colorado St., Wichita St.
NIT Bracket (bubble teams in italics):
1. Arizona St.
U. Loyola Marymount
4. UNLV
U. Georgia
3. Mississippi St.
U. UAB
2. Utah St.
U. BYU (dropped a line for geography)
1. Indiana
U. Syracuse
4. Utah
U. St. John's
3. Texas Tech
U. Sam Houston St.
2. UCF
U. Charlotte
1. Pittsburgh
U. Saint Louis
4. Seton Hall
U. Oregon
3. Florida
U. North Texas
2. Oklahoma St.
U. Cincinnati
1. Wake Forest
U. VCU
4. Kentucky
U. Colorado
3. Maryland
U. LSU
2. USC
U. Santa Clara
Others Considered: Duquesne, Richmond, Hofstra, Tulane, Grand Canyon, Indiana St., UC Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Drake
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