Field of 68 Projection: Only 43 Days Until It All Starts to Unfold

[SelectionSunday]

MIGHTY WILDCATS, U.S.A. -- To help Gopher fans get their minds off last night's gut-punch football loss to the mighty Northwestern Wildcats, let's peak forward (again) to the 2023-24 college basketball season. It's only 43 days until Gopher basketball undoubtedly takes all of our angst away (wink, wink).

So in anticipation of the season let's do another "Field of 68" projection. We'll figure out later if there's another projection before the season kicks off Nov. 6 at The Barn vs. the equally mighty Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman.

The SEC leads the way this time with 8 projected NCAA Tournament bids. The B1G and Big XII follow with 7 apiece, while other multiple-bid conferences include the ACC (6), Big East (6), Pac 12 (4), Mountain West (3), American (2), and WCC (2).

Automatic qualifiers from multiple-bid conferences are noted in bold/italic.

FIELD OF 68 PROJECTION (9/24/23)
America East (1): Vermont

American (2): FAU, Memphis

ACC (6): Clemson, Duke, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest

ASUN (1): Eastern Kentucky

Atlantic 10 (1): Fordham

Big East (6): Creighton, Marquette, Providence, Saint John's, UConn, Villanova

Big Sky (1): Eastern Washington

Big South (1): Radford

B1G (7): Illinois, Maryland, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers, Wisconsin

Big XII (7): Baylor, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Texas, Texas Tech, West Virginia

Big West (1): UCSB

Coastal (1): College of Charleston

Conference USA (1): Sam Houston State

Horizon (1): Northern Kentucky

Ivy (1): Yale

MAAC (1): Siena

MAC (1): Akron

MEAC (1): Norfolk State

Missouri Valley (1): Drake

Mountain West (3): Boise State, New Mexico, San Diego State

NEC (1): Merrimack

OVC (1): Morehead State

Pac 12 (4): Arizona, Colorado, UCLA, USC

Patriot (1): Colgate

SEC (8): Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M

SoCon (1): Furman

Southland (1): Northwestern State

SWAC (1): Texas Southern

Summit (1): South Dakota State

Sun Belt (1): Marshall

WCC (2): Gonzaga, Saint Mary's

WAC (1): Grand Canyon
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Last 4 In: Rutgers, New Mexico, Providence, Wake Forest (last team in)

First 4 Out: Indiana (first team out), UAB, Syracuse, Mississippi State

Non-Power 6 At-Larges (4): FAU, Gonzaga, New Mexico, San Diego State

12 to Watch: Arizona State, Bradley, Cincinnati, Dayton, Iowa State, Liberty, Northwestern, Oregon, San Francisco, TCU, Toledo, UNC-Asheville
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Final 4: Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, Purdue

NCAA Champ: Michigan State

NIT Champ: TCU

CBI Champ: Saint Thomas