2015 NCAA Tournament Bracket: Latest Projection of the Field of 68

For the first time in at least a month, there's no debate about the No. 1 seeds in our latest projection of the field for the 2015 NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Or is there?

No, our No. 1 seeds haven't changed—we already had Kentucky, Virginia, Duke and Villanova on the top line last week, before Gonzaga and Wisconsin suffered losses—but the order of those four teams is open for debate.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Texas finally beat a quality team to remain in the projected field, but the Longhorns are still on the bubble along with new additions Boise State and BYU—those two teams replaced Illinois and Temple.

Three minor conference tournaments begin on Tuesday, in case you weren't aware just how close we are to Selection Sunday. How much more will change in those remaining 12 days?

The three primary computer metrics considered in this projection are RPI, KenPom.com (KP) and strength of schedule (SOS), though Sagarin and BPI ratings are also taken into consideration for a more holistic view of each team's resume. And, of course, the oft-mentioned, never-quantifiable eye test was part of the seeding process.

As always, we'll take a look at the last five teams to make the field, the first five out and a few on the horizon.

After that, we'll present each seeded region, including the subregional locations in which each pod would be played, and some commentary on each region. Then we'll defend the rankings of the No. 1 seeds, followed by a summary of the entire field broken up by conference.

Last 5 In

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Last Team In: BYU Cougars (21-8, RPI: 39, KP: 26, SOS: 76)

Well look what the cougar dragged in! BYU finally picked up that much-needed marquee win over Gonzaga, and was even able to do so in "The Kennel."

The question, though, is did the Cougars do too much damage to themselves before then? Losing four WCC games to teams other than Gonzaga is never going to look pretty, so getting swept by Pepperdine and losing at San Diego could cause some problems. And it certainly doesn't help that their only win over a team projected for the field was Saturday's win over Gonzaga.

But in comparing bubble teams head-to-head, those home wins over Stanford and Massachusetts could come in handy.

We shall see what happens in the WCC tournament. A win over Saint Mary's in the semifinals before a loss to Gonzaga in the championship just might be enough for BYU to sneak in, but this is bound to be one of the most hotly debated tournament resumes for a fourth consecutive season.

(A quick note on BYU's seed: Because the Cougars are not allowed to play on Sundays, the options for where to place them in the field are quite limited. Introducing the Last Four In element makes it nearly impossible. So, although their true seed would put them in the first-round game on the No. 12 line, they ended up instead at No. 11 because it was the only possible place to put them.)

Second-to-Last: Cincinnati Bearcats (20-9, RPI: 51, KP: 42, SOS: 73)

No change this week for Cincinnati, as the Bearcats merely won a pair of games against two of the worst teams in the AAC.

They do, however, have an absolutely massive bubble game at Tulsa on Wednesday night before closing out the season with a home game against Memphis. Winning both games might not quite lock up Cincinnati's bid, but it would provide a little bit of wiggle room heading into the AAC tournament.

Third-to-Last: Ole Miss Rebels (19-10, RPI: 47, KP: 40, SOS: 35)

The latest victim of bubble cannibalism, Ole Miss dropped 13 spots this week after losses to both Georgia and LSU.

As is often the case at this point in the year, they weren't horrible losses so much as they were blown opportunities and minor additions to a loss column that was already taking on a good bit of water. The Rebels still have those road wins over Arkansas and Oregon, but 3-7 versus RPI Top 50 teams with three bad home losses (TCU, Charleston Southern and Western Kentucky) reduces the margin of error to zero.

Even if they take care of business against Alabama and Vanderbilt this week, Ole Miss is still going to be very much on the bubble heading into the SEC tournament.

Fourth-to-Last: Texas Longhorns (18-12, RPI: 46, KP: 21, SOS: 9)

Contrary to popular opinion among bracketologists, even if Texas had lost to Baylor on Monday night, the Longhorns were going to remain in my projected field—if only because the options for replacing Texas are quite dreadful.

Here's the big thing working in Texas' favor: No bad losses.

Yes, the Longhorns had lost eight consecutive games against the RPI Top 50. Yes, they have a whopping three wins against teams projected to make the field.

But shouldn't a 15-0 record against teams outside the RPI Top 60 count for something? Particularly in a season where Ohio State and Texas A&M are the only other teams under consideration below the top six seed lines without at least one loss to a team outside the RPI Top 100?

Every bubble resume has warts, and though Texas is racking up losses, the Longhorns haven't been blown out in more than a month. Margin of victory/defeat means nothing, but it certainly helps Texas in the eye test department as a team repeatedly coming close to beating AP Top 25 teams.

Fifth-to-Last: Boise State Broncos (20-7, RPI: 30, KP: 37, SOS: 99)

It was a pretty great weekend for bubble teams from west of the Rockies playing road games. BYU knocked off Gonzaga, Oregon toppled Stanford and Boise State finished off the season sweep of San Diego State.

(Let's not talk about Saint Mary's losing at Santa Clara, though.)

Coupled with the home win over New Mexico, Boise State improved to 20-7 to jump into first place in the Mountain West standings.

There are still a handful of ugly losses on this resume—at Fresno State, vs. Utah State, neutral court against Loyola (IL)—but if recency means anything anymore, it's hard not to love a team that has won 12 of its last 13 games. During that stretch, Derrick Marks has averaged an incredible 23.2 points per game.

First 5 Out

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First Team Out: Tulsa Golden Hurricane (21-6, RPI: 37, KP: 65, SOS: 119)

A lot of people are avoiding this debate by simply awarding Tulsa the automatic bid for being in first place in the AAC, but homie don't play that. Conference record or not, SMU is the best team in the AAC, and therefore projected for the auto bid.

Could the Golden Hurricane win the AAC tournament? Absolutely. But it's quite the cop-out to put them in the field without a discussion just because of a half-game lead in a category that doesn't even remotely get considered by the selection committee.

Having addressed that, let's now take a look at a resume with nary a win over a team projected to make the tournament, four relatively lopsided losses to teams that are projected to make the tournament, a terrible official loss to Oral Roberts and a really terrible unofficial loss to D-II Southeast Oklahoma State.

Even if we're willing and able to ignore the D-II loss, what about this resume is supposed to appeal to us?

The Golden Hurricane finish the regular season with games against Cincinnati and SMU. It would be in their best interest to win both of them.

Second Team Out: Kansas State Wildcats (15-15, RPI: 76, KP: 80, SOS: 12)

Welcome to the polar opposite of Tulsa's resume.

The Golden Hurricane only have six D-I losses, but they have only played three games against the RPI Top 35, losing each of them.

Kansas State has 15 D-I losses, but the Wildcats are 5-7 versus RPI Top 35 teams, including a sweep of Oklahoma and home wins over Kansas, Baylor and Iowa State. The problems, though, are the five losses to teams outside the RPI Top 100 and the five home wins against teams outside the RPI Top 275.

But—according to one of the members of the actual selection committee who was present at the mock bracket in February—who you beat is more important than who beat you, and Kansas State is tied with Kentucky and Baylor for the third-most wins against the RPI Top 25.

Third Team Out: Temple Owls (20-9, RPI: 39, KP: 62, SOS: 65)

The good news: Temple finishes the regular season at East Carolina and home versus Connecticut with a chance to improve to 22-9 overall—quite the transformation from last year's 9-22 team.

The bad news: Neither one of those games is going to add to Temple's "list" of one win against the RPI Top 50. Take out the games played against teams outside the RPI Top 150 and Temple currently has a 6-8 record, including that ugly 55-39 loss to Tulsa a little over a week ago that resulted in a season sweep at the hands of another bubbly team.

There's a pretty good chance the Owls will be facing Connecticut twice in a row, with the second coming in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 game of the AAC tournament. Win them both, and they'll have a strengthened-but-still-not-stellar argument for a bid.

Fourth Team Out: UCLA Bruins (18-12, RPI: 52, KP: 52, SOS: 25)

Thanks to the sweep of Stanford, UCLA still ranks slightly ahead of its Pac-12 foe, but home wins over Washington and Washington State this week really did nothing to help the Bruins' case for a bid.

Unless something chaotic happens down the stretch, we should be looking at a Pac-12 tournament with UCLA as the No. 4 seed and Stanford at No. 5. If the Bruins can improve to 3-0 against the Cardinal before putting up a valiant fight against Arizona in the semifinals, it'll at least be enough to keep them in the conversation.

Fifth Team Out: Stanford Cardinal (18-10, RPI: 56, KP: 38, SOS: 68)

If you were wondering how much Stanford was hurt by failing to beat Oregon on Sunday night, the answer is catastrophically.

As just noted, Stanford is likely headed for a shot at redemption against UCLA in the conference tournament. But the Cardinal had better keep their eyes on the present, because they have two very difficult road games against Arizona State and Arizona before that Pac-12 tournament can even begin.

Frankly, they need to win at least one game against Arizona—either on Saturday or in the conference tournament. With Texas just barely hanging onto a spot in the RPI Top 50, Stanford is just barely hanging onto one win against the RPI Top 50. And with three bad losses on the resume, one win over a fringe Top 50 team isn't going to cut it.

On the Horizon

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Welcome to the "Please, for the love of all that is holy, never expand the field to 96 teams" portion of the program.

It's tough enough to find 68 deserving teams with five others just barely missing the cut. Trying to find others who belong in the conversation is downright painful. Nevertheless, here are a few teams that could conceivably play their way into the field, presented in alphabetical order by school.

Connecticut Huskies (17-11, RPI: 69, KP: 56, SOS: 74)

Connecticut has four relatively quality wins—a neutral-court win over Dayton and three home games in conference against Cincinnati, SMU and Tulsa—and just that one ugly loss at Houston. If the Huskies can close out the regular season with wins over Memphis and Temple before winning at least one game in the AAC tournament, it's possible they could be back to defend their crown.

Illinois Fighting Illini (18-11, RPI: 58, KP: 57, SOS: 57)

That neutral-court win over Baylor just keeps getting sweeter, and the home win over Maryland doesn't hurt either. As a result, Illinois is probably the closest to the field out of the teams in this section. However, the Illini probably need to win the remaining games against Nebraska and Purdue to have a strong case heading into the Big Ten tournament.

Miami Hurricanes (18-11, RPI: 70, KP: 66, SOS: 66)

If it comes down to a debate between just a handful of teams and Miami is still in the conversation, that 16-point win at Duke is going to carry a lot of weight. Unfortunately, the rest of the resume might not be good enough to keep the Hurricanes that close. At the very least, they need to win their remaining road games against Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech.

Minnesota Golden Gophers (16-12, RPI: 78, KP: 53, SOS: 64)

A win over Wisconsin on Thursday wouldn't be enough to vault the Golden Gophers into the field, but it would certainly be enough to put them back on the national radar. They do already have five RPI Top 60 wins, including last week's road win over Michigan State.

Pittsburgh Panthers (18-11, RPI: 49, KP: 76, SOS: 38)

The Panthers failed both the computer and eye tests on Sunday night, looking terrible down the stretch in an ill-advised loss to Wake Forest. Even with the recent wins over North Carolina and Notre Dame, they have some serious work to do.

Rhode Island Rams (19-7, RPI: 67, KP: 54, SOS: 180)

Having just seven losses keeps them in the conversation. Having no RPI Top 50 wins and two RPI Sub 100 losses keeps them very much on the fringe of the conversation. A road win over Dayton on Tuesday would be huge, but the Rams would need to knock off at least one other quality team in the A-10 tournament to have a shot.

Richmond Spiders (17-12, RPI: 65, KP: 58, SOS: 34)

Sweeping VCU looks great, but the Spiders haven't done much outside of beating up on the Rams without Briante Weber. Winning remaining games against Massachusetts and Saint Louis is non-negotiable. Reach the A-10 semifinals and maybe we'll talk.

Seton Hall Pirates (16-12, RPI: 72, KP: 82, SOS: 62)

It's a stretch given their quality of play over the last two months, but the Pirates still have games against Providence and Georgetown before the Big East tournament. If they catch fire for three or four games, there's still a chance.

Syracuse Orange (18-12, RPI: 57, KP: 60, SOS: 50)

I'm well aware Syracuse self-imposed a postseason ban, but I just wanted to take this opportunity to point out to the "Oh, they only did that because they had no hope of making the tournament" folks that the Orange would be very much in the bubble conversation, thanks to recent wins over Louisville and Notre Dame and no losses to teams outside the RPI Top 100.

East Region (Syracuse)

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Charlotte, North Carolina

No. 1 Virginia (28-1, RPI: 3, KP: 3, SOS: 30)
No. 16 Bucknell/St. Francis (NY) (First Four)

No. 8 Iowa (19-10, RPI: 48, KP: 25, SOS: 28)
No. 9 Georgia (19-9, RPI: 32, KP: 35, SOS: 47)

Columbus, Ohio

No. 4 Wichita State (26-3, RPI: 11, KP: 10: SOS: 105)
No. 13 Harvard (Ivy League auto bid)

No. 5 Butler (21-8, RPI: 23, KP: 19, SOS: 45)
No. 12 Ole Miss/Texas (Last Five In)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

No. 3 Maryland (24-5, RPI: 10, KP: 34, SOS: 31)
No. 14 Valparaiso (Horizon League auto bid)

No. 6 Providence (20-9, RPI: 22, KP: 41, SOS: 11)
No. 11 Boise State (Last Five In)

Omaha, Nebraska

No. 2 Kansas (23-6, RPI: 2, KP: 12, SOS: 1)
No. 15 New Mexico State (WAC auto bid)

No. 7 St. John's (19-9, RPI: 28, KP: 36, SOS: 33)
No. 10 North Carolina State (17-12, RPI: 50, KP: 43, SOS: 5)

Stock Up: St. John's Red Storm (Up 10 Spots; Three Lines)

For a solid five weeks at the start of the Big East season, St. John's couldn't catch a break. Though they swept Providence during that stretch, the Red Storm lost seven out of 10 games, destroying a great start of the season that led them to climb as high as No. 15 in the AP Top 25. For many, they were out of the projected field with minimal hope of a return.

But getting blown out by Butler apparently knocked something loose, because St. John's has won six of its last seven games, including sweeping Xavier and splitting games with Georgetown.

Though the Red Storm did pick up a couple of unfortunate losses to Creighton and DePaul during their rough patch, those road conference losses don't even remotely carry the same weight as their five RPI Top 50 wins and nine RPI Top 80 wins.

If they lose to Marquette on Wednesday night before taking a beating at Villanova on Saturday, we may need to revisit their resume before the start of the Big East tournament. However, as long as St. John's doesn't start a three-game losing streak, it's almost impossible to see the Red Storm missing the tournament.

And good for them. D'Angelo Harrison has the quietest 2,117 career points in the history of East Coast college basketball, and he deserves a trip to the Big Dance before his outstanding collegiate career draws to a close.

Stock Down: North Carolina State Wolfpack (Down Four Spots; One Line)

We expected NC State to go 1-1 last week in its road games against North Carolina and Boston College, but not like that.

The Wolfpack picked up a huge win over their in-state rivals on Tuesday. It was their third win against the top five of the ACC and their fifth RPI Top 50 win. Even with 11 total losses, they had nothing worse than a close road loss to Wake Forest on their resume and were pretty comfortably in the field.

But then they lost to the Eagles. They didn't just lose the game, either; they were slaughtered by arguably the worst team in the conference by a 16-point margin, adding an ugly loss to a resume that was already toeing the line of having too many good losses.

NC State is still in the projected field, but not by a wide margin. A loss to Clemson or Syracuse in the final week of the season would put this team in some serious jeopardy.

Holding Steady: Providence Friars (Up One Spot; No Line Change)

Providence took quite the beating at the hands of Villanova last Tuesday, but that merely goes down as a road loss to a projected No. 1 seed. No harm done.

More important is that the Friars avoided a bad loss to Marquette on Sunday, kept the status quo for another week. They have a pair of tough games remaining against Seton Hall and Butler, but as long as they win one out of two, they'll have no reason to sweat on Selection Sunday, regardless of what happens in the Big East tournament.

Midwest Region (Cleveland)

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Louisville, Kentucky

No. 1 Kentucky (27-0, RPI: 1, KP: 1, SOS: 37)
No. 16 North Florida (Atlantic Sun auto bid)

No. 8 Oklahoma State (16-11, RPI: 43, KP: 33, SOS: 16)
No. 9 Michigan State (19-10, RPI: 31, KP: 20, SOS: 23)

Seattle, Washington

No. 4 North Carolina (20-9, RPI: 12, KP: 16, SOS: 2)
No. 13 Buffalo (MAC auto bid)

No. 5 Northern Iowa (27-3, RPI: 16, KP: 13, SOS: 134)
No. 12 Wofford (Southern auto bid)

Columbus, Ohio

No. 3 Iowa State (21-8, RPI: 17, KP: 17, SOS: 18)
No. 14 Eastern Washington (Big Sky auto bid)

No. 6 Georgetown (18-9, RPI: 24, KP: 22, SOS: 7)
No. 11 Purdue (19-10, RPI: 58, KP: 50, SOS: 80)

Omaha, Nebraska

No. 2 Wisconsin (26-3, RPI: 6, KP: 5, SOS: 20)
No. 15 North Carolina Central (MEAC auto bid)

No. 7 VCU (21-8, RPI: 19, KP: 31, SOS: 6)
No. 10 Oregon (21-8, RPI: 34, KP: 49, SOS: 70)

Stock Up: Oregon Ducks (Up Four Spots; One Line)

There were bigger, more noteworthy wins over the weekend, but perhaps none more important than Oregon's win at Stanford on Sunday night.

The Ducks have now picked up three consecutive quality wins—a home win over Utah and road wins over Cal and Stanford—to improve to 21-8 with nine RPI Top 100 wins. They were barely even in the bubble picture 10 days ago, but now they're a road win over Oregon State away from practically locking up a bid.

As Rob Dauster noted in his Bubble Banter for NBC Sports, "Their nonconference performance was completely forgettable, but at this point, as long as Oregon wins at least one more game—at Oregon State or in the Pac-12 tournament—I think they're in."

Stock Down: Michigan State Spartans (Down 10 Spots; Two Lines)

Even before the Spartans went 0-2 this past week against Minnesota and Wisconsin, I had already been using their resume as evidence that lesser-conference teams like Davidson and Boise State are worthy of more consideration than they were getting.

But now that the Spartans are 19-10 with no RPI Top 30 wins, no RPI Top 125 nonconference wins and bad losses to Nebraska and Texas Southern, it's hard not to wonder if Tom Izzo's team will even make an appearance in the final bracket.

The Spartans still have games remaining against Purdue and Indiana. Neither one will result in an RPI Top 30 win, but both could absolutely result in losses. If they're sitting at 20-11 or worse heading into the Big Ten tournament, let's just say it would be a bad idea to get knocked out in the first game.

Holding Steady: Iowa State Cyclones (Down One Spot; No Line Change)

Welcome to March, where 19-point halftime deficits hold no power over Hilton Magic.

To say the Cyclones were in danger of suffering a third consecutive loss on Monday night would be an egregious understatement. Oklahoma had opened up a "Change the channel and fall asleep on the couch to a rerun of Chopped" type of lead before Iowa State went on a 22-0 run midway through the second half to storm back to victory.

After a home loss to Baylor and a one-point road loss to Kansas State, it was a much-needed shot in the arm for a team that appeared to be limping to the finish line. Instead, the Cyclones might be a road win over TCU away from the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 tournament.

Great as Fred Hoiberg has been as their head coach over the past few seasons, it would be his first time finishing better than third place in the conference standings.

They might have a tough time getting back into the discussion for a No. 2 seed with that ugly loss to Texas Tech among their eight losses, but winning the Big 12 tournament would certainly be a giant step in the right direction.

South Region (Houston)

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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

No. 1 Villanova (27-2, RPI: 5, KP: 4, SOS: 40)
No. 16 Albany/William & Mary (First Four)

No. 8 Indiana (19-10, RPI: 42, KP: 47, SOS: 32)
No. 9 Colorado State (23-5, RPI: 26, KP: 74, SOS: 121)

Jacksonville, Florida

No. 4 Louisville (23-6, RPI: 15, KP: 14, SOS: 41)
No. 13 Iona (MAAC auto bid)

No. 5 West Virginia (22-7, RPI: 20, KP: 24, SOS: 51)
No. 12 Murray State (Ohio Valley auto bid)

Jacksonville, Florida

No. 3 Baylor (21-8, RPI: 8, KP: 9, SOS: 3)
No. 14 Georgia State (Sun Belt auto bid)

No. 6 SMU (22-6, RPI: 20, KP: 23, SOS: 55)
No. 11 Texas A&M (20-8, RPI: 38, KP: 39, SOS: 86)

Seattle, Washington

No. 2 Gonzaga (28-2, RPI: 9, KP: 6, SOS: 89)
No. 15 South Dakota State (Summit auto bid)

No. 7 San Diego State (21-7, RPI: 25, KP: 29, SOS: 77)
No. 10 Dayton (22-6, RPI: 29, KP: 46, SOS: 148)

Stock Up: Baylor Bears (Up Seven Spots; Two Lines)

It's been a long time since anyone entered the conversation for a No. 2 seed. One month ago, I had the same eight teams (in a different order) as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds as I do today, and I'm hardly in the minority in that boat.

But if they had defeated Texas on Monday night, the Bears would have made a very compelling case for a No. 2 seed. It would have been their eighth RPI Top 50 win and 13th RPI Top 100 win without a single bad loss.

Alas, they'll have to settle for being the second-best No. 3 seed. If they really want to jump a line, they'll likely get their shot at Kansas (currently our bottom No. 2 seed) in the Big 12 semifinals.

Stock Down: Texas A&M Aggies (Down Six Spots; Two Lines)

At some point, Texas A&M needs to actually beat someone.

Yes, the Aggies swept LSU, but they are otherwise 0-8 versus the RPI Top 81.

They don't have any bad losses. They don't have any great wins. It might be enough to get in, but it's a weak enough resume that a perfectly understandable loss to Arkansas on Tuesday caused the Aggies to slide closer to the cut line.

They might need to win both remaining games against Florida and Alabama to enter the SEC tournament with a little room to spare.

Holding Steady: Indiana Hoosiers (No Change)

ESPN's Jeff Goodman—an expert at many things basketball, but apparently not bracketology—responded to a Twitter follower on Monday afternoon that "(Indiana is) just barely on right side of bubble."

No need to fear, Hoosiers fans. With five RPI Top 50 wins and only two losses to teams outside the RPI Top 60, your team is pretty safely in the field.

The loss to Northwestern last Wednesday was hardly a good idea, but tournament movement never happens in a vacuum. Since last week's projection, three of the four teams who were seeded directly ahead of Indiana suffered at least one loss, as did four of the six teams previously seeded right behind the Hoosiers.

As it turns out, they picked a pretty good time to pick up their worst loss of the season and didn't move an inch up or down from last week.

Lose the remaining home games against Iowa and Michigan State and we'll need to talk about their spot on the bubble. For now, though, the Hoosiers remain in good shape.

West Region (Los Angeles)

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Charlotte, North Carolina

No. 1 Duke (26-3, RPI: 4, KP: 8, SOS: 10)
No. 16 High Point (Big South auto bid)

No. 8 Xavier (18-12, RPI: 41, KP: 27, SOS: 14)
No. 9 LSU (21-8, RPI: 45, KP: 28, SOS: 92)

Portland, Oregon

No. 4 Utah (21-6, RPI: 13, KP: 7, SOS: 27)
No. 13 Old Dominion (Conference USA auto bid)

No. 5 Notre Dame (24-5, RPI: 27, KP: 18, SOS: 129)
No. 12 Stephen F. Austin (Southland auto bid)

Louisville, Kentucky

No. 3 Oklahoma (20-9, RPI: 14, KP: 11, SOS: 21)
No. 14 UC Davis (Big West auto bid)

No. 6 Arkansas (23-6, RPI: 18, KP: 30, SOS: 67)
No. 11 BYU/Cincinnati (Last Four In)

Portland, Oregon

No. 2 Arizona (26-3, RPI: 7, KP: 2, SOS: 46)
No. 15 Texas Southern (SWAC auto bid)

No. 7 Ohio State (21-8, RPI: 33, KP: 15, SOS: 88)
No. 10 Davidson (20-6, RPI: 36, KP: 32, SOS: 131)

Stock Up: LSU Tigers (Up Eight Spots; Two Lines)

LSU has its fair share of pitiful losses this season, but in beating Ole Miss this weekend, the Tigers improved to 11-5 versus RPI Top 100 teams.

The full list of teams with at least 11 RPI Top 100 wins is as follows: Kentucky, Virginia, Villanova, Duke, Arizona, Wisconsin, Kansas, Baylor, Iowa State and LSU—otherwise known as four No. 1 seeds, three No. 2 seeds, two No. 3 seeds and LSU.

Granted, more than half of LSU's Top 100 wins are against teams ranked 83 or lower, and only one came against a team in the Top 30. Still, the Tigers have been impressive far more often than they have not, even if the losses to Auburn, Missouri and Mississippi State are the LSU games most vividly stored in your memory bank.

Stock Down: Utah Utes (Down Three Spots; One Line)

As an entire college basketball nation, we've been hesitant to really inspect Utah's resume, instead allowing blowout Pac-12 win after blowout Pac-12 win to suffice as evidence that the Utes belong in or near the Top 10 in the country.

But now, after losses to Oregon and Arizona in the span of six days, we're starting to question just how much weight the decimation of teams like Colorado and USC actually carries.

Take those margins of victory out of the equation—as RPI is wont to do—and we're left with a team that has just a 4-6 record versus RPI Top 75 teams and a 1-4 record versus RPI Top 25 teams.

That doesn't put them even remotely in danger of slipping to the bubble, but do they really deserve a No. 3 seed with those records against those teams?

Holding Steady: Davidson Wildcats (Up One Spot; No Line Change)

The time has come for my weekly "What more do you want?" rant for everyone still hesitating to say that Davidson belongs in the field.

After key wins over Rhode Island and George Washington, the Wildcats are now 20-6 with seven straight wins, seven RPI Top 100 wins (four on the road) and just two disappointing-but-somewhat-understandable losses to Saint Joseph's and St. Bonaventure without Jack Gibbs.

Their nonconference schedule was very much feast or famine. They lost competitive games to Virginia and North Carolina and played nobody else in the RPI Top 125, but if Notre Dame is still (apparently) in the conversation for a No. 3 seed with a nonconference strength of schedule that ranks 329th in the nation, why is everyone so quick to dismiss Davidson from the projected field for one that ranks 234th?

This is an outstanding team that would be the No. 1 seed in the A-10 tournament if it started today. Even if the Wildcats lose to VCU on Thursday before beating Duquesne on Saturday, you'll have a hard time convincing me this isn't one of the 36 best at-large resumes out there.

Ranking the No. 1 Seeds

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No. 4 Duke Blue Devils (26-3, RPI: 4, KP: 8, SOS: 10)

See below.

No. 3 Villanova Wildcats (27-2, RPI: 5, KP: 4, SOS: 40)

Thank you, Gonzaga and Wisconsin, for temporarily ending the debate over the final No. 1 seed by each suffering a loss in the past week.

But because it wouldn't be March without some sort of argument involving the teams on the top line, here's one that's much more appropriate than trying to say there's a fifth team more deserving than any of these four: Does Villanova have a better resume than Duke?

If we focus solely on the wins, the Blue Devils are arguably better off than the Wildcats.

Villanova does have six RPI Top 25 wins, but they're all against teams ranked 19-25. Duke has four wins against the RPI Top 15, and three of those came on the road. So while Villanova has a slight edge in number of RPI Top 25 and RPI Top 50 wins, Duke's best wins are considerably more impressive than Villanova's.

However, bring the losses into the equation and the playing field seems to tilt in Villanova's favor.

We can effectively cancel out their "best" losses. Whether it was by 20 points or not, Villanova's loss at Georgetown is pretty much identical to Duke's loss at Notre Dame in the eyes of the almighty RPI.

But if you do want to mention the difference in point margins in those games, be sure to note that what's left in the loss columns are Villanova's overtime loss at Seton Hall and Duke's losses by double digits to Miami (at home) and North Carolina State.

It's a tough call to make, but if they both slip up in the semifinals of their respective conference tournaments and we're trying to decide which team should be replaced by an Arizona, Gonzaga or Wisconsin on the top line, let's make sure to actually compare Duke and Villanova side-by-side before kicking one to the curb.

No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers (28-1, RPI: 3, KP: 3, SOS: 30)

While we eternally wait with bated breath for news on when Justin Anderson will be able to return to the court, Virginia was able to go 7-0 through a minefield of potential bad losses without what had been its most important player for the first three months of the season, securing its second consecutive outright ACC regular-season championship in the process.

The Wahoos still have a tough game remaining against Louisville, but a loss to the Cardinals wouldn't knock them off the top line. It probably wouldn't even cause them to drop from No. 2 overall—not with seven true road wins against the RPI Top 75 already to their name.

As long as they don't suffer a completely inexplicable loss in the ACC tournament—highly unlikely, considering the double-bye format—the Cavaliers will be a No. 1 seed for a second straight year.

No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats (29-0, RPI: 1, KP: 1, SOS: 37)

Normally, the primary rule for filling out multiple brackets is to diversify your picks for national champion, but it's hard to remember a time when a team was expected to win the NCAA tournament this strongly.

By mid-February, many were already asking whether Kentucky or "the field" is more likely to win the tournament, and the best argument against picking Kentucky had nothing to do with this season and everything to do with the perennial unpredictability of March Madness.

In case you had forgotten during the doldrums of the SEC season, the Wildcats reasserted their dominance with a blowout win over Arkansas over the weekend. Only 11 more wins until 40-0.

Seeding by Conference

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In case seeded regions aren't for you and you just want to know where the "top" 68 teams stand in relation to one another, here is the list of each team's overall seed, broken out by conference (First Five Out in italics).

American: 21. SMU; 46. Cincinnati; 69. Tulsa; 70. Temple

Atlantic 10: 25. VCU; 37. Davidson; 38. Dayton

ACC: 2. Virginia; 4. Duke; 15. Louisville; 16. North Carolina; 20. Notre Dame; 39. North Carolina State

Big 12: 8. Kansas; 10. Iowa State; 11. Baylor; 12. Oklahoma; 17. West Virginia; 29. Oklahoma State; 44. Texas; 71. Kansas State

Big East: 3. Villanova; 18. Butler; 23. Providence; 24. Georgetown; 27. St. John's; 31. Xavier

Big Ten: 6. Wisconsin; 9. Maryland; 28. Ohio State; 30. Indiana; 32. Iowa; 36. Michigan State; 42. Purdue

Missouri Valley: 14. Wichita State; 19. Northern Iowa

Mountain West: 26. San Diego State; 34. Colorado State; 43. Boise State

Pac-12: 5. Arizona; 13. Utah; 40. Oregon; 72. UCLA; 73. Stanford

SEC: 1. Kentucky; 22. Arkansas; 33. LSU; 35. Georgia; 41. Texas A&M; 45. Ole Miss

West Coast: 7. Gonzaga; 47 BYU

Other: 48. Murray State; 49. Stephen F. Austin; 50. Wofford; 51. Harvard; 52. Iona; 53. Old Dominion; 54. Buffalo; 55. Valparaiso; 56. UC Davis; 57. Georgia State; 58. Eastern Washington; 59. South Dakota State; 60. North Carolina Central; 61. New Mexico State; 62. Texas Southern; 63. North Florida; 64. High Point; 65. William & Mary; 66. Albany; 67. Bucknell; 68. St. Francis (NY)

Statistics on the following slides courtesy of ESPN.com and KenPom.com. RPI, KP and SOS numbers current through the start of play on March 2. Win-loss records include only games against D-I opponents and are current through the start of play on March 3.

Though there was an updated bracket posted on Friday afternoon, all mentions of movement on the following slides are in comparison to last Monday's projected field.

Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter at @kerrancejames.