March Madness 2017: Top Bracketology Predictions from Around the Web

Championship Week is in full swing as teams are vying to earn automatic bids into the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Let's take a look at the latest projections from Jerry Palm of CBS Sports, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report and Joe Lunardi of ESPN and discuss their takes on the top seeds, bubble teams and conference breakdowns.

No Debate on No. 1 Seeds...For Now

All three analysts agree that Gonzaga, North Carolina, Kansas and Villanova sit on the top line right now, but it's possible that another team sneaks into the top four by Selection Sunday. Here's Miller with more on the topic:

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In descending order, Villanova, Kansas, North Carolina and Gonzaga are our projected No. 1 seeds, but there are about a dozen teams that could still jump onto the top line depending on how things shake out in the major conference tournaments.

Any one of Oregon, Arizona or UCLA could get up there by winning the Pac-12 tournament. Baylor would look great with a deep run in the Big 12 tourney. Either Florida or Kentucky would have great resumes by winning the SEC tournament. And in the ACC, Louisville, Florida State, Duke, Virginia and perhaps even Notre Dame could still play its way into a No. 1 seed.

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Kentucky and Oregon figure to be the two teams with the best chance to sneak into a No. 1 seed should one win their respective conference tournaments for three reasons.

First, they are the only two teams that are No. 2 seeds in all three projections. Second, they each won their regular-season conference titles. Finally, they each won games against top teams this year (Oregon beat UCLA and Arizona, and Kentucky defeated Florida and North Carolina).

That being said, Gonzaga, which finished 32-1 overall, almost certainly has a No. 1 seed locked up after it beat No. 19 Saint Mary's 74-56 in the West Coast Conference final. That leaves one fewer spot open for another team to sneak in, and that door will be completely shut if UNC, Villanova and Kansas win their conference tourneys.

Mid-Majors vs. Majors

This seems to be a debate every single season: Should a major that struggled during conference play make the field over a mid-major who dominated all season but did not win its conference title?

The selection committee won't be able to avoid that question this season, as Illinois State went 27-6 in the regular season and won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title. However, the Redbirds faltered in the conference championship game, losing 71-51 to Wichita State.

Right now, Lunardi has them in, but Palm and Miller have them out. Here's Palm's rationale for leaving the Redbirds out of the NCAA tournament:

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The Redbirds won a share of the Missouri Valley regular-season title, which in most years would mean they did enough to earn an at-large bid if they needed one. That is not the case this season, with the league at its lowest point in over a decade. ISU has only two top-100 wins, which usually is not enough. It also has a couple bad losses, including a real clunker at Murray State.

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Another team that will cause a lot of debate: Rhode Island.

The Rams play in the Atlantic 10, which isn't considered a mid-major (the Sagarin ratings list the A-10 as being the eighth-strongest conference in men's college basketball) but also isn't on par with leagues like the ACC and Big East.

Therefore, URI, which finished tied for third in the A-10, is fighting majors who finished in the middle (or bottom half) of their conference for spots in the NCAA tournament field.

URI is one of the last teams in for Palm and Miller and one of the last teams out for Lunardi.

Elsewhere, a bunch of middling teams in major conferences are jockeying for position. Kansas State, Iowa and Xavier are just three teams that all three bracket experts believe sit squarely on the bubble right now.

ACC and Big East Rule the Field

The ACC will likely have the most teams in the field this year, as more than half of the 15 schools in that conference are almost assured of NCAA tournament bids.

The conference won't match (or eclipse) the record 11 teams the Big East sent to March Madness in 2011, but it will come close.

Lunardi has 10 ACC teams in the mix, and Palm and Miller think nine will make it.

However, the league that will have the highest percentage of its teams make the field is the Big East. Right now, Lunardi, Palm and Miller have seven Big East teams in. That means a whopping 70 percent of the Big East would be playing in the NCAA tournament.

It is a remarkable achievement for a conference that went through a dramatic overhaul after many talented teams left the Big East for other leagues this decade.