FQ Bracketology: Carter Hill’s Field of 68 Heading Into Championship Week

Photo courtesy of Gonzaga athletics

March is so special for so many reasons. 

You can feel the madness in the air as the spring arrives: the buzzer-beaters flying, the upsets no longer uncommon, and the true magic in participating as the world’s most prestigious tournament for any sport. 

The hype is unlike any other sporting event in the United States. There’s no other game/event that folks skip work in masses like it’s a holiday, and where sports bars thrive around noon. The NCAA Tournament or “March Madness” is so important to the American culture for so many reasons.

So naturally, we got excited. We began to channel our inner-Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm as we went to work, and began to put together a fresh bracket. 17 different tabs were open to research more than 70 teams and seed them to the best of our ability. 

So we gave it a try; here’s what we came up with as we crafted the first-ever field of 68. The entire bracket can be found below each seed line for the 2021 NCAA Tournament. 

1 Seeds

1. Gonzaga
2. Baylor
3. Illinois
4. Michigan

2 Seeds

5. Iowa
6. Alabama
7. Ohio State
8. Houston

3 Seeds

9. Arkansas
10. West Virginia
11. Texas
12. Oklahoma State

4 Seeds

13. Kansas
14. Villanova
15. Virginia
16. Florida State 

5 Seeds

17. Purdue
18. Creighton 
19. Texas Tech
20. Colorado 

6 Seeds

21. USC
22. Missouri
23. Tennessee
24. Oklahoma 

7 Seeds

25. Virginia Tech 
26. BYU
27. Wisconsin
28. Clemson

8 Seeds

29. Oregon
30. Connecticut
31. Florida
32. LSU

9 Seeds

33. Michigan State
34. Louisville 
35. St. Bonaventure
36. San Diego State

10 Seeds

37. Loyola Chicago
38. North Carolina
39. Georgia Tech
40. Rutgers

11 Seeds

41. Maryland
42. UCLA
43. Drake
44. Virginia Commonwealth
45. Wichita State

12 Seeds

46. Boise State
47. Xavier 
48. Colorado State
49. Western Kentucky
50. Toledo

13 Seeds

51. Winthrop
52. UC-Santa Barbara
53. Liberty
54. UNC Greensboro

14 Seeds

55. Colgate
56. Morehead State
57. Bryant 
58. Southern Utah

15 Seeds

59. Grand Canyon
60. Appalachian State
61. North Dakota State 
62. Drexel

16 Seeds

63. Cleveland State
64. Siena
65. Nicholls
66. North Carolina A&T
67. Prairie View
68. Hartford 

Last Four In

Wichita State

Xavier

Boise State

Colorado State

First Four Out

Saint Louis

Syracuse

Utah State

Ole Miss

West Bracket (Upper Left Quadrant)

North Bracket (Bottom Left Quadrant)

South Bracket (Upper Right Quadrant)

East Bracket (Bottom Right Quadrant)

Complete Bracket