Three more top programs fell on Tuesday night as we enter the home stretch towards Selection Sunday. The Wisconsin Badgers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and North Carolina Tar Heels all suffered losses on Tuesday, two of those schools actually lost on their home floors.

The one who did not was the Wisconsin Badgers who fell 59-53 away to Maryland at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Maryland. Wisconsin had an uncharacteristic first half only scoring 20 points. They saw another solid game from National Player of the Year candidate Frank Kaminsky who scored 18 points but they just could not overcome their poor first half.

Maryland was led by the 26 points of Dez Wells. Wells and Melo Trimble combined for 42 for the 59 points scored by the Terrapins on Tuesday night. The win was big for Maryland who put some distance between themselves and the big group fighting for the #3 through #5 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

They also closed the gap between themselves and Kansas, who is sitting in the #8 overall position in VAVEL Bracketology. If Maryland goes on to win the Big Ten Tournament, they have a very good chance to pass Kansas for the final #2 seed regardless of the results in the Big 12 Tournament.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish suffered a home loss that could’ve been much worse. It did come at the hands of the Syracuse Orange, who are ineligible for postseason play this year, but Syracuse is sitting at 18-10 on the year. The loss drops Notre Dame to 3rd in the ACC and practically eliminates them from winning the Regular Season title as they are three games behind Virginia in the loss column.

Notre Dame also fell back behind Baylor for the final #4 seed. They are just 0.003 points behind the Bears for the final Top 16 seeding spot.

Syracuse would be the first team out of the Tournament if they were eligible. Right now, the final team in is Davidson with a rating of 0.445, Syracuse has a rating of 0.444.

Finally, the North Carolina Tar Heels blew a big change to keep themselves in the running for a Top four seed in both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. North Carolina fell into the group of six seeds with their 58-46 loss to the NC State Wolfpack. North Carolina is sitting one game behind Louisville for that fourth seed in the ACC.

NC State got a much needed win to boost them further away from the play-in round. NC State is a solid 10 seed in our latest Bracketology but they need to keep winning to ensure their at-large spot.

Here is a list of the games we will be watching ahead of Thursday’s Bracketology:

North Florida - Florida Gulf Coast, 7:00 pm ET

Davidson - Rhode Island, 7:00 pm ET

Baylor - Iowa State, 9:00 pm ET

Evansville - Northern Iowa, 9:00 pm ET

Illinois - Iowa, 9:00 pm ET

Georgia - Ole Miss, 9:00 pm ET

Washington - UCLA, 11:00 pm ET

Oregon - California, 11:00 pm ET

If you have any questions about how the formula works or would like some clarification from the creator feel free to e-mail [email protected]. You can follow along with the calculation of the numbers at our VAVEL Bracketology page right here.

(Records updated through Tuesday, February 24th)

We will start with a look at the play-in games taking place in Dayton, Ohio on March 17th and 18th.

Team (Record, How They Made the Tournament)

Tuesday, March 17th

Midwest #16 Seed

Lafayette (16-11, Patriot League Champion)

Texas Southern (15-12, SWAC Champion)


East #12 Seed

BYU (21-8, At-Large)

Davidson (19-6, At-Large)


Wednesday, March 18th

East #16 Seed

New Mexico State (19-10, WAC Champion)

St. Francis-NY (20-9, Northeast Champion)


South #11 Seed

Pittsburgh (19-10, At-Large)

Xavier (18-11, At-Large)


Midwest Region (#1; Cleveland, Ohio)

March 19th in Louisville, Kentucky

#1 Kentucky (27-0, SEC Champion)

#16 Winner of Lafayette/Texas Southern


#8 Providence (19-9, At-Large)

#9 Texas (17-11, At-Large)


March 19th in Portland, Oregon

#4 Utah (21-5, At-Large)

#13 Central Michigan (21-5, Mid-American Champion)


#5 Notre Dame (24-5, At-Large)

#12 Murray State (24-4, Ohio Valley Champion)


March 19th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

#3 Louisville (22-6, At-Large)

#14 High Point (21-7, Big South Champion)


#6 SMU (22-5, American Champion)

#11 Iowa (17-10, At-Large)


March 20th in Omaha, Nebraska

#2 Kansas (22-6, Big 12 Champion)

#15 South Dakota State (21-8, Summit League Champion)


#7 Michigan State (19-8, At-Large)

#10 Dayton (20-6, At-Large)


East Region (#2; Syracuse, New York)

March 20th in Charlotte, North Carolina

#1 Virginia (25-1, ACC Champion)

#16 Winner of New Mexico State/St. Francis-NY


#8 San Diego State (22-6, At-Large)

#9 Oklahoma State (17-10, At-Large)


March 19th in Louisville, Kentucky

#4 Arkansas (23-5, At-Large)

#13 Stephen F. Austin (23-4, Southland Champion)


#5 Wichita State (25-3, At-Large)

#12 Winner of BYU/Davidson


March 20th in Columbus, Ohio

#3 Iowa State (20-6, At-Large)

#14 Georgia State (19-8, Sun Belt Champion)


#6 Georgetown (18-8, At-Large)

#11 Georgia (17-9, At-Large)


March 19th in Portland, Oregon

#2 Arizona (24-3, Pac-12 Champion)

#15 Eastern Washington (20-7, Big Sky Champion)


#7 Ohio State (19-8, At-Large)

#10 NC State (17-11, At-Large)


West Region (#3; Los Angeles, California)

March 20th in Seattle, Washington

#1 Gonzaga (28-1, West Coast Champion)

#16 North Carolina Central (21-6, Mid-Eastern Champion)


#8 Texas A&M (19-8, At-Large)

#9 Oregon (20-8, At-Large)


March 19th in Jacksonville, Florida

#4 Baylor (20-7, At-Large)

#13 UC Davis (21-4, Big West Champion)


#5 Virginia Commonwealth (21-6, Atlantic 10 Champion)

#12 Old Dominion (20-6, Conference USA Champion)


March 19th in Jacksonville, Florida

#3 West Virginia (22-6, At-Large)

#14 Iona (23-6, Metro Atlantic Champion)


#6 North Carolina (19-9, At-Large)

#11 Purdue (18-9, At-Large)


March 20th in Omaha, Nebraska

#2 Wisconsin (25-3, Big Ten Conference)

#15 Florida Gulf Coast (21-7, Atlantic Sun Champion)


#7 Butler (19-8, At-Large)

#10 Saint Mary’s (20-7, At-Large)


South Region (#4; Houston, Texas)

March 19th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

#1 Villanova (26-2, Big East Champion)

#16 Albany (19-8, America East Champion)


#8 Indiana (19-9, At-Large)

#9 LSU (20-8, At-Large)


March 20th in Seattle, Washington

#4 Northern Iowa (26-2, Missouri Valley Champion)

#13 Wofford (23-6, Southern Champion)


#5 Oklahoma (19-8, At-Large)

#12 Valparaiso (25-4, Horizon League Champion)


March 20th in Columbus, Ohio

#3 Maryland (23-5, At-Large)

#14 Harvard (19-5, Ivy League)


#6 Colorado State (23-5, Mountain West Champion)

#11 Winner of Pittsburgh/Xavier


March 20th in Charlotte, North Carolina

#2 Duke (24-3, At-Large)

#15 Northeastern (19-10, Colonial Champion)


#7 Ole Miss (19-8, At-Large)

#10 St. John’s (19-9, At-Large)


LAST FOUR IN:

Pittsburgh (19-10)

Xavier (18-11)

BYU (21-8)

Davidson (19-6)

FIRST FOUR OUT:

Illinois (17-10)

Boise State (21-7)

Temple (19-9)

Tulsa (19-7)

NEXT FOUR OUT:

Rhode Island (19-6)

Cincinnati (18-9)

Miami-Florida (17-10)

Stanford (17-9)

TEN MORE TO WATCH:

UTEP (19-7)

Wyoming (21-6)

Buffalo (18-9)

Toledo (18-9)

UCLA (16-12)

Green Bay (21-7)

TCU (16-11)

Memphis (17-10)

Louisiana Tech (21-7)

Alabama (17-11)

BRACKET CHANGES:

At-Large Out:

None

At-Large In:

None

Conference Champions Out:

None

Conference Champions In:

None

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About the author
Matthew Evans
Matthew is an American sports journalist based out of Kennewick, Washington. He is a Managing Editor for VAVEL USA as well as Co-editor of the soccer section.