The NCAA Tournament is expected to see its biggest reshuffle in four decades after expansion plans, which aim to increase the field from 68 teams to 76, cleared a major hurdle on Thursday. The proposal passed unanimously through the Division I men’s and women’s basketball committees, setting the stage for a more inclusive version of March Madness.
The tournament will now include eight No. 16 seeds and six No. 15 seeds, with the new at-large teams slotting in as either No. 11, No. 12 or No. 13 seeds — depending on where they fall in the seeding hierarchy relative to automatic qualifiers. In total, there will be a dozen games in the opening round of the 2027 NCAA Tournament if things continue on the current trajectory, which means just 20 of the 32 first-round matchups will be revealed on Selection Sunday.
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With this imminent new paradigm shift in mind, CBS Sports’ David Cobb and Jacob Fetner released the latest edition of their NCAA Tournament bracketology, in which the Florida Gators still hold the top overall seed as well as the No. 1 spot in the East Region. They are joined by the Michigan Wolverines (South), Duke Blue Devils (Midwest) and Illinois Illini (West) atop the bracket standings.
SEC schools in ESPN’s 2027 bracketology
The Southeastern Conference has 11 schools mentioned in this bracketology update, second only to the Big Ten, which has 12; the Big 12 has 10 representatives, while the ACC has eight to round out the Power Four conferences. The only other leagues with more than two among the 76-team field are the Big East with seven and the Atlantic 10 with a pair.
Florida is the highest-seeded team of the bunch at No. 1 overall and in the East, while the Arkansas Razorbacks are a No. 2 seed in the South. Following them are the Texas Longhorns (No. 3, Midwest), Tennessee Volunteers (No. 4, West), Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 5, South), Vanderbilt Commodores (No. 6, East), Texas A&M Aggies (No. 9, South), Kentucky Wildcats (No. 9, West), Georgia Bulldogs (No. 10, Midwest), Missouri Tigers (No. 11, West) and Auburn Tigers (No. 12, Midwest).
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Missouri shared its seed with the Wisconsin Badgers, while Auburn does the same with the Florida State Seminoles and sits among the “Last Four In” group.
CBS Sports’ 2027 NCAA Tournament Bracketology
|
Seed |
East |
Midwest |
South |
West |
|
1 |
Florida |
Duke |
Michigan |
Illinois |
|
2 |
Michigan State |
UConn |
Arkansas |
Gonzaga |
|
3 |
Virginia |
Texas |
Iowa State |
Arizona |
|
4 |
Houston |
USC |
Louisville |
Tennessee |
|
5 |
St. John’s |
Miami |
Alabama |
Purdue |
|
6 |
Vanderbilt |
Indiana |
North Carolina |
BYU |
|
7 |
VCU |
Kansas |
Nebraska |
Texas Tech |
|
8 |
Ohio State |
Saint Louis |
NC State |
Clemson |
|
9 |
Villanova |
UCLA |
Texas A&M |
Kentucky |
|
10 |
Providence |
Georgia |
Creighton |
Wichita State |
|
11 |
Marquette/Cincinnati |
Xavier/Baylor |
W Virginia/Maryland |
Mizzou/Wisconsin |
|
12 |
Oregon/Oklahoma St |
Auburn/FSU |
Saint Mary’s |
Grand Canyon |
|
13 |
McNeese |
UCSB |
High Point |
Miami (OH) |
|
14 |
UNC Wilmington |
Harvard |
Western Kentucky |
Wright State |
|
15 |
St. Thomas |
ETSU/James Madison |
C Arkansas/Montana St |
Illinois-Chicago |
|
16 |
Bethune-Cookman/CCSU |
Howard/Lipscomb |
Colgate/SEMO |
Vermont/Merrimack |
Last Four In
First Four Out
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball’s NCAA Tournament bracketology seed after expansion
