Vols' big win lifts Tennessee to No. 1 overall seed

Tennessee takes over as the No. 1 overall seed this week while Memphis sits a spot behind the Vols. There were five other contenders -- North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, UCLA and Texas -- for the other two top spots. I went with the Tar Heels and 'Horns. The latter may come as a surprise; however, Texas has gone undefeated in February and its 19-point win over Tennessee on Nov. 24 has never looked better. Victories over the Jayhawks and Bruins don't hurt, either.

Below is a mock NCAA tournament bracket based on results through Feb. 24. For purposes of this bracket, the current first-place team in each conference was awarded the automatic berth. (Feel free to comment.)

NOTE: NO ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO PREDICT FUTURE RESULTS.

EAST (Charlotte) SOUTH (Houston) (1) Tennessee (16) Lamar/Alabama St. (8) Pittsburgh (9) Baylor (5) Washington St. (12) West Virginia (4) Purdue (13) UAB (6) Arizona (11) Kent St. (3) Georgetown (14) Boise St. (7) Gonzaga (10) St. Joe's (2) Duke (15) American (1) Memphis (16) Morgan St. (8) Clemson (9) Texas A&M (5) Michigan St. (12) Virginia Commonwealth (4) Connecticut (13) Davidson (6) St. Mary's (11) UNLV (3) Stanford (14) Maryland-Baltimore County (7) Kansas St. (10) Arkansas (2) Xavier (15) Winthrop MIDWEST (Detroit) WEST (Phoenix) (1) North Carolina (16) Robert Morris (8) Oklahoma (9) Arizona St. (5) Drake (12) Rhode Island (4) Notre Dame (13) Siena (6) Vanderbilt (11) Maryland (3) Wisconsin (14) Belmont (7) USC (10) Villanova (2) Kansas (15) Cal-State Northridge (1) Texas (16) Portland St. (8) BYU (9) Massachusetts (5) Marquette (12) Wake Forest (4) Indiana (13) Oral Roberts (6) Butler (11) South Alabama (3) Louisville (14) Cornell (7) Miami (10) Mississippi St. (2) UCLA (15) Austin Peay Bracket updated through Feb. 24.

Teams whose bubbles burst (in order of closest to being included): Kentucky, Cal, Syracuse, Ole Miss, Florida.

The breakdown by conference:

Big East: 8 (G'town, L'ville, UConn, ND, Marquette, Pitt, Villanova, W. Va.)
Pac-10: 6 (UCLA, Stanford, Washington St., Arizona, USC, ASU)
Big 12: 6 (Kansas, Texas, K-State, Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas A&M)
ACC: 6 (Duke, UNC, Miami, Clemson, Maryland, Wake Forest)
A-10: 4 (Xavier, UMass, St. Joe's, Rhode Island)
Big Ten: 4 (Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan St.)
SEC: 4 (Tennessee, Vandy, Miss. St., Arkansas)
C-USA: 2 (Memphis, UAB)
Mountain West: 2 (BYU, UNLV)
WCC: 2 (St. Mary's, Gonzaga)
21 one-bid conferences.

For more notes on the bracket, click below.

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