Texas A&M upset Auburn 67-62 in the first quarterfinal game of the SEC Tournament on Friday, and the loss was costly for the Tigers, which entered the game as a No. 1 seed in Bracketology's latest projected NCAA Tournament bracket.
After losing to the Aggies, Auburn is no longer a projected No. 1 seed. Kentucky will jump up to the fourth No. 1 seed for now.
The Tigers' hopes for a No. 1 seed aren't completely dead yet, as they could still backdoor their way to the top line, but they will need some help to make that happen.
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Bracketology top seeds
Check out Palm's latest bracket, full field of 68 and all the teams on the bubble on the Bracketology hub.
No. 1 seed Baylor lost to Oklahoma in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament Thursday and remained the fourth No. 1 seed until Auburn's loss, moving the Bears up to the No. 3 overall seed.
Baylor is done playing, however, and could get passed by teams like Kentucky and Kansas as the conference tournaments move ahead. Kansas is in action Friday against TCU. Kentucky opens its SEC Tournament play against Vanderbilt.
Arizona is also a No. 1 seed in my bracket and the Wildcats defeated Stanford in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament. The win came with a price though. Kerr Kriisa had to be helped off the court late in the game with an ankle injury. It remains to be seen how long he will be out, but a prolonged absence could damage Arizona's hopes of a long NCAA Tournament run.
If it is determined before Selection Sunday that Kriisa will not be available for the NCAA Tournament, his absence could be taken into account by the selection committee. Of course, they would not have much information on how that impacts Arizona since it has at most two games left, so the committee may not act on it.
Ohio State, Notre Dame and Alabama all went out in their first conference tournament games, losing to teams had already played. Several other teams in that position struggled to win. Sometimes, a bye in a conference tournament is not the reward it seems to be.
The top of the bracket takes center stage Friday. Gonzaga and Baylor are done with conference tournament play, but all of the other teams in the top 16 take the court, several for the first time this week.
There are 44 games in all Friday, setting us up for a jam-packed championship weekend.
