Bracketology: Kansas, North Carolina continue tumbling after losses

Some of the biggest brands in college basketball continue to tumble down our projected 68-team field, led by North Carolina and Kansas.

Once one of the No. 1 seeds, UNC is now down to a No. 3 after Wednesday’s road loss to Syracuse. The Tar Heels have dropped three of five games and are only a half-game up in the ACC.

The Jayhawks’ road woes continued with a 29-point loss on Tuesday to Texas Tech. Now a No. 4 seed, Kansas has dropped four in a row away from home and is just 7-5 in a very crowded Big 12, fifth in the conference.

On the flip side, Baylor keeps rising in Big 12 standings and in our field. After handing Oklahoma a 79-62 loss this week, the Bears are up to 18-6 overall, third place in the conference and a No. 2 seed.

Moving in this week with Richmond’s loss that knocked them out of the Atlantic 10 lead is Gonzaga. The Bulldogs are aiming for their 25th consecutive tournament appearance.

Last four in

Mississippi, Utah, Boise State, Nevada.

First four out

Cincinnati, Wake Forest, Villanova, Seton Hall.

Next four out

Providence, St. John’s, Colorado, Pittsburgh.

Conference breakdown

Multi-bid leagues: Big 12 (9), SEC (9), Big Ten (6), Mountain West (6), ACC (4), Big East (4), Pac-12 (3), American Athletic (2), West Coast Conference (2).

NCAA tournament bubble games to watch

Friday, Feb. 16

Villanova at Georgetown, 7 p.m., CBSSN

Virginia Commonwealth at Saint Louis, 7 p.m., ESPN2

New Mexico at San Diego State, 10 p.m., FS1

Saturday, Feb. 17

Texas A&M at Alabama, noon, ESPN

Wake Forest at Virginia, noon, ESPN2

TCU at Kansas State, noon, ESPNU

Penn State at Nebraska, noon, Big Ten

Creighton at Butler, 12:30 p.m., Fox

Texas at Houston, 1 p.m., CBS

Florida at Georgia, 1 p.m., SEC

Virginia Tech at North Carolina, 2 p.m., ACC

Arkansas at Mississippi State, 2 p.m., ESPNU

Cincinnati at Central Florida, 4 p.m., ESPN+

Utah State at Colorado State, 5:30 p.m., CBSSN

Stanford at Washington State, 6 p.m., Pac-12

Louisville at Pittsburgh, 8:30 p.m., ACC

Fresno State at Boise State, 7:30 p.m., CBSSN

DePaul at Providence, 7:30 p.m., FS1

Missouri at Mississippi, 8:30 p.m., SEC

Pacific at Gonzaga, 9 p.m., ESPN+

Colorado at Southern California, 10 p.m., ESPN

Nevada at UNLV, 11:30 p.m., FS1

Sunday, Feb. 18

Memphis at SMU, 4 p.m., ESPN

Seton Hall at St. John’s, FS1, 5 p.m.

Utah at UCLA, FS1, 7 p.m.