Updated March Madness Bracket – Kansas, Kansas State Make The News

As we look at our updated March Madness bracket for the West regional, we see that there is something old and something just inserted this week as Kansas and Kansas State make the news. Syracuse, which a lot of people discarded a couple of weeks ago, has staged a comeback and makes a jump for us, while West Virginia becomes yet another Big East team that is going to be in the top half of our updated March Madness bracket.

This was last week’s updated March Madness bracket in the West:

(1) Kansas
(2) San Diego State
(3) Georgetown
(4) Wisconsin
(5) Kentucky
(6) Syracuse
(7) Xavier
(8) Old Dominion

Kansas is #2 in the RPI, with a record of 6-2 against teams ranked between 1-50 in the RPI, and 10-0 against clubs that comprise the rest of the RPI top 100. The Jayhawks had a little controversy this past week, as guard Tyshawn Taylor was suspended indefinitely for violating team rules. Kansas is also second in both major polls and is very well-positioned to be a top seed in the updated March Madness bracket.

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With a 68-team field, and the bigger conferences all well-represented, there is no way of avoiding multiple teams from the same conference in the same regional. There are a lot of good teams in the Big 12, so it’s not unusual to see a few of them in our updated March Madness bracket. Frankly, I don’t know if the Selection Committee would put Kansas and Kansas State into the same region, but the Wildcats certainly have to fit in somewhere. In the last eight games, they have won seven times, and that includes wins over Kansas, Texas and Missouri, as well as a win visiting Nebraska. They are a Top 25 caliber team again, after almost collapsing earlier in the season.

Here is our updated March Madness bracket in the West as of right now:

(1) Kansas
(2) San Diego State
(3) Syracuse
(4) Georgetown
(5) Kentucky
(6) Kansas State
(7) Xavier
(8) West Virginia

Syracuse is #12 in the nation in both polls, and they’ve been doing just fine lately, with four wins in a row, beating West Virginia, Villanova and Georgetown. Old Dominion got squeezed out of the #8 spot in our updated March Madness bracket, though I think the Monarchs can get to the tournament, and even if they lose to George Mason in the CAA tourney, they will have an opportunity to be no lower than a #9 seed. ODU is #27 in the RPI.

There are bubble teams, for sure, who will be competing to get into the next updated March Madness bracket. One of them out west will be either Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s, unless the Committee decides that two teams from the West Coast Conference are going to get in. It is likely that one of these teams is going to win the conference tournament, which means the other has to make a case for an at-large spot. Gonzaga has won seven in a row, while Saint Mary’s has lost three of its last four. Let’s see what happens this week as these teams play in the WCC tourney. If someone like Portland or San Francisco wins it in an upset, then one of the "big two" will be left out for the final updated March Madness bracket.

Keep up with the updated March Madness bracket for Big Dance betting at BetOnline Sportsbook!