Ranking every team in the NCAA Tournament field 1-68 entering March Madness

The NCAA Tournament will tip off on Tuesday night from Dayton, Ohio, where the First Four games will put the final teams into the mix for First Round position. The full slate opens on Thursday and Friday, with a full day of matchups across the bracket.

Before the first weekend of March Madness begins, fans across the country are looking to find the best teams in college basketball and advance them in the bracket. Ranking all 68 teams is a difficult task with such a wide variety of contenders, but it should come close to the seed lines provided by the Selection Committee.

To sort through it all, the same base formula used to compile bracketology updates has been used to rank the teams on strength. The calculations account for analytic performance and the strength of resume metrics.

Here is how each team stacks up against its rivals entering the NCAA Tournament, from the top teams all the way to the bottom of the bracket. The computer ranks them from 1 to 68.

1. Duke

Duke barely edges out Michigan for the top spot, according to the computers. The Blue Devils enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, suggesting that the Selection Committee got it right in seeding by all accounts.

2. Michigan

Michigan sits in second, barely falling behind Duke in the final computer numbers. However, the Selection Committee punished a third loss on the resume, which did bring Arizona closer, placing the Wolverines in the No. 3 spot.

3. Arizona

Arizona sits in the third spot, with plenty of cushion from the rest of the field and a small gap to the top teams. The Wildcats were rewarded for their postseason resume as well, jumping Michigan for the No. 2 spot in the field after winning the Big 12.

4. Houston

Houston comes out in the fourth spot based on consistency across both analytic and resume-based models, just above Florida. Even as the 2-seed in their region, the data shows that the Cougars are firmly in the mix for the best team in that bracket.

5. Florida

Despite falling below Houston in this ranking, the Gators are within a close margin to their bracket rival. They performed better in analytic models, but just behind in the resume metrics and ultimately got the nod for the final 1-seed spot.

6. Purdue

Purdue surged up a number of the metrics in the final days of the Big Ten Tournament, placing it in a solid position. The Boilermakers rank with the top 2-seeds in the bracket, coming closer to Florida than the next 2-seed behind them.

7. UConn

UConn settles in close to where it landed on the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s seed line. The analytic numbers did take a slight hit during the Big East Tournament loss, dropping the Huskies out of the 1-seed mix.

8. Iowa State

Iowa State joins this group by meeting a high mark in the analytic models, with strong enough resume-based numbers to hold 2-seed value. Again, the Selection Committee’s overall seed-line closely reflects the teams through this point.

9. Virginia

Virginia did solid resume work during the ACC Tournament, continuing to demonstrate why it is one of the most consistent teams in college basketball. The 3-seed line appears to be the correct spot for the Cavaliers.

10. Michigan State

Michigan State comes in with very consistent numbers across all models, consistently placing it on the 3-seed line. The Spartans stack up well, with a slight edge over Gonzaga for the final spot in the Top 10.

Ranking the rest of the field

11. Gonzaga
12. Arkansas
13. Nebraska
14. Illinois
15. Vanderbilt
16. St. John’s
17. Alabama
18. Kansas
19. Texas Tech
20. Tennessee
21. Wisconsin
22. Louisville
23. BYU
24. North Carolina
25. St. Mary’s
26. Utah State
27. UCLA
28. Kentucky
29. Villanova
30. Miami
31. Ohio State
32. Clemson
33. Georgia
34. Iowa
35. St. Louis
36. Santa Clara
37. TCU
38. NC State
39. VCU
40. Texas A&M
41. UCF
42. SMU
43. Texas
44. Missouri
45. South Florida
46. Miami (OH)
47. McNeese
48. Akron
49. High Point
50. Cal Baptist
51. Northern Iowa
52. Hofstra
53. Hawaii
54. North Dakota State
55. Troy
56. Penn
57. Wright State
58. UMBC
59. Tennessee State
60. Kennesaw State
61. LIU
62. Queens
63. Siena
64. Idaho
65. Howard
66. Furman
67. Lehigh
68. Prairie View