Source: auburn.247sports.com / Bruce Pearl's Auburn squad has been a bit up and down this season, but would find themselves comfortably in the tournament if it started today.

Projecting the NCAA Tournament with @sportsguychris - 3rd Edition

Welcome back everyone to another edition of projecting the NCAA tournament! Wow what a week it was last week in the world of college basketball. Of course, the overwhelming storyline was the Zion Williamson injury in the first 40 seconds of the big rivalry showdown with North Carolina at Cameron Indoor. Williamson's left shoe pretty much exploded and he slipped awkwardly down to the floor. It appears the most likely #1 pick in this coming spring's NBA draft dodged a bullet, with a right knee sprain, but is still out of action for tonight's game against Virginia Tech. The big question is when - or even if Williamson will chance it and step back on the court for the Blue Devils this season.

Regardless, North Carolina pounded Duke behind a dominant effort from Luke Maye, and the Tar Heels are now in contention for a possible 1-seed. The developments of last week really closed up the difference between the 1 and 2-line. UNC is now the top 2-seed, and are joined by Michigan State, who have responded nicely from a 3-game losing skid by winning 4 straight. Houston remains on the 2-line as the Cougars just keep winning and are now 26-1 on the season. Tennesee suffered a tough loss at LSU over the weekend and slid down to the 2-line to make room for Kentucky, who joined Duke, Gonzaga, and Virginia as the current 1-seeds.

Source: lsunow.com / The Tigers got a huge victory over Tennessee on Saturday, jumping them up to a 3-seed in the latest projections.

Speaking of LSU, the Tigers got that huge 82-80 win over Tennesee on Saturday. They now own impressive conference road wins @ Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss, who all would be comfortably in the tournament if it started today. The Tigers moved up to a 3-seed after adding the home victory over Tennesee and is quickly compiling a very impressive resume.

Texas Tech also moved up a seed-line after absolutely crushing Kansas on Saturday. The Red Raiders have been blowing everyone out as of late, and are now the top 4-seed. Florida State also joined the 4-line as the Seminoles are now 22-6 overall with a RPI of 16. Cincinnati moved up a line as well as the Bearcats just keep winning, and are now 23-4 on the season and currently sit as a 5-seed.

Villanova actually slid down 2-seed lines after a week to forget and now are a shaky 6-seed at the moment. The Wildcats have lost 3 straight - all on the road. The last two were against Georgetown and Xavier who seemingly won't make the tournament. They are just 1-4 overall in their last 5 and are trending in the wrong direction at the moment. There wasn't a whole lot of other movement in the mid-range seeds.

Source: thestate.com / Wofford has played themselves all the way up to a single-digit seed-line, as the Terriers are currently projected as a 9-seed.

However, toward the back-end of the bracket there was plenty of movement as always. Temple moved up to the 9-line, as did Wofford. The Terriers are now 24-4 overall and 16-0 in the Southern Conference. The fact the Southern Conference has a team currently slated in single-digit seed territory is remarkable in it's own right.

Seton Hall and Central Florida both dropped a line to 10, but would still be comfortably in the tournament as it currently stands. They are joined by Baylor, who moved up a line, and Florida. The Gators have played themselves off the bubble for the time being after winning 4 straight - including road wins at LSU & Alabama. Texas lost to Oklahoma over the weekend and now find themselves in real "bubble" danger at just 7-7 in the Big XII and 15-12 overall. They are joined by fellow Big XII foe TCU (who is now just 6-8 in the Big XII) on the 11-line as both teams slid down a line from last week. Belmont remains the final team with a bye at 23-4 overall.

Source: sportingnews.com / The Golden Gophers have stumbled mightily as of late, losing 6 of 7, and find themselves barely in the field.

The last four-in at the moment is Ohio State, Alabama (back in the projected field after a week hiatus), Minnesota, and Davidson. The Golden Gophers had a week to forget, losing at home to Michigan, in a game in which they shot just 1-10 from 3-point range and then lost at lowly Rutgers. That loss is especially damaging at the moment as Minnesota is now just 1-6 in their last 7 games overall and have went from a safe 7 or 8-seed to barely in the field. Davidson remains the final team after Oklahoma was blown out at Iowa State last night and missed an opportunity for a much-needed marque win within conference play and now really have a lot of work to do. Without further ado, here is this week's updated projected NCAA Tournament field:

1 - seeds: *Duke (24-3), *Gonzaga (27-2), Virginia (24-2), Kentucky (23-4)

2 - seeds: *North Carolina (22-5), *Michigan State (23-5), Tennessee (24-3), *Houston (26-1)

3 - seeds: Michigan (24-4), *Marquette (23-4), *Nevada (25-2), *LSU (22-5)

4 - seeds: Texas Tech (22-5), Purdue (20-7), Florida State (22-6), Kansas (21-7)

5 - seeds: Wisconsin (19-8), *Kansas State (21-7), Cincinnati (23-4), Iowa State (20-8)

6 - seeds: Iowa (21-6), Villanova (20-8), Virginia Tech (21-6), St. John's (20-8)

7 - seeds: *Washington (22-5), Maryland (21-7), *Buffalo (24-3), Mississippi State (20-7)

8 - seeds: Louisville (18-10), Ole Miss (19-8), Syracuse (18-9), Auburn (18-9)

9 - seeds: Temple (20-7), *Wofford (24-4), Arizona State (18-8), *VCU (21-6)

10 - seeds: Seton Hall (16-11), UCF (20-6), Baylor (18-9), Florida (16-11)

Source: burntorangenation.com / Texas has a huge showdown tomorrow night with Baylor. The Longhorns are trending in the wrong direction after a loss @ Oklahoma over the wknd.

11 - seeds: Texas (15-12), N.C. State (20-8), TCU (18-9), Belmont (23-4)

12 - seeds: *New Mexico State (24-4), *Murray State (23-4)

Play-in / 1st Round Games / Last Four In

Ohio State (17-10) / Alabama (16-11)

Minnesota (17-11) / Davidson (20-7)

13 - seeds: *Hofstra (23-6), *Vermont (22-6), *Yale (18-5), *Lipscomb (22-6)

14 - seeds: *UC-Irvine (23-5), *Old Dominion (22-6), *South Dakota State (23-7), *Bucknell (18-9)

15 - seeds: *Montana (20-7), *Wright State (18-11), *UL-Chicago (17-12), *Texas State (22-6)

16 - seeds: *Radford (19-9), *Sam Houston State (19-9)

Last Four Automatic Bids / Play-In / 1st Round

*Norfolk State (17-11) / *St. Francis (PA) (15-12)

*Prarie View (15-12) / *Iona (13-15)

* - denotes current conference leader (and the automatic bid associated with that conference)

Furman (22-6), Liberty (23-6), Oklahoma (17-11), and Clemson (16-11) would be the first four teams out with the way things currently stand. Utah State (22-6) and Dayton (18-9) are also lingering right in the middle of the bubble mix. For the Aggies it's simple, they have a huge opportunity to get a desperately-needed marque win for their resume which they are significantly lacking when Nevada comes to town on Saturday. Win that one and I believe they are in the field. Lose and it becomes much more difficult to picture a scenario where they get in without winning the Mountain West conference tournament.

Source: wltx.com / Clemson is currently one of the "first four out", but the Tigers are hoping to make a roar down the stretch.

As always I would love to hear your thoughts below in the comments section! We have one heck of a week of basketball ahead of us - enjoy and happy reading & writing!