The first March Madness men’s bracket predictions of 2023, by Andy Katz

NCAA.com’s Andy Katz made the first predictions for the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

You can see Andy in action in the video above. I’m breaking them down here as well.

First, here are the tabular brackets (scroll right to see the full brackets). These are based on matches through Sunday, January 8th.

2023 March Madness Men’s Bracket Predictions

Let’s take a closer look at Katz’s predictions.

Top Seeds in NCAA Bracket

The first seeds for these latest bracket predictions, in overall seed order, are: Houston, Kansas, Purdue When Alabama. Of the four, Houston and Purdue were the only two to rank first in the AP Poll this season, with the Cougars currently leading the pack after Purdue’s undefeated season ended last week with a loss to Rutgers. holding a seat. Each top team, with the exception of Alabama, has just one loss this season.

Latest ranking: Click or tap here to view the latest AP Top 25

Guard Marcus Susser houston He averaged 15.8 points per game this season and led the team to a 16-1 record. With a number of unranked opponents on the horizon, the Cougars show no signs of slowing down.

Kansasranked #2 in this week’s AP poll, and remains a strong force in the Big 12. This week’s Power 36 ranking headlinesThe team faces a tough January, but back-to-back games against Iowa State, Kansas State and TCU will show how this team really is made up.

Purdue Leading a strong Big Ten conference. After a heartbreaking loss to Rutgers, the Boilermakers followed that loss up with narrow victories against then-24th-ranked Ohio State and unranked Penn State. Additionally, center Zach Eady is averaging a double-double (21.9 points, 13.2 rebounds) this season, cementing his place in the Player of the Year roundtable.

The tide keeps rolling. Alabama They have beaten Michigan, North Carolina and Mississippi this year, making them the only team to beat Houston.

Number of Bids by Conference

*These are meetings with multiple teams in Katz’s bracket predictions

of big ten leads in the highest expected bids for this year’s tournament, with the three tied for the second highest bids. big 12, ACC When SEC Prove that multiple meetings can be tough competition on your way to the ultimate prize.

Related: Andy Katz’s 2023 March Madness men’s bracket predictions are one month into the season

but, big 12 is tied with the second-most bids, so this conference could be the strongest, taking one of the expected first seeds, three expected third seed

of ACC, SEC, Big East When Pac-12 There are plenty of programs that are different from big dance.

New Mexico concludes mountain west It was the last undefeated team DI men’s basketball before losing two in a row against Fresno State and UNLV.

team looking out

First 4 out:

1. wake forest
2. LSUs
3. Southern California
4. Utah

Since starting 9-0, Utah went 4-3 in their most recent game, leading to an 82-59 beatdown against Boise State. Southern California After opening the season with a loss to FGCU and struggling to find a foothold in the competitive Pac-12, wake forest The 11-5 season quietly landed the program in 4th place in the ACC.None of these teams were featured at this week’s Power 36 LSUs It dropped out after ranking 21st last week. He slipped to No. 8 in the SEC after the Tigers lost back-to-back to Kentucky and Texas A&M.

😴 Sleeper Team: Impressive teams around the hoops of men you might not have expected

Field of 68 by Andy Katz

Here’s Katz’s complete seed list, ordered from 1 to 68.