Michigan’s stranglehold on the No. 1 overall seed tightened Tuesday night when the Wolverines toppled Purdue 91-80 on the road. A Wolverine loss could have made the discussion for the top spot in the bracket a lot more intriguing ahead of the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s bracket preview on Saturday.
But this cemented in stone that Michigan is the top dog. The Wolverines are now 10-0 in Quad 1, 19-1 across the first two quadrants, and rate as the No. 1 team across the board in metrics used by the selection committee.
With a 10.55 WAB (Wins Above Bubble) score, Michigan has a commanding lead over second-place Duke (9.25) in that vital resume-based metric. At KenPom, the Wolverines possess a 39.33 Net Rating, which is even higher than the rating of last year’s historically great Duke team.
But of course, everything could change on Saturday. Just a few hours after the bracket preview, the No. 1 Wolverines and No. 3 Duke will square off on a neutral court in Washington, D.C. It’s a huge spot for the Blue Devils, who will get a chance to halt the crowning of Michigan and show the country that it’s a serious factor in the race to be the No. 1 overall seed.
For now, it’s the Wolverines’ world. Here is a look at the top seeds in today’s Bracketology update.
Bracketology top seeds
Check out the full field of 68 at the CBS Sports Bracketology hub.
Nebraska’s slide
Regardless of what happens from here, it’s been an incredible ride for Nebraska basketball this season. The Cornhuskers started 20-0, rose to No. 5 in the AP poll while slaying high-powered foes like Illinois and Michigan State and are well-positioned to win an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in program history. But as Selection Sunday creeps closer, the Cornhuskers are moving in the wrong direction within the CBS Sports Bracketology model. After Tuesday night’s 57-52 loss at Iowa, Nebraska has dropped four of its past six games and is now a No. 4 seed.
All hope for a rise back up the seeding list is not lost for Nebraska, which remains an impressive 11-4 across Quads 1 and 2. But none of its final five regular-season games are “marquee” matchups. In fact, the next two are landmine home games against Big Ten bottom feeders Penn State and Maryland that can do little to bolster the Cornhuskers’ resume. Then comes a tricky west coast trip to USC and UCLA, both of whom are going to be fighting for their spots as at-large teams in the field of 68. On the upside, avoiding the Big Ten’s best teams down the stretch could give the Cornhuskers a chance to rediscover the gear that carried them to a historic start that made this season such a memorable ride.
Rematch rules
Amid conference consolidation and the proliferation of nonconference matchups between high-major schools, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee faces challenges when it comes to avoiding regular-season rematches. The 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket featured three potential second-round games between conference teams, although none of them came to fruition.
The committee will still seek to minimize conference meetings and nonconference rematches, and our model is coded to do the same. However, NCAA bracketing principles permit games between conference teams in the second round, so long as the teams in question played each other just once before the NCAA Tournament. For conference teams that met twice prior to the NCAA Tournament, principles state they should not meet prior to the Sweet 16. If the teams played three times, NCAA bracketing principles state they should not play before the Elite Eight.
With regard to rematches of nonconference games, NCAA bracketing principles state that they should be avoided “in the First Four and first round.” The committee will also “attempt to avoid” nonconference rematches in the second round. But the committee has historically prioritized keeping teams on their natural seed line over changing their seed line for the sake of avoiding a rematch.
