Miami's NCAA Tournament outlook keeps getting brighter as the regular season turns toward the finish line. In ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi's most recent full bracket update, Miami moved up to a No. 8 seed in the East Region.
In that projection, Miami would open the tournament against No. 9 Texas, with the winner potentially drawing No. 1 seed Duke in the Round of 32 if the Blue Devils handle No. 16 Bethune-Cookman/Howard.
Miami moves up to a No. 8 seed
The Hurricanes are 21-5 overall and 10-3 in ACC play, good for third in the conference standings entering the weekend, and they are riding a four-game winning streak. Miami is 4-3 in Quad 1, with notable wins that include a home win over No. 11 North Carolina and a road win at NC State.
Miami still has three more Quad 1 opportunities before the regular season ends: at No. 14 Virginia on Feb. 21, at SMU on March 4, and a home game against Louisville on March 7.
Nationally, Lunardi has Duke, Michigan, Arizona and Houston pegged as No. 1 seeds.
Lunardi is projecting a strong haul for the ACC. There are eight ACC teams in the field, led by Duke on the 1 line, with Virginia as a 4, Louisville and North Carolina on the 6 line, NC State as a 7, Miami and Clemson as 8 seeds and SMU as a 9.
On the bubble
Last four byes — Last teams to skip the First Four round
- UCF
- Texas A&M
- Auburn
- Ohio State
Last four in — Last teams to make the field overall
- Santa Clara
- Missouri
- UCLA
- USC
First four out — Teams ranked 69-72 that missed the cut
- TCU
- San Diego St
- New Mexico
- VCU
Next four out — Teams ranked 73-76 that missed the cut
- California
- Virginia Tech
- Seton Hall
- West Virginia