I've taken the conference champions and the top at-large teams into the field
of forty eight; there are another sixteen bubble teams that have been placed
in the play-in bracket. Some of the teams in the six through nine seeds of
what I think of as the tournament per se may prefer being put in the play-in
tournament, but it seems to me that the somewhat weaker (and not too much that) competition isn't enough to compensate for the single-elimination format.
These teams are probably better off trying to win three of four in their
brackets than trying to win four of four against the other play-in teams.
You also may note that I have Pittsburgh against Miami in the second round,
i.e. there's not a lot of concern here for conferences.
| seed | Red | White | Blue | | Play-in |
| 1 | Kansas | Maryland | Duke | Stanford |
| 2 | Alabama | Cincinnati | Oklahoma | Michigan St |
| 3 | Arizona | Connecticut | Pittsburgh | Wake Forest |
| 4 | Marquette | Gonzaga | Illinois | UCLA |
| 5 | Mississippi St | Kentucky | Georgia | Notre Dame |
| 6 | Indiana | Florida | Miami-Florida | NC State |
| 7 | Southern Cal | California | Oregon | St John's |
| 8 | Xavier | Ohio St | Texas | Utah |
| 9 | Oklahoma St | Texas Tech | Hawaii | Tulsa |
| 10 | San Diego St | Kent St | Western Ky | Wisconsin |
| 11 | Penn | Creighton | Central Conn | Mississippi |
| 12 | Davidson | UNC Wilmington | Valparaiso | Pepperdine |
| 13 | UC Santa Barbara | McNeese St | Hampton | Missouri |
| 14 | Murray St | Florida Atl | Ill-Chicago | Boston College |
| 15 | Montana | Boston U | Holy Cross | Southern Illinois |
| 16 | Siena | Alcorn St | Winthrop | Charlotte |
Presented in more of a "bracket" order:
| 1 | Kansas | Maryland | Duke | | Stanford | quarterfinal | semifinal | final |
| 16 | Siena | Alcorn St | Winthrop | Charlotte |
| 8 | Xavier | Ohio St | Texas | Utah |
| 9 | Oklahoma St | Texas Tech | Hawaii | Tulsa |
| |
| 4 | Marquette | Gonzaga | Illinois | UCLA | quarterfinal |
| 13 | UC Santa Barbara | McNeese St | Hampton | Missouri |
| 5 | Mississippi St | Kentucky | Georgia | Notre Dame |
| 12 | Davidson | UNC Wilmington | Valparaiso | Pepperdine |
| | |
| 2 | Alabama | Cincinnati | Oklahoma | Michigan St | quarterfinal | semifinal |
| 15 | Montana | Boston U | Holy Cross | Southern Illinois |
| 7 | Southern Cal | California | Oregon | St John's |
| 10 | San Diego St | Kent St | Western Ky | Wisconsin |
| |
| 3 | Arizona | Connecticut | Pittsburgh | Wake Forest | quarterfinal |
| 14 | Murray St | Florida Atl | Ill-Chicago | Boston College |
| 6 | Indiana | Florida | Miami-Florida | NC State |
| 11 | Penn | Creighton | Central Conn | Mississippi |
but remember that the three main brackets continue to play games after the first loss, even though that's not represented above.
Missouri beats Stanford, and Southern Illinois beats NC State; Missouri wins the final round of the play-in tournament. This,
and other fourth-round results, are reflected in the first column of the table below; note that (aside from Missouri and
Southern Illinois) every team in that first column has already lost a game.
| round of 16 | quarterfinals | semifinals | finals |
| Kansas | Kansas | Kansas |
| Missouri | Missouri |
| Southern Ill |
| Kent St. | Kent St. | Kent St. |
| Texas Tech |
| Pitt | Pittsburgh |
| Texas |
| Illinois | -- |
| Arizona | Arizona |
| Marquette |
| Connecticut | -- |
| Miss St. | Miss St. |
| Penn (or 'bama) |
| Maryland | Maryland |
| Hawaii | Hawaii |
| W Kentucky |
| Xavier | Xavier | Duke |
| USC |
| Duke | Duke |
| Oregon |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
| California | California |
| Ohio St. |
| Indiana | -- |
| Cincinnati | Cincinnati |
| Gonzaga |