2024 NCAA Tournament Bracket Watch: Bear of a week shakes up the 68-team field

A major plot point in last year’s best TV show unexpectedly involved college basketball. In Season 2 of FX’s “The Bear,” ambitious young chef Sydney is given a copy of Mike Krzyzewski’s motivational book “Leading With the Heart.” She carries it everywhere and uses the book’s wisdom as she prepares to lead the kitchen staff at a new restaurant in Chicago, which happens to be Coach K’s hometown. And, yes, chef, KU’s resume is much stronger than Houston’s, but the Cougars — even after Tuesday’s loss at Iowa State — remain No. We have Cincinnati — which owns the best road win of the bunch, statistically speaking — in the field along with Texas, while Texas Tech and TCU are in the First Four out. First Four Dayton 16 Stetson 16 Grambling Dayton 11 Virginia 11 Texas A&M Dayton 16 Wagner 16 Norfolk State Dayton 11 St. John's 11 Indiana State Midwest Region Indianapolis 1 Purdue 16 Montana State Indianapolis 8 Texas 9 Colorado State Spokane 4 Alabama 13 Princeton Spokane 5 Clemson 12 South Florida Pittsburgh 3 Creighton 14 Morehead State Pittsburgh 6 Florida 11 James Madison Memphis 2 Baylor 15 Longwood Memphis 7 Gonzaga 10 Drake South Region Memphis 1 Houston 16 Wagner Norfolk State Memphis 8 Wisconsin 9 Florida Atlantic Spokane 4 Illinois 13 Toledo Spokane 5 South Carolina 12 McNeese State Pittsburgh 3 Kentucky 14 Oakland Pittsburgh 6 Washington State 11 St. John's Indiana State Charlotte 2 North Carolina 15 Sam Houston State Charlotte 7 Texas Tech 10 Seton Hall West Region Charlotte 1 Tennessee 16 Stetson Grambling Charlotte 8 Northwestern 9 TCU Salt Lake City 4 BYU 13 UC Irvine Salt Lake City 5 Utah State 12 Grand Canyon Indianapolis 3 Marquette 14 Charleston Indianapolis 6 Saint Mary's 11 Texas A&M Virginia Salt Lake City 2 Arizona 15 South Dakota State Salt Lake City 7 Nevada 10 Oklahoma East Region Brooklyn 1 Connecticut 16 Quinnipiac Brooklyn 8 Dayton 9 Nebraska Omaha 4 Kansas 13 Samford Omaha 5 Auburn 12 Richmond Pittsburgh 3 Duke 14 Vermont Pittsburgh 6 San Diego State 11 Mississippi State Omaha 2 Iowa State 15 Colgate Omaha 7 Boise State 10 Michigan State First Four Out Next Four Out Last Four In Last Four Byes Texas Tech Colorado Miami Cincinnati TCU Butler Ole Miss Oregon Wake Forest Boise State Virginia Tech Providence Virginia Drake Texas Ohio State Multi-bid conferences Big 12 8 SEC 8 Big East 7 Big Ten 7 ACC 5 Mountain West 4 Pac-12 3 AAC 2 Seed list 1 Purdue AQ 2 Arizona AQ 3 Houston AQ 4 UConn AQ 5 Kansas 6 Kentucky AQ 7 North Carolina AQ 8 Tennesssee 9 Wisconsin 10 Duke 11 Baylor 12 Marquette 13 Auburn 14 Illinois 15 Memphis AQ 16 Creighton 17 Oklahoma 18 Colorado State AQ 19 San Diego State 20 Clemson 21 BYU 22 Dayton AQ 23 Villanova 24 Florida Atlantic 25 Alabama 26 Iowa State 27 Nevada 28 Utah State 29 Utah 30 St. John's 31 Texas A&M 32 Nebraska 33 Mississippi State 34 Northwestern 35 Grand Canyon AQ 36 Michigan State 37 Seton Hall 38 South Carolina 39 Gonzaga AQ 40 Cincinnati 41 Oregon 42 Providence 43 Ohio State 44 Princeton AQ 45 Miami 46 Ole Miss 47 Virginia Tech 48 Texas 49 James Madison AQ 50 Indiana State AQ 51 McNeese State AQ 52 UC Irvine AQ 53 Akron AQ 54 Weber State AQ 55 Charleston AQ 56 Morehead State AQ 57 Samford AQ 58 High Point AQ 59 UMass Lowell AQ 60 Purdue Fort Wayne AQ 61 Colgate AQ 62 Lipscomb AQ 63 Jacksonville State AQ 64 South Dakota State AQ 65 Saint Peter's AQ 66 Southern AQ 67 Norfolk State AQ 68 Merrimack AQ