Friday Bracketology: Despite Loss And Onuaku Injury, Syracuse Holds On To Top Seed

Thanks to an overwhelming number of games Thursday and a good amount of time spent reviewing seeding, particularly in the middle of the bracket, this bracket looks significantly different from Thursday's version.

Click here to see Friday's full bracket.

Here are links to my seed list and tracking spreadsheet.

On the top line, there's one minor change. Syracuse drops down to the fourth overall number one seed after their loss to Georgetown in the Big East quarterfinals and Arinze Onuaku's knee/quad injury. Even with that setback, the Orange aren't likely to fall to the two line, especially as West Virginia's best shot at a high RPI win on the way to a Big East tournament crown would be against Georgetown in the final. With the way this tournament's unfolded so far, that's not a result to bank on.

Ohio State jumped back up to the two line without playing a game, as New Mexico struggled to beat lowly Air Force in their Mountain West semifinal. The Buckeyes begin Big Ten tournament play Friday against archrival Michigan in the quarterfinals.

In the middle of the bracket, there was a good amount of shuffling. Teams like Richmond, Marquette, Florida State, Florida and California shifted up, while others, including Xavier, Northern Iowa, Oklahoma State, Louisville and Wake Forest dropped.

There was one at-large change after Thursday's action, as Arizona State dropped out after losing to Stanford in the Pac-10 quarterfinals. Washington, who came back to beat Oregon State in the very next game, replaces them. 

Here's how things stand with three days remaining.

The Rundown

Top Four Seeds: Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse
Last Four In: Illinois, Mississippi, Washington, San Diego State
First Four Out: Rhode Island, Dayton, Mississippi State, William & Mary
Next Four Out: Arizona State, Seton Hall, South Florida, UAB

Conference Breakdown

Big East: 8
Syracuse (1), West Virginia (2), Villanova (3), Pittsburgh (3), Georgetown (5), Marquette (7), 
Notre Dame (9), Louisville (9)

ACC: 7 
Duke (1), Maryland (5), Florida State (7), Clemson (7), Virginia Tech (8), Wake Forest (11), Georgia Tech (12)

Big 12: 7 
Kansas (1), Kansas State (2), Baylor (5), Texas A&M (6), Texas (9), Missouri (10), Oklahoma State (10)

Big Ten: 5 
Purdue (2), Ohio State (3), Michigan State (3), Wisconsin (4), Illinois (12)

MWC: 4 
New Mexico (2), BYU (5), UNLV (8), San Diego State (13)

SEC: 4
Kentucky (1), Vanderbilt (4), Tennessee (4), Florida (10), Mississippi (12)

A-10: 3
Temple (4), Richmond (6), Xavier (7)

Pac-10: 2
California (9), Washington (12)

WCC: 2
Gonzaga (6), St. Mary's (11)

One Bid Leagues (22): America East, Atlantic Sun (ETSU), Big Sky (Montana), Big South (Winthrop), Big West, Colonial (Old Dominion), Conference USA, Horizon (Butler), Ivy (Cornell), Metro Atlantic (Siena), Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley (Northern Iowa), Northeast (Robert Morris), Ohio Valley (Murray State), Patriot, Southern (Wofford), Southland, Southwestern, Summit (Oakland), Sun Belt (North Texas), Western Athletic

For a more detailed breakdown of the teams fighting for the final few spots in the tournament, visit Bubble Watch.