Scott Bell's projected 2022 NCAA tournament bracket

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Last year, I took my first crack at projecting an NCAA tournament bracket. I ended up going 67 out of 68 and told myself I’d keep doing this in future years until I embarrassed myself.

So here’s my crack at the 2022 field. Along with some contingencies at the bottom that could change some things up based on the results of some Sunday afternoon games.

PROJECTED BRACKET

Seed list

Play-in games

Sunday contingencies

There are five conference championship games on Sunday:

• Yale vs. Princeton for Ivy League title

• Texas A&M vs. Tennessee for SEC title

• Richmond vs. Davidson for Atlantic 10 title

• Memphis vs. Houston for AAC title

• Purdue vs. Iowa for Big Ten title

The results of Memphis vs. Houston and Purdue vs. Iowa should have no impact on the teams in the NCAA tournament field. If Yale wins, swap Yale with Princeton as the No. 13 seed in the East. Princeton would be eliminated from the NCAA tournament field.

Texas A&M-Tennessee and Richmond-Davidson both have bubble implications.

• Texas A&M is in the field of 68 regardless. If A&M loses, the Aggies will remain in their current slot on the bracket — in a First Four game vs. Rutgers. If A&M wins, the Aggies will swap spots with Michigan, putting Texas A&M into the No. 11 seed in the East and moving the Wolverines to a First Four matchup against Notre Dame.

• If Davidson beats Richmond, everything in the projected bracket will remain the same. If Richmond wins, the Spiders will bump Notre Dame (my current “last team in”) from the field of 68.

Coming soon

In the next day or two, I’ll be announcing my Tournament Pick’Em challenge. There will be two different groups — one for all subscribers and one for premium subscribers.

There will be a cash prize in the premium subscriber pool. If you’re not currently a premium subscriber, now would be a great time to give it a shot. Premium subscription options can be found below.