{"id":170216,"date":"2026-02-26T16:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T16:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/170216\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T16:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T16:18:09","slug":"bracketology-florida-virginia-trending-up-while-auburn-indiana-slide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/170216\/","title":{"rendered":"Bracketology: Florida, Virginia trending up while Auburn, Indiana slide"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Texas<\/a> guard Jordan Pope<\/a> converted a layup to give the Longhorns a 64-61 lead out of the under-8 media timeout in the second half of Wednesday night’s game against Florida<\/a>, it appeared the Gators were headed for a fight to the finish. That would have been a rarity for a Florida team that has largely rolled through its SEC schedule.<\/p>\n

But what happened next illustrated why the Gators are trending up to the No. 2 seed line in CBS Sports Bracketology and why they should be feared as a legitimate contender to repeat as national champions. Florida closed on a 23-7 run, needing just three minutes to turn its deficit into a 10-point lead in what became an 84-71 victory. It was a stretch of nearly perfect basketball that should serve as a warning shot to the rest of college basketball.<\/p>\n

The Gators are coming. Florida’s weakness for much of the season has been lackluster 3-point shooting. It has generally made up for it with elite offensive rebounding, interior dominance and great defense. But now the Gators’ 3-point shooting is coming along.<\/p>\n

After hitting 10 or more 3-pointers just twice in their first 23 games, the Gators have done it three times in their past five games. Last night’s 8 of 18 mark didn’t blow the doors off of Texas, but the 44.4% clip showed how much more accurate the Gators are getting from deep. With Princeton<\/a> transfer Xaivian Lee<\/a> starting to find his range, Florida is close to firing on all cylinders.<\/p>\n

Here is the breakdown of the top seeds in CBS Sports Bracketology, followed by a rundown of which teams are trending up and which teams are trending down.<\/p>\n

Bracketology top seeds <\/p>\n

Check out the full field of 68 at the CBS Sports\u00a0Bracketology<\/a>\u00a0hub.<\/p>\n

Note: Wins Above Bubble (WAB) is a vital resume-based metric used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee. For an explanation of WAB, check out this article.<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcc8Trending up\ud83d\udcc8
\n <\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Florida<\/p>\n

CBS Sports Bracketology:<\/a> No. 2 seed
WAB rank: 7
KenPom rank: 5<\/p>\n

Florida had been knocking on the No. 2 seed door for a week or so, and the Gators finally busted it down with an 84-71 win at Texas on Wednesday night. Now the question is whether there’s enough runway left for Florida to creep into the No. 1 seed conversation. At 22-6 (13-2 SEC) and with 13 wins in their past 14 games, the Gators finally have top-eight results-based metrics to pair with top-five predictive metrics. The push for a repeat is in full swing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Virginia\u00a0<\/p>\n

CBS Sports Bracketology: <\/a>No. 3 seed
WAB rank: 13
KenPom rank: 14<\/p>\n

Virginia<\/a> is on a nine-game winning streak entering Saturday’s showdown at Duke<\/a> and was recently promoted to No. 3 seed status following a 29-point beatdown of NC State<\/a>. First-year coach Ryan Odom has an elite rebounding and shot-blocking team that also shoots it well from 3-point range. At 13-3 in Quads 1 and 2, Virginia is well-fortified. Beating the Blue Devils on the road would make another rise possible.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

UCF<\/p>\n

CBS Sports Bracketology:<\/a> No. 8 seed
WAB rank: 25
KenPom rank: 46<\/p>\n

UCF<\/a> started February on a three-game losing streak but has since recovered with three straight wins. Among them was an impressive 97-84 road shellacking of BYU<\/a>. The Knights are strong in results-based metrics, averaging out at 24th in those. Where they have lagged all season is in predictive metrics, such as KenPom and Torvik. But at 20-7 (9-6 Big 12) and coming off a big road win, coach Johnny Dawkins has his club in great shape.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
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Saint Mary’s<\/p>\n

CBS Sports Bracketology:<\/a> No. 10 seed
WAB rank: 27
KenPom rank: 24<\/p>\n

Even after a pivotal 86-67 drubbing of Santa Clara<\/a> on Wednesday night, Saint Mary’s<\/a> continues to have a strange resume. The win is technically outside of Quad 1, so the Gaels remain 0-3 in Q1 opportunities as of Thursday. But they are 8-1 in Quad 2 and are averaging out as a top-30 team across selection metrics, which is comfortably in at-large territory. They will head into Saturday’s regular-season finale against Gonzaga<\/a> on a seven-game winning streak.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcc9Trending down\ud83d\udcc9
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\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Auburn<\/p>\n

CBS Sports Bracketology:<\/a> No. 10 seed
WAB rank: 42
KenPom rank: 37<\/p>\n

Auburn<\/a> stopped its five-game losing streak against Kentucky<\/a> on Saturday before resuming the slide Tuesday on the road against an Oklahoma<\/a> team that won’t be going dancing. Home games against Ole Miss<\/a> and LSU<\/a> over the next five days are must-wins for the Tigers, who are 15-13 (6-9 SEC). How could a team with such a bad record even be considered for the Big Dance, you ask? By playing the nation’s toughest schedule and earning wins over St. John’s<\/a>, NC State, Arkansas<\/a>, Florida and Kentucky. Great as those victories are, Auburn should still be worried after losing six of seven games.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Clemson<\/p>\n

CBS Sports Bracketology:<\/a> No. 10 seed
WAB rank: 38
KenPom rank: 41<\/p>\n

This Clemson<\/a> team is starting to resemble the 2023 team that started 18-4 before falling apart and missing the NCAA Tournament. After suffering a 70-65 home loss against Florida State<\/a> on Saturday, the Tigers have dropped four straight and are sitting at 20-8 (10-5 ACC) with games against Louisville<\/a> and North Carolina<\/a> up next. If the slide continues against the Cardinals and Tar Heels, the ACC Tournament could be very uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Indiana<\/p>\n

CBS Sports Bracketology:<\/a> Next Four Out
WAB rank: 49
KenPom rank: 43<\/p>\n

Indiana<\/a> got shellacked on the road by Illinois<\/a> and Purdue<\/a>, which is understandable. What’s less forgivable is losing at home to Northwestern<\/a> when your tournament hopes are hanging in the balance. That’s what the Hoosiers did on Tuesday while producing just one second-chance point against a bad rebounding opponent. One potential saving grace is that IU will be well-rested when Michigan State comes to town for a huge game on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Spartans will be coming off a Thursday night road game against a great Purdue team with significantly less rest.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

USC<\/p>\n

CBS Sports Bracketology:<\/a>\u00a0Next Four Out
WAB rank: 47
KenPom rank: 59<\/p>\n

Eric Musselman seemed like the perfect hire for USC<\/a> two years ago after he spent five seasons breathing life back into Arkansas. But the Trojans are now flirting with going 0 for 2 on reaching the NCAA Tournament under his direction as they enter a Saturday road game against Nebraska<\/a>. USC has dropped four straight and is now just 18-10 (7-10 Big Ten). The Trojans’ results-based metrics are hovering on the outer edge of at-large territory, but their predictive metrics have cratered over the past two months. That suggests a big turnaround is likely not in store.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Texas guard Jordan Pope converted a layup to give the Longhorns a 64-61 lead out of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2527,2532,19634,2534,73640,2536,6786,8294,2513,2516,28,2530,30,29,3731,2535,2523,3156,6795,2525,80985,2529,2515,4657,33737,73641,2520,10088,11474,73639,73642,73643,4646,4676,4695,6790,10481,43464,2519,39193,73644,2518,6792,3865,4671,9574,4682,29868],"class_list":{"0":"post-170216","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-arizona-wildcats","9":"tag-arkansas-razorbacks","10":"tag-auburn","11":"tag-auburn-tigers","12":"tag-bracketology","13":"tag-byu-cougars","14":"tag-clemson-tigers","15":"tag-college-basketball","16":"tag-connecticut-huskies","17":"tag-duke-blue-devils","18":"tag-florida","19":"tag-florida-gators","20":"tag-florida-headlines","21":"tag-florida-news","22":"tag-florida-state-seminoles","23":"tag-gonzaga-bulldogs","24":"tag-illinois-fighting-illini","25":"tag-indiana","26":"tag-indiana-hoosiers","27":"tag-iowa-state-cyclones","28":"tag-jordan-pope","29":"tag-kentucky-wildcats","30":"tag-louisville-cardinals","31":"tag-lsu-tigers","32":"tag-march-madness","33":"tag-march-madness-bracketology","34":"tag-michigan-wolverines","35":"tag-nc-state-wolfpack","36":"tag-ncaa-tournament","37":"tag-ncaa-tournament-bracketology","38":"tag-ncaa-tournament-field-of-68","39":"tag-ncaa-tournament-seeds","40":"tag-nebraska-cornhuskers","41":"tag-north-carolina-tar-heels","42":"tag-northwestern-wildcats","43":"tag-oklahoma-sooners","44":"tag-ole-miss-rebels","45":"tag-princeton-tigers","46":"tag-purdue-boilermakers","47":"tag-saint-marys-gaels","48":"tag-santa-clara-broncos","49":"tag-st-johns-red-storm","50":"tag-texas-longhorns","51":"tag-ucf-knights","52":"tag-usc-trojans","53":"tag-virginia","54":"tag-virginia-cavaliers","55":"tag-xaivian-lee"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}