Bracket projection: March 10

Just four days of games (and only 80 hours or so) remain between now and the unveiling of the NCAA tournament bracket.

One thing that seems certain: The cut line probably can't get much softer.

Yes, there were conference tournament upsets earlier this week. But for the purposes of borderline tournament teams, those surprises occurred in the right conferences --- one-bid leagues stuck shuffling their regular season champs off to the NIT.

As for an updated field of 68? It includes pretty much every team worthy of inclusion, and probably a few that aren't.

EAST REGION

Cleveland

(1) BIG TEN/Ohio State vs. (16) SUN BELT/Arkansas-Little Rock-SWAC/Texas Southern
(8) Villanova vs. (9) George Mason

Tucson, Ariz.

(4) St. John's vs. (13) SUMMIT/Oakland
(5) Kansas State vs. (12) Clemson

Charlotte, N.C.

(3) ACC/North Carolina vs. (14) NORTHEAST/Long Island
(6) West Virginia vs. (11) Georgia

Tucson, Ariz.

(2) San Diego State vs. (15) METRO ATLANTIC/Saint Peter's
(7) Texas A&M vs. (10) Richmond

SOUTHWEST REGION

Tulsa, Okla.

(1) BIG 12/Kansas vs. (16) SOUTHLAND/McNeese State-MEAC/Bethune-Cookman
(8) UNLV vs. (9) Marquette

Washington

(4) Louisville vs. (13) ATLANTIC SUN/Belmont
(5) Vanderbilt vs. (12) Michigan State/Virginia Commonwealth

Washington

(3) Syracuse vs. (14) MID-AMERICAN/Kent State
(6) Temple vs. (11) Boston College

Chicago

(2) Purdue vs. (15) BIG WEST/Long Beach
(7) UCLA vs. (10) WESTERN ATHLETIC/Utah State

SOUTHEAST REGION

Cleveland

(1) BIG EAST/Pittsburgh vs. (16) BIG SOUTH/UNC Asheville
(8) COLONIAL/Old Dominion vs. (9) Florida State

Denver

(4) Wisconsin vs. (13) IVY/Harvard
(5) ATLANTIC 10/Xavier vs. (12) CONFERENCE USA/UAB

Tampa, Fla.

(3) SOUTHEASTERN/Florida vs. (14) MISSOURI VALLEY/Indiana State
(6) PAC-10/Arizona vs. (11) Michigan

Denver

(2) MOUNTAIN WEST/Brigham Young vs. (15) BIG SKY/Northern Colorado
(7) Georgetown vs. (10) HORIZON/Butler

WEST REGION

Chicago

(1) Notre Dame vs. (16) AMERICA EAST/Boston University
(8) Missouri vs. (9) Washington

Tampa, Fla.

(4) Kentucky vs. (13) OHIO VALLEY/Morehead State
(5) Connecticut vs. (12) Virginia Tech/Saint Mary's

Tulsa, Okla.

(3) Texas vs. (14) PATRIOT/Bucknell
(6) Cincinnati vs. (11) WEST COAST/Gonzaga

Charlotte, N.C.

(2) Duke vs. (15) SOUTHERN/Wofford
(7) Tennessee vs. (10) Illinois

Last four in: Michigan State, Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Tech, Saint Mary's
Last four out: Colorado State, Colorado, Cleveland State, Missouri State
Next four out: Oklahoma State, Memphis, Penn State, Alabama

Moving in: Arkansas-Little Rock, Saint Mary’s
Moving out: North Texas, Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Conference call: Big East (11), ACC (6), Big Ten (6), Big 12 (5), Southeastern (5), Atlantic 10 (3), Colonial (3), Mountain West (3), Pac-10 (3), West Coast (2)

--- Patrick Stevens