College basketball's "Feast Week" began this past Thursday with seven champions of multi-team events already crowned, but it was the Maui Invitational beginning on Monday, soon to be followed by the Players Era Festival on Tuesday and the Battle 4 Atlantis on Wednesday, that really upped the ante.

There should be more than a few Elite Eight-caliber battles coming up in the next few days.

Naturally, this November nuttiness has us thinking about March Madness, so how about a new projection of the 2025 men's NCAA tournament bracket?

Later on in the year, much of the projected bracket analysis will focus on things such as NET, Wins Above Bubble and all sorts of efficiency-based and results-based metrics. But we won't even get the first batch of NET rankings for another couple of weeks—usually around Dec. 5—and even those initial rankings will be a bit wonky, per usual.

For the time being, these projections are still largely based on preseason expectations and KenPom rankings, though there is plenty that has changed in these first three weeks of action.

Similarly, the 31 projected auto bids will eventually be based entirely on conference record. There haven't been any conference games yet, though, so we're simply rolling with the highest-rated team on KenPom as each league's projected champ.

With that out of the way, let's start with the full bracket before some brief commentary on the current state of the bubble and the top seed line. Following that, we have a full conference-by-conference rundown, highlighting some of the biggest changes from one week ago.

The Projected Bracket

East Region (Newark)

Lexington, KY
1. Tennessee vs. 16. Norfolk State
8. Pittsburgh vs. 9. Oregon

Milwaukee, WI
4. Cincinnati vs. 13. Yale
5. Ohio State vs. 12. Liberty

Providence, RI
3. Connecticut vs. 14. UMass Lowell
6. BYU vs. 11. Drake

Raleigh, NC
2. Duke vs. 15. Lipscomb
7. Florida vs. 10. Dayton

Midwest Region (Indianapolis)

Wichita, KS
1. Kansas vs. 16. Little Rock
8. Creighton vs. 9. Saint Mary's

Denver, CO
4. Purdue vs. 13. Arkansas State
5. Texas vs. 12. Grand Canyon

Raleigh, NC
3. Alabama vs. 14. Furman
6. Baylor vs. 11. Nebraska / Boise State

Cleveland, OH
2. Marquette vs. 15. South Dakota State
7. Mississippi State vs. 10. Maryland

South Region (Atlanta)

Lexington, KY
1. Auburn vs. 16. Saint Peter's / Alabama State
8. Michigan State vs. 9. Xavier

Denver, CO
4. Wisconsin vs. 13. McNeese
5. Texas A&M vs. 12. Penn State / New Mexico

Providence, RI
3. North Carolina vs. 14. Charleston
6. Texas Tech vs. 11. Utah State

Wichita, KS
2. Houston vs. 15. Northern Colorado
7. St. John's vs. 10. Michigan

West Region (San Francisco)

Seattle, WA
1. Gonzaga vs. 16. Bucknell / Central Connecticut
8. UCLA vs. 9. Arkansas

Seattle, WA
4. Memphis vs. 13. High Point
5. Illinois vs. 12. UC Irvine

Milwaukee, WI
3. Iowa State vs. 14. Fort Wayne
6. Indiana vs. 11. Nevada

Cleveland, OH
2. Kentucky vs. 15. Kent State
7. Arizona vs. 10. Clemson

Ranking the No. 1 Seeds

1. Auburn Tigers

2. Kansas Jayhawks

3. Gonzaga Bulldogs

4. Tennessee Volunteers

5. Duke Blue Devils

6. Houston Cougars

Frankly, if you don't like this top line, just wait a few days and see how things shake out in the various marquee events, as a lot could change in a hurry this week. (See: Connecticut losing to Memphis and instantly plummeting to the No. 3 seed line.)

Kansas and Duke are squaring off Tuesday night in Las Vegas, where Duke could make a near-unassailable case for a No. 1 seed by adding a neutral win over Kansas to a resume that also now has a road win over Arizona. Conversely, if the Jayhawks win, they maybe leapfrog Auburn for No. 1 overall.

There's also Alabama vs. Houston Tuesday in Las Vegas, both of whom are close enough to the top line that the winner will instantly have a strong argument for a No. 1 seed, particularly if that winner goes on to take first place in the Players Era Festival.

In the Battle 4 Atlantis, Gonzaga might need to go through West Virginia, Indiana and Arizona to maintain/strengthen its No. 1 seed.

Auburn will face North Carolina on Tuesday and either Memphis or Michigan State on Wednesday.

The only one here without anything huge on the horizon is Tennessee, who already staked its claim to a No. 1 seed by dominating the Baha Mar Hoops Championship. Aside from a tough road game against Illinois on Dec. 14, it should be smooth sailing for the Volunteers at least until the new year.

10 Words on Each of the 10 'Bubbliest' Teams

Fifth-to-Last In: Nevada Wolf Pack—Basically broke even with two wins in the Charleston Classic.

Fourth-to-Last In: Nebraska Cornhuskers—Rallied from narrow Saint Mary's loss to topple rival Creighton.

Third-to-Last In: Penn State Nittany Lions—Weak competition thus far, but the impact defense is promising.

Second-to-Last In: Boise State Broncos—Tyson Degenhart might get this team in all by himself.

Last Team In: New Mexico Lobos—Blew out two SWAC teams to remain barely in field.

****CUT LINE****

First Team Out: Ole Miss Rebels—Undefeated, but let's see what happens in Rady Children's Invitational.

Second Team Out: NC State Wolfpack—Undefeated, but let's see what happens in Rady Children's Invitational. [That's not an accidental copy/paste. Both Ole Miss and NC State will join BYU and Purdue in that Thursday/Friday MTE.]

Third Team Out: Georgia Bulldogs—Battled with Marquette, upset St. John's and might be legit.

Fourth Team Out: Stanford Cardinal—Won at Santa Clara in improving to rare 6-0 start.

Fifth Team Out: VCU Rams—Rough week but at least didn't go winless in Charleston.

ACC Summary

4 Teams in the Projected Field (by Overall Seed): 5. Duke; 12. North Carolina; 29. Pittsburgh; 39. Clemson

Also Considered: NC State, Stanford, Wake Forest, Miami

Biggest Change: Hurricanes swept away

Early-season tournaments are a double-edged sword that could be a springboard to a great season or could be a colossal bellyflop.

For Miami, the Charleston Classic was very much the latter.

The Hurricanes weren't the runaway favorite to win the tournament, but they were a top contender. It was pretty much a three-way tossup between them, VCU and Nevada.

They were surely supposed to win at least one game, though.

They didn't.

Miami lost its opener against Drake by 11, the subsequent game against Oklahoma State by six and the seventh-place game against VCU by seven, plummeting directly from a projected No. 8 seed to "Safe to just about forget about them until further notice."

In all three games, the Hurricanes' defense was abysmal, allowing at least 1.20 points per possession in each—this without even facing Nevada, which probably has the most prolific offense of the other seven teams that were in this field.

Just the latest entry in what has been a rough start to the year for the ACC as a whole.

At least Duke scored that road win over Arizona, but as of Monday morning, Torvik had the league at just 3-17 vs. Quad 1—Duke's win over Arizona, Wake Forest's win over Michigan and California's win at USC—to go along with three Quad 4 losses. (The other four major conferences have a combined total of two such losses.)

That's not official Quadrant data, using Torvik rankings instead of NET rankings, which don't exist yet. Still, it's a testament to how poorly things are going in what is looking like a four-bid, 18-team league at the moment.

Big 12 Summary

8 Teams in the Projected Field (by Overall Seed): 2. Kansas; 6. Houston; 9. Iowa State; 13. Cincinnati; 21. Baylor; 22. Texas Tech; 24. BYU; 27. Arizona

Also Considered: Utah, TCU, Kansas State, Arizona State, UCF

Biggest Change: Red Raiders and Wildcats each drop multiple seed lines

Let's start with Arizona, who we also harped on in this section one week ago.

Seven days after suffering a 15-point road loss to Wisconsin, the Wildcats lost by 14 at home against Duke. There were substantially fewer fouls and free-throw attempts than there were in the game against the Badgers, but it is concerning that Arizona—which had been the best rebounding team in the nation heading into that game—finished minus-13 on the glass against a Blue Devils team that starts three freshmen.

The Wildcats will play in the Battle 4 Atlantis later this week, and they might drop out of our projected field altogether if they don't win that tournament, considering they are presently 2-2 with a pair of home wins over teams that don't rank in the KenPom top 300.

Compared to that, at least Texas Tech has five wins and suffered its lone loss by a one-point margin. However, that loss to still-not-even-close-to-projected-to-dance Saint Joseph's was an ill-advised misstep for a Red Raiders team that may end up only playing one nonconference game against a top 75 opponent—a neutral game against Texas A&M in two weeks.

Opportunities will abound in Big 12 play, of course, but not a great start for Texas Tech.

Big East Summary

5 Teams in the Projected Field (by Overall Seed): 8. Marquette; 10. Connecticut; 28. St. John's; 30. Creighton; 35. Xavier

Also Considered: Providence

Biggest Change: Double whammy for Creighton

Playing at home in a rivalry game against Nebraska that it was supposed to win by an 11-point margin, Creighton instead suffered an 11-point loss to the Cornhuskers.

Big man Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 49 points in Creighton's season opener, but he was inexplicably held to just one field-goal attempt while playing 39 minutes in this one.

Credit where it's due to Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg and all of the Cornhuskers on the floor for neutralizing the Bluejays' biggest star, but one field-goal attempt?

Seriously?

And it was a three-point attempt?

Could you imagine Zach Edey playing 39 minutes and taking one shot?

Creighton was perfectly content to just let it fly from distance, taking 42 three-point attempts against just 10 twos, but missing 30 threes and committing 17 turnovers was quite the lethal combination.

Adding literal injury to insult, veteran point guard Steven Ashworth suffered an ankle injury late in the game, with coach Greg McDermott saying afterwards: "We have no idea how long Steven's going to be out; I think it's going to be a while."

Ashworth is averaging 16.0 points and 6.4 assists per game, and it would be a massive blow if he is out for any extended period of time.

For now, they drop a few seed lines, but this one loss could turn into a five-game losing streak in a hurry, with games against San Diego State, Texas A&M, a TBD opponent in the final round of the Players Era Festival and Kansas on tap.

Big Ten Summary

12 Teams in the Projected Field (by Overall Seed): 14. Wisconsin; 15. Purdue; 18. Ohio State; 20. Illinois; 23. Indiana; 31. UCLA; 32. Michigan State; 36. Oregon; 37. Maryland; 38. Michigan; 44. Nebraska; 45. Penn State

Also Considered: Rutgers, Northwestern, Iowa

Biggest Change: Still a dozen teams, but Ruh roh, Rutgers

The aforementioned road win over Creighton was enough to vault Nebraska from "also considered" into the projected field, but it ended up being a fellow Big Ten team that made some room for the Cornhuskers by suffering a bad loss.

That team was Rutgers, and the bad loss came courtesy of Kennesaw State.

Playing outside of Piscataway for the first time this season, the freshmen-led Scarlet Knights dug themselves into a very deep hole on Sunday afternoon, trailing the Owls by as many as 21 points early in the second half.

They did eventually wake up, went on a run and had an opportunity to win in the closing seconds. However, their comeback fell just short, and they've already been saddled with a loss during an opening stretch that was supposed to result in a 5-0 start to the year.

KenPom was already not a believer in the AP Top 25 Scarlet Knights, having them rated at 68th even before that game. And at this point, they'll need to play their way back into the at-large conversation.

Conversely, a round of applause for Wisconsin, which added victories over UCF and Pittsburgh in winning the Greenbrier Tip-Off. The Badgers already had a great home win over Arizona on what is now a stellar resume. Though they opened the season as our first team out of the field, they've already rocketed up to a projected No. 4 seed.

SEC Summary

9 Teams in the Projected Field (by Overall Seed): 1. Auburn; 4. Tennessee; 7. Kentucky; 11. Alabama; 17. Texas A&M; 19. Texas; 25. Florida; 26. Mississippi State; 34. Arkansas

Also Considered: Vanderbilt, Georgia, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, LSU, Missouri

Biggest Change: Tennessee makes quite the statement

For the second consecutive year, Rick Barnes pulled quite the pair of up-transfers from the portal.

Last season, Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado) was the Volunteers' national sensation, while Jordan Gainey (USC Upstate) played a critical role as the team's sixth man. This season, it's Chaz Lanier (North Florida) and Igor Milicic Jr. (Charlotte) in the early spotlight at a combined 31 points per game.

That duo was massive this past week in the Baha Mar Hoops Championship, in which Tennessee blew out both Virginia and Baylor.

Lanier went for 51 points, shooting a combined 13-for-22 from three-point range. He was also the star of its 22-point rout of Louisville, scoring 19 in that one.

Milicic had 14 points and six offensive rebounds and was the MVP against UVA—where he began his college career in 2021, barely seeing the floor for the Cavaliers before heading to Charlotte.

The 6'10" center also tallied at least three assists for the third and fourth consecutive games—a fun wrinkle this offense definitely did not have last year with Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka splitting duties at the 5.

Per usual, though, defense is the name of the game in Knoxville. After the 64-42 win over Virginia, Tennessee led Baylor 47-20 at halftime before taking its foot off the gas a bit.

The Vols are now right up there with Auburn along the No. 1 seed line, with the Tigers ascending to No. 1 overall with their victory over Iowa State in Maui.

Mid-Majors Summary (AAC, A-10, MVC, MWC, WCC)

9 Teams in the Projected Field (by Overall Seed): 3. Gonzaga; 16. Memphis; 33. Saint Mary's; 40. Drake; 41. Dayton; 42. Utah State; 43. Nevada; 46. Boise State; 47. New Mexico

Also Considered: San Diego State, San Francisco, VCU

Biggest Change: Charleston Classic giveth; Charleston Classic taketh away

With nary a ranked team in its eight-team field, the Charleston Classic was nowhere near the marquee MTE that the Maui Invitational, Battle 4 Atlantis and Players Era Festival are/will be.

In lieu of title contenders, what it did have is a boatload of bubble teams who had to figure out how to distribute those 12 wins and 12 losses.

For Drake, it was a wonderful weekend. The Bulldogs defeated each of Miami, Florida Atlantic and Vanderbilt by double digits in becoming the surprise champion.

They were relentless on the offensive glass in all three games, this despite not playing anyone taller than 6'8". They also went off for 11 steals and five blocks in the championship game against the Commodores. Bennett Stirtz and Mitch Mascari each played all 120 minutes, scoring a combined 108 points for what is suddenly a viable bubble team.

For VCU, it was a much different, agonizing story.

The Rams led by a narrow margin for most of their opener against Seton Hall, but they fell apart in the final 10 minutes of regulation, ultimately losing in overtime. Similar story in the subsequent game against Nevada, blowing a 15-point second-half lead as the Wolf Pack won on back-to-back three-point buckets in the final minute.

Between the two games, VCU was outscored 31-10 between the 10- and 5-minute marks of the second half, turning what was a golden opportunity into a nightmarish trip to South Carolina.

Beating Miami in the seventh-place game was certainly better than losing that one, too, but that's a rough pair of losses for a VCU team that isn't going to get many Quadrant 1 chances this season.

The Other 21 Leagues Summary

21 Teams in the Projected Field (by Overall Seed): 48. UC Irvine; 49. Liberty; 50. Grand Canyon; 51. McNeese; 52. Yale; 53. Arkansas State; 54. High Point; 55. Fort Wayne; 56. Furman; 57. Charleston; 58. UMass Lowell; 59. Kent State; 60. Northern Colorado; 61. Lipscomb; 62. South Dakota State; 63. Little Rock; 64. Norfolk State; 65. Saint Peter's; 66. Alabama State; 67. Bucknell; 68. Central Connecticut

Also Considered: N/A

Biggest Change: Princeton takes a pounding in Myrtle Beach

Heading into the season, Princeton looked like a fantastic candidate for a(nother) Cinderella story.

With leading scorers Xaivian Lee and Caden Pierce returning alongside key 2023-24 contributors Blake Peters and Dalen Davis, it seemed likely that a team that went 24-3 during the regular season would be even better this time around.

That definitively has not been the case thus far.

The Tigers barely won their opener against Iona, needed a late comeback to beat Northeastern and suffered a home loss to Loyola-Chicago a few days prior to heading south for the Myrtle Beach Invitational—where they were still considered the favorite in a field otherwise devoid of KenPom Top 100 teams.

They immediately got pummeled by Wright State for a stunning 80-62 loss and proceeded to lose by three to Texas State the following day.

Princeton did rally to destroy Portland in the seventh-place game, but it was way too little, way too late.

What slim hope Princeton had of becoming the Ivy League's first ever at-large team has already gone out the window, and we now see Yale—even with four losses of its own—projected to win the league.