What March 7 results mean for St. Mary’s, Charleston, Oral Roberts, others in 2023 bracketology

Several conferences wrapped up tournament play on Tuesday. The winners of the championship games will get automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament, while the losers can hope for an at-large bid if they’ve put together a solid case throughout the regular season. Let’s take a look at how Tuesday’s results will affect bracketology projections ahead of Selection Sunday.

Key games for bracketology on March 7

Gonzaga 77, Saint Mary’s 51

The Zags got the advantage in this series with a huge win over Saint Mary’s in Las Vegas. The Gaels will drop after this loss, though they will remain in the tournament with an at-large bid, while Gonzaga will hope to get a No. 2 seed at the highest. The Bulldogs are more likely to end up with a No. 3 seed, while we can expect to see Saint Mary’s in the 6-7 seed range.

Oral Roberts 92, NDSU 58

The 2021 March Madness darlings are back in the tourney. You’ll remember ORU from their legendary Sweet Sixteen run as a No. 15 seed, and with a crushing victory in the Summit League Championship, the Golden Eagles are back in the Big Dance. We can expect to see them in the 12-13 seed range this year.

Bubble Watch

Charleston 63, UNCW 58

Charleston, the early-season Cinderella, has clawed their way back up to the top and will head to the NCAA Tournament after winning the CAA Conference Final. The Cougars now have a whopping 31 wins under their belt this season, and will enter the tournament in the 12-13 seed range to get battle-tested against much bigger programs.

Other teams that received an automatic bid on Tuesday: Northern Kentucky 63, Cleveland State 61 in Horizon League final, Merrimack 67, Fairleigh Dickinson 66 in Northeast Conference final