Jerry Palm of CBSSports.com has updated his bracket for the second time in-season and Providence, as well as some of their Big East compatriots, keeps getting better placement. In Palm’s preseason bracket, Providence was a 9 seed and he was higher than some others on the Friars at that point. In his last update on December 16th, Providence moved up to a 3 seed. The Friars have moved up again in Palm’s bracket out today.

Providence

After finishing off the non-conference slate at 12-1, Providence has been one of the surpise teams in college basketball. The Friars have wins against Arizona and Evansville, both on neutral courts, and their lone loss is to Michigan State. Palm has the Friars as a 2 seed in the West region facing off against 15th-seeded Winthrop. That’s a 1 line move for the Friars. That First Round game would take place in Brooklyn, a location that Providence fans have traveled well to in recent history.

The Rest of the Big East

Palm continues to have 5 Big East teams in the field of 68. Xavier remains the top-seeded team from the league and they moved up from a 2 seed to a 1 seed in this latest release. Butler joins Providence on the 2 line, while Villanova slipped from a 4 seed to a 5 seed. Seton Hall is now more comfortably in Palm’s field as a 10 seed after being part of the “Last Four In” group last time.

Providence’s Non-Con Opponents

Michigan State remains on the 1 line after their first loss of the season against Iowa, but they are no longer the #1 overall with Oklahoma taking over that spot. Arizona remains a 4 seed after slipping from a 3 to a 4 in Palm’s last release two weeks ago. Harvard now enters the field as a 16 seed facing Michigan State in the East region and NJIT is a 16 seed facing 16 seed Iona in a “First Four” game.

Click here to see Palm’s entire bracket.

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Mike Hopkins

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