(Editor’s note: This article is part of the Bracket Central series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s & women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.)

Ohio State’s out, Xavier’s in, Texas is alive, Vanderbilt should be fine and North Carolina is going to need serious help if it can’t help itself with one of the upsets of the season.

Those are the Wednesday men’s basketball happenings that helped shape Thursday’s bracket, which had to say farewell to Ohio State after a damaging loss to Iowa in the Big Ten tournament. The 17-15 Buckeyes have some great wins, but it’s hard to see them making it now. Xavier takes that spot — which means a different team from the state of Ohio playing in a First Four game in Dayton — and can go a long way toward keeping it by beating Marquette in Thursday’s Big East quarterfinals.

Texas kept itself in play — and the SEC in play for an absurd max out of 14 NCAA Tournament bids — with a 79-72 win over Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament that was more convincing than the final score. The Commodores have a sturdy profile and should have a stress-free Sunday unless utter chaos grips several of these conference tournaments. The Longhorns are the first team out at this point, with North…

(Editor’s note: This article is part of the Bracket Central series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s & women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.)

Drake’s in, so we can dispense with the arguments about whether Ben McCollum’s Bulldogs would have made the field of 68 without winning the Missouri Valley tourney (they probably wouldn’t have), save follow-up discussions about the plight of the mid-major and tournament expansion for another day and simply appreciate the fact that this tournament is better with Drake in it.

Lipscomb’s in, too. And High Point. And SIU-Edwardsville. And Omaha. With the Sun Belt and Southern Conference scheduled to produce champions Monday. And on through the week we’ll go, into power conference tournaments and finishing on Selection Sunday. The teams playing for those automatic bids and the at-large hopefuls right around the bubble have the most at stake this week, of course — check for regular updates this week on Jim Root’s Bubble Watch.

But what about the stakes in safe parts of the bracket? Here are five teams that have much to gain in their conference tournaments and five that don’t.

Five that should go hard this week

Florida: I’ve got Florida as the last No. 1 seed after an…