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          NFL Nation

          A little Broncos bracketology on Selection Sunday

          • Jeff Legwold, ESPN Senior WriterMar 15, 2015, 01:45 PM ET
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              Jeff Legwold is a senior writer who covers the Denver Broncos and the NFL at ESPN. Jeff has covered the Broncos for more than 20 years, joining ESPN in 2013. He also assists with NFL draft coverage, including his annual top 100 prospects. Jeff has been a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors since 1999. He has attended every scouting combine since 1987.
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          ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Selection Sunday has arrived and here's a quick run through of where the projected bracket would fit in the Denver Broncos' locker room.

          ESPN’s Joe Lunardi projects Kentucky, Villanova, Duke and Wisconsin to get the coveted No. 1 seeds when the brackets are formally announced Sunday night.

          Of that group, the Badgers lead the way for the Broncos with two players on the current roster who will be among the final 53 at the end of the preseason – running back Montee Ball and the newly signed Owen Daniels. Running back Juwan Thompson is the lone Broncos player from Duke who played for the team last season and is back for more (Kenny Anunike was an undrafted rookie who spent the 2014 season on the practice squad).

          For Kentucky, with Jacob Tamme still an unrestricted free agent who, at the moment, the Broncos have not re-signed, linebacker Danny Trevathan is the only former Wildcats player.

          No Broncos player on the roster played at Villanova and the team has not selected a Villanova player in the draft since Mike Strofalino in 1965.

          Look at Lunardi’s projected No. 2 seeds – Kansas, Virginia, Arizona and Gonzaga – and the Jayhawks lead the way with three Broncos in Chris Harris Jr., Steven Johnson and Aqib Talib. No Broncos who are former Wildcats, none from Virginia and Gonzaga doesn’t field a football team.

          Among Lunardi’s projected No. 3 seeds – Maryland, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Iowa State – only the Irish have a Broncos player under contract in safety David Bruton Jr. Safety Quinton Carter, who was on injured reserve last season, played at Oklahoma, but is an unsigned unrestricted free agent.

          What’s it mean? It means as you fill out your brackets in the office pool against people who have picked, and score well with, favorite colors, best nicknames, favorite mascots or teams they once saw in the airport, Lunardi’s projected bracket showed there will be 13 games in the first round with schools that also produced at least one Broncos rostered player or futures signing on the current offseason roster.

          And the totals show North Carolina (Sylvester Williams, Connor Barth and Marvin Austin Jr.), a projected No. 4 seed by Lunardi, and Kansas lead the way in the projected bracket with three Broncos each. So, clip and save as you pick at your own risk.