The NCAA Tournament is right around the corner and for the first time ever we get a peek inside the minds of the selection committee.
On Saturday, the NCAA released the projection for the first four seeds in each region of the bracket. The East Region consists of No. 1 Villanova, No. 2 Louisville, No. 3 Kentucky, and No. 4 UCLA.
Villanova is the overall No. 1 seed right now. They are 22-2 on the season and are the defending National Champions. I was shocked that Louisville dropped down to a No. 2 seed considering they are in the top four in the AP Poll, USA Today Poll, and RPI.
In the Midwest Region, Kansas is the No. 1 seed followed by No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Arizona, and No 4 Duke.The selection committee has Kansas as the second-best No. 1 seed. That doesn’t really surprise me considering their history. Florida State is the biggest surprise to me in this region. They are barely in the top 15 in both the major polls and their RPI is only No. 10.
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The South Region has Baylor as the No. 1 seed with North Carolina as the No. 2 seed, Florida No. 3, and Butler No. 4. Baylor moving up to a No. 1 seed is a bit shocking if you just look at the AP and USA Today polls, but they have the best RPI in the nation right now.
Another interesting selection from this region is Butler. The Bulldogs barely made the top 25 this week so that means the committee doesn’t put too much stock in the rankings.
Gonzaga is the No. 1 seed in the West Region. The Bulldogs are followed by No. 2 Oregon, No. 3 Virginia, and No. 4 West Virginia.
I was surprised that Gonzaga was the fourth best No. 1 seed according to the committee. This team is undefeated and they still aren’t getting respect.The rest of the West Region seems to be right on the mark, though.
Overall, the revealing of the top 16 seeds in the NCAA Tournament if the season ended today is quite exciting.
The East Region would be by far the toughest with UCLA being a No. 4 seed. I think they have a shot at winning it all behind the tremendous play of Lonzo Ball. I also think the West Region would be a coin flip as well. There really aren’t any overpowering teams in that section so I would look for some big upsets this year.
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The selection committee came out with what they believe is the top 16 teams. There is still a lot of basketball to play and I can’t wait to see how it shakes out.