Saturday bracket update: No. 1 seeds up for grabs
We are two weeks from Selection Sunday and only two of four No. 1 seeds appear to be locked in place: Kentucky and Syracuse. Six teams are wrangling for those final two spots – most likely in the Midwest and West Regions. While the South Region appears to be a more natural fit for Kentucky, it’s possible the Wildcats could be routed through St. Louis, which is a few miles closer to Lexington than Atlanta. With Kansas and Missouri among the teams in contention for that region, however, it seems more plausible that UK will feed through the South. Just something to keep in mind.
Duke, North Carolina, Michigan State, and Ohio State join KU and Mizzou as potential No. 1 seeds. Both Duke and North Carolina and Michigan State and Ohio State play each other again in the regular season. We could easily see a third matchup in the ACC and Big Ten conference tournaments. So the race is far from over. Conference championships (regular season and/or conference tourney) will likely prove decisive.
February 25 Bracket Projection – Bracketology
In today’s bracket, Michigan State (Midwest) and Kansas (West) grab the final No. 1 seed positions. A quick note of explanation: Duke beat both the Spartans and Jayhawks on neutral courts in November. Those are important victories that could ultimately work in the Blue Devils’ favor. As of this bracket, however, Michigan State and Kansas have outright leads in their respective conferences. That’s why MSU and KU have been slotted just ahead of Duke on the s-curve. Safe to say, we have a lot of basketball left. For those wondering, spots 5-8 on the s-curve are listed like this: Duke, Missouri, Ohio State, North Carolina.
Today’s update also features a unique situation in the First Four. Dayton is among those teams - slotted against Texas in an opening round game. There is no bracketing provision that excludes Dayton from playing on its home floor if the Flyers are indeed a First Four participant. This was covered by the NCAA during the Mock Selection exercise in Indianapolis. The winner of the Dayton-Texas game heads to Nashville for a matchup with Louisville. The other at-large First Four game is Colorado State and Arizona. That winner heads to Portland to battle Wisconsin. As a point of reference, the Selection Committee will try to route one at-large matchup winner to a Thursday/Saturday site and one to a Friday/Sunday site unless no options are available. One of the at-large games will be played Tuesday and one Wednesday.
Enjoy a great weekend of hoops.
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