There are still some pieces that will be sorted out Sunday, and of course bracketology is not the final word. But it is fun, and it is worth taking a look at.
After Duke’s win in Saturday’s ACC Championship, Duke is likely to retain the #1 seed overall and the #1 seed in the East. ESPN has the Blue Devils opening against Long Island.
The other three #1 seeds, according to ESPN, are Michigan/Midwest, Florida/South, and Arizona/West.
CBS concurs. We’ll be curious to see if either Florida or UConn getting
savaged in their conference tournaments will change anything.
Here’s the rest of the East, according to ESPN and then CBS. As you can see, there is still considerable variation, but really, it doesn’t matter. Every year, some fan base or another complains about being in the toughest bracket, blah, blah, blah. However, you only play four teams in your regional, if you’re lucky, and the teams that advance are the ones that are playing the best. If you are one of those, you’ll move on. If not, you’ll go home.
Well, there is one caveat. Sometimes a team gets a perfect bracket and you can see the path open right up no matter who they play. But that’s rare.
Really, the only thing anyone should worry about is who they play next.
ESPN:
- 1 Duke
- 2 Iowa State
- 3 Illinois
- 4 Vanderbilt
- 5 St. John’s
- 6 Louisville
- 7 Kentucky
- 8 Ohio State
- 9 TCU
- 10 Santa Clara
- 11 Missouri/Miami of Ohio
- 12 Akron
- 13 Northern Iowa
- 14 Wright State
- 15 Furman
- 16 LIU
CBS
- 1 Duke
- 2 Purdue
- 3 Vanderbilt
- 4 Kansas
- 5 St. John’s
- 6 Wisconsin
- 7 Villanova
- 8 Utah State
- 9 Saint Louis
- 10 NC State
- 11 TBD
- 12 Akron
- 13 High Point
- 14 Wright State
- 15 Siena
- 16 LIU
Here’s the rest of the ACC:
- Virginia: ESPN #3 West/CBS #3 West
- UNC: ESPN #6 Midwest/CBS #6 South
- NC State: ESPN #10 Midwest/CBS #10 East
- Miami: ESPN # 7 West/CBS #7 South
- Louisville: ESPN #6 East/CBS #6 Midwest
- Clemson: ESPN #8 South/CBS #8 West
- SMU: ESPN #11 West/CBS # 11, not yet placed
