The Jayhawks kept the streak alive during one of the most competitive seasons the Big 12 has seen in years, and they also stormed through the conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo., defeating West Virginia in the title game Saturday. Another hour passed before the Cavaliers, seeded No. 1 in the Midwest Region, received official confirmation about when and where, and against which team, they would open the tournament.
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Virginia: Virginia picked up a one seed in the tournament despite not winning the ACC regular season or tournament.
Villanova, one of six teams to hold the No. 1 ranking in the Top 25 this year, is the No. 2 seed in the region. Add the motivation, tournament experience and recent play (nine consecutive wins), and MSU is the team to beat. Kansas has been a No. 1 or No. 2 seed for seven straight tournaments. I saw him play in person in December.
Then, not too much after Michigan State was wrapping up its title in the Big Ten Tournament – which serves as the lead-in to CBS’ bracket coverage – a copy of the pairings was going viral on Twitter.
Michigan State might meet with Virginia once again, put in the same regional. Suffice to say, the specter of Michigan State is not lost on anyone with an interest in Virginia basketball.
Saint Mary’s won the West Coast regular-season title and reached the tournament title game, losing to Gonzaga.
Could 2016 join 2013 and 1986 as the “most upsetting” tournaments – both won by Louisville?
Self mentioned to reporters that he hoped his team wouldn’t consider the NCAA Tournament a reset button.
RIVALRY WEEKS: The committee insists it doesn’t consider rivalries when it slots the field, and every year it’s hard to believe it. Potential matchups this year include longtime Southwest Conference foes Texas and Texas A&M, perennial powers Kentucky and IN, football foes Notre Dame and Michigan, and Jim Boeheim against Tom Izzo err, Syracuse against Michigan State.
Since the NCAA field expanded to 64 teams, the 16 seeds are 0-124 all-time. North Carolina’s 15th No. 1 is a record, and the Cavaliers and Tar Heels give the ACC a pair of top seeds for the fifth time, the first since 2005.
A topsy turvy season in college basketball delivered a few more twists when the brackets came out Sunday. That Kansas and North Carolina earned two of the spots wasn’t that surprising.
Get to Know: Kansas is far from a one-man show, but All-Big-12 senior forward Perry Ellis is the leading scorer at 16.7 points per game. I think their top six players are seniors – they’re good. “I think whenever you get to a second weekend, you’re going to play good teams no matter what”. The Runnin’ Utes have made the NCAA Tournament 27 times. He ranks 10th nationally in scoring averaging 22.4 points per game. The SI.com Bracket Watch agreed on OR, but had Virginia as a No. 2.
The Spartans made the Final Four last season and were ranked second in the AP top 25 poll released March 7. This season the Cavaliers are a No. 1 at 26-7. The Ducks begin pursuit of their first national championship against the victor of Wednesday’s matchup between Holy Cross and Southern in a play-in game in Dayton, Ohio.
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Wisconsin lost in the NCAA championship game last season to Duke.
