Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham, left, and West Virginia guard Jaysean Paige, right, dive for the ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the finals of the Big 12 conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo.,.
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It was the first time Pac-12 champion OR ever received a No. 1 seed, but the big surprise was ACC Tournament runnerup Virginia being placed on the top line ahead of Big Ten tournament champion Michigan State. Second, their No. 4 seeding, one spot worse than Texas A&M, the team the Wildcats beat in the SEC tournament title game. Buddy Hield and the Sooners are a risky No. 2 seed.
If one should advance to the Sweet 16, they will play in Philadelphia on March 25. Virginia has an offense that can finally match its dominant defense – but can they finally win in March?
And several teams are fighting to keep their tournament hopes alive while others, already eliminated from their tournaments, wait with bated breath for Selection Sunday. Michigan State has a claim to a top seed but has to get past Purdue in the Big Ten championship game to wrap it up. It was almost an hour later by the time the network had officially announced all the teams, with Syracuse getting in and Monmouth – and its entertaining bench players – missing out. He knocked down a 3-pointer immediately out of the locker room, then curled in two more in quick succession to give Kansas a 51-39 lead with just under 15 minutes to go.
Holy Cross, which won the Patriot League as the No. 9 seed and with an overall losing record, is headed to Dayton, Ohio – as expected.
Izzo said he knows Virginia, Kansas and North Carolina are all “very deserving” of No. 1 seeds and that Pac-12 champion OR probably is as well even though he doesn’t see the Ducks very much. “The No. 1 overall doesn’t mean anything to us”.
Devin Williams had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead a balanced attack, and the No. 2 seed never trailed in an 86-66 victory over TCU in the quarterfinals Thursday night – their first in the tournament since bolting the Big East for the conference prior to the 2012 season. Kansas is a lock for a top seed.
A topsy turvy season in college basketball delivered a few more twists when the brackets came out Sunday.
The contenders include 32 teams who automatically qualify by winning their conference title, and 36 at-large bids awarded by a selection committee. Florida Gulf Coast is back in the tournament for the second time in program history and first since it reached the Sweet 16 in 2013.
Virginia’s top seed in the Midwest came at a price as the Cavaliers might have to go through No. 2 seed Michigan State to get to the Final Four.
The games have been played and the championships won.
Castiglione said the last bubble team to make it was Tulsa, which plays MI on Wednesday.
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Playing so close to campus has been fortuitous in the past for the Tar Heels – they played tournament games in Raleigh in 2008, and rolled to two easy wins in the opening weekend on their way to the Final Four.
