This was one of the most unpredictable years for college basketball in history.
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The Pirates, which earned an automatic bid with an 81-69 win against South Carolina State Saturday in the MEAC championship, won its NCAA tournament play-in game a year ago against Manhattan before falling to then-undefeated Kentucky.
Fitting, then, that Selection Sunday brought more ambiguity. After Syracuse lost in the ACC tournament Wednesday, dropping to 19-13, Boeheim said his team had been “punished enough” (h/t ESPN) and its performance in his absence shouldn’t count against it for NCAA tourney consideration. Four will make it to the final weekend at NRG Stadium in Houston.
That loss to Long Beach State was bad, no getting around it. But the committee supposedly gives consideration to how teams are playing down the stretch, and Seton Hall beat the Nos.
The East top seed is ACC regular season and tournament champion North Carolina. Nine Cavalier opponents made the tournament, including out of conference foes Villanova, West Virginia and California – No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively.
“This was a case of misfortune (that) one or two schools opened the door for schools that wouldn’t have gotten in otherwise”, selection committee chair Joe Castiglione said when asked why 24-8 SC was overlooked.
Coming off a sweep of the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament titles, eighth-ranked OR (28-6) is the top seed in the West and will play in Spokane against the Holy Cross-Southern victor from the First Four.
Kansas can take solace that seven times in the last 11 seasons the overall No. 1 seed has at least made it to the Final Four. But like Kansas, Oregon will have a hard path through the West Region to the Final Four. Can they get past the Tar Heels to get to the Elite Eight, though?
It’s especially tempting to embrace the Cinderella storyline this year.
“We have a sour taste in our mouth from the way we left our seniors off past year”, Baylor sophomore forward Jonathan Motley said. And 1-seeds win more than 86% of second-round games against the 8-9 victor.
Get to know No. 1: Kansas (30-4).
North Carolina received the top seed in the East, but many eyes were drawn to the possibility of fourth-seeded Kentucky facing fifth-seeded in in the second round. Are we the last four in, last four out? Do the Shockers count as a true Cinderella anymore? Nineteen of 31 champs since 1985 have been No. 1 seeds.
UVa will play 16-seed Hampton in the first round on Thursday. The Boilermakers are a unsafe No. 5 seed, which traditionally fares well in the tournament.
And for those who think the chances of picking a ideal bracket increase in a wild and insane year, the odds are still 9.2 quintillion to one (that’s 18 zeroes), the same odds as being hit by a meteorite. We’re taking Temple in the seed upset. “But at the end of the day, they’re not stealing my joy”. So coach Billy Kennedy and his Aggies went back to the team hotel and ate a quick meal before the show started.
Don’t bet big on shallow Duke. I wrote earlier about the reasoning behind the selection of Virginia over Michigan State, and while I didn’t project that, I can certainly see their thinking. Xavier’s zone defense can confound.
Smith previously led Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky and Minnesota to the NCAA Tournament.
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North Carolina has everything it takes for a basketball team to be successful.
