North Carolina, Michigan lead NCAA men’s tournament winners and losers
Selection Sunday revealed one of the least controversial NCAA men’s tournament brackets in recent history thanks to a bubble-bursting final stretch of the regular season.
The list of teams left out of the 68-team field include Indiana, Boise State and West Virginia. This group might have a bone to pick with the selection committee, which instead gave the last at-large spot to North Carolina despite the Tar Heels’ miserable performance in games against Quad 1 competition.
But things generally went according to plan for the selection committee, which avoided a late dose of chaos after Memphis topped Alabama-Birmingham in the American Athletic championship game. That leaves Mountain West champion Colorado State as the only bid-stealing team in this year’s bracket.
The No. 1 line has Duke, Auburn, Florida and Houston. On the No. 2 line are Michigan State, Tennessee, St. John’s and Alabama. Among the teams joining the Tar Heels on the back end of the at-large picture are Texas, Xavier and Utah State.
Tournament action begins Tuesday with play-in games in Dayton, Ohio, pitting North Carolina against San Diego State and No. 16 seeds St. Francis and Alabama State.
Here are the winners and losers from Selection Sunday:
Winners
North Carolina
UNC made the field as a No. 11 seed in the South region despite winning all of one game against Quad 1 competition, which can be seen as both a damning indictment of the Tar Heels’ mediocrity and a statement about the dearth of qualified options on the back end of the at-large picture. While the tournament berth puts a positive spin on what has been an often miserable season – and helps coach Hubert Davis avoid a second tournament absence in three years — how far the Tar Heels advance in March depends on how quickly they can reboot, refocus and embrace this opportunity.
Duke
Duke were locked onto the No. 1 line after beating the Cardinals 73-62 despite missing star freshman Cooper Flagg, who injured his ankle in the ACC semifinals. This performance on Saturday night speaks to the Blue Devils’ depth beyond Flagg’s brilliance as perhaps the most well-rounded player in this year’s tournament. The East region is also kind to Duke, which is projected to face No. 8 Baylor or No. 9 Mississippi State in the second round before potentially facing off with No. 4 Arizona or No. 5 Oregon to decide the Elite Eight. But to get back to the Final Four, the Blue Devils might have to handle a matchup with No. 2 Alabama and the Crimson Tide’s high-potency offense.
LEFT OUT: Six teams snubbed by the NCAA men’s tournament
Memphis
Memphis was one of the toughest teams to predict in our bracketology, with the potential to land anywhere from the No. 5 line to a No. 7 seed after beating UAB. The Tigers landed as the No. 5 in the West, drawing an opening-round matchup with No. 12 Colorado State and then No. 4 Maryland or No. 13 Grand Canyon for a trip to the Sweet 16. Looking at the resume, it’s clear the committee valued the Tigers’ convincing run through the AAC and impressive 6-1 mark against Quad 1 teams, including non-conference wins against Missouri, Connecticut, Michigan State and Clemson.
The SEC
The SEC set a tournament record for a single conference with 14 teams in this year’s field: No. 1 Auburn, No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 6 Mississippi in the South; No. 2 Alabama and No. 8 Mississippi State in the East region; No. 1 Florida, No. 6 Missouri, No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 10 Arkansas in the West; and No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 9 Georgia and No. 11 Texas in the Midwest. After a banner regular season, the onus is on the SEC to deliver on this well-deserved respect by sending multiple teams to the second weekend and potentially two or more all the way to the Final Four.
Losers
Michigan
Several factors combine to make Michigan perhaps the biggest loser in this year’s field. For one, the Wolverines are a No. 5 seed in the South despite beating Wisconsin for the Big Ten championship; the Badgers, meanwhile, are the No. 3 seed in the East. Michigan also plays on Thursday in Denver, giving them a shortened turnaround time to recover from the grind of the Big Ten tournament. Lastly, the Wolverines will take on No. 12 UC San Diego, which ended the regular season No. 35 in the NET rankings after going 30-4 overall and 4-2 against Quad 1 and Quad 2 competition. In Michigan’s favor is the postseason track record of first-year coach Dusty May, who led Florida Atlantic to the Final Four two years ago.
Louisville
That dismal perception of the ACC clearly had a major influence on Louisville, which scaled the conference standings under new coach Pat Kelsey before falling to Duke in yesterday’s championship game. Despite winning 27 games during the regular season, including a combined 15 wins against Quad 1 and Quad 2 competition, the Cardinals drew the No. 8 seed in the South and a first-round matchup with No. 9 Creighton. With a win there, Louisville would face SEC regular-season champion Auburn, which spent most the year as the unquestioned top-ranked team in the country. That’s a very rough draw for one of the biggest major-conference success stories of this season. But Louisville does get to play the first weekend in Lexington, Kentucky, which might be enemy territory but will provide a very friendly crowd.
St. John’s
There’s good news and bad news for the Big East champions, which on Saturday cut down the nets after the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden for the first time in 25 years. (Turns out that Rick Pitino was a good idea.) The good news: St. John’s lands as the No. 2 seed opposite No. 15 Nebraska-Omaha in the West region, the program’s highest NCAA tournament seeding since that 2000 season. That sets up the potential for a second-round matchup with John Calipari and No. 10 Arkansas, should the Razorbacks get past No. 7 Kansas. The bad news can be found in that West region landing spot. Had they been placed in the East, the Red Storm could’ve played for a Final Four appearance in nearby Newark, New Jersey.
