Photo Credit: Ron Chenoy/ USA TODAY Sports
With conference tournaments coming to an end, Selection Sunday signals the start of the “big dance” as the selection committee finalized their bracket and now we can look forward to the first and second rounds of the tournament.
The number one seeds are Florida, Arizona, Wichita St. and Virginia with Florida being the overall number. one seed.
In the South region, Florida will be joined by No. 5 VCU, No. 4 UCLA, No. 2 Kansas and No. 3 Syracuse. Among the notables in the West region are No. 9 Oklahoma St., No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 3 Creighton. In the Midwest region, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 4 Louisville, No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Duke provide for a strong region.
Joining Virginia in the East region are No. 5 Cincinnati, No. 4 Michigan St., No. 2 Villanova, No. 3 Iowa St and No. 7 Connecticut.
The first round, or the first four, Albany and Mt St Mary’s will face off for the right to play Florida, while Cal Poly and Texas Southern will battle to play Wichita St. NC State and Xavier will play to take on No. 5 Saint Louis. Meanwhile, Iowa and Tennessee will play for the No. 11 seed and a second round match-up vs. UMass.
The second round will see many match-ups with the potential for upsets. As always, there will always be Cinderella’s, who will be this year’s Florida Gulf Coast?
No. 13 Harvard might give No. 5 Cincinnati a hard time, while Big East tournament winner and No. 11 Providence will take in No. 6 North Carolina. Also, look for No. 8 Memphis and No. 9 George Washington to be a battle. A-10 winner St. Joe’s could possibly upset No. 7 UConn.
In the Midwest region a game to watch is the young No. 8 Kentucky and a physical No. 9 Kansas St. A surprise No. 4, Louisville should have no problem defeating No. 13 Manhattan.
One of the greatest potentials for an upset might me when No. 12 Stephen F. Austin takes on No. 5 VCU. Also, No. 4 UCLA and No. 13 Tulsa is on upset watch. Maybe one of the most dangerous teams in the tournament is No. 9 Oklahoma State who should take care of No. 8 Gonzaga. Also, look out for No. 6 Baylor to make some noise in the West.
One thing is for certain, you just never know what will happen come tournament time!
