Selection Sunday has come and gone, and now we get to move on to the actual playing of the NCAA Tournament. But, since there are no NCAA basketball games today to start the tournament, let’s look at our Selection Sunday recap and see some of the highlights of the Field of 68 that might influence your March Madness picks.
Starting At The Top
The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee didn’t have too much controversy when looking at the teams at the top of the Selection Sunday standings, with Alabama, Houston, Kansas and Purdue earning the No. 1 seeds in the four regions.
While it could be argued that the Jayhawks were more deserving of the top seed in the Midwest Region, which comes with the regional semis and final being played in the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. Instead, Kansas is the top seed in the West Region and will play its Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Las Vegas, Nev., at the T-Mobile Center if it advances.
Texas was also talked about as a possible No. 1 seed after winning the Big 12 Tournament, but Purdue was awarded the top seed in the East after finishing the regular season atop the Big Ten college basketball standings and winning the Big Ten Tournament as well.
Is It An Upset?
One interesting thing in looking at the Selection Sunday recap and the NCAAB odds for the first-round games was that, for a brief time, only one No. 7 seed was favored in its first-round game against a No. 10 seed.
Michigan State, making its 25th straight NCAA Tournament appearance, was favored against USC, but every other seventh seed was an underdog.
That has changed some, as Texas A&M is now favored over Penn State, while Northwestern is now a pick ‘em against Boise State. But Utah State is still the favorite over No. 7 seed Missouri in the South Region.
Missing Players?
It didn’t affect their seeding, but both Houston and Kansas have some injuries that hurt them in the conference tournament title game losses.
Houston’s top scorer, Marcus Sasser, was on the college basketball injury report for Sunday’s contest after suffering a groin injury in Saturday’s win over Cincinnati. His status going forward is uncertain.
Kansas played without guard Kevin McCullar Jr. in Saturday’s loss to the Longhorns in the Big 12 title tilt. The injury bug is hitting more than a few NCAA basketball teams, which could affect how you make your NCAAB picks.
Conference Call
A staple of any Selection Sunday recap is what conferences were best represented in the Field of 68. The Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten each had eight teams make the tournament, including No. 1 seeds Alabama and Purdue, respectively.
But after the Boilermakers, the Big Ten’s next highest seed was Indiana as a No. 4, followed by a pair of 7 seeds in Michigan State and Northwestern. The SEC had the Crimson Tide as well as Tennessee as a 4 seed and Kentucky as a 6.
By contrast, the Big 12, which received seven bids, has a 1 (Kansas), a 2 (Texas), two 3s (Baylor and Kansas State) and two 6s (TCU and Iowa State). The strength of the NCAAB schedule for Big 12 teams certainly helped their cause.
Who Wins?
Will one of the top college basketball players in the country like Purdue’s Zach Edey, Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis or Gonzaga’s Drew Timme lead his team on a title run? Or will it be one of the top teams all season, like Kansas or Alabama?
The beauty of the NCAA Tournament is we never know how it’s going to turn out. Just when we think we have it figured out and can make winning bets, something crazy happens.
It’s why it’s called March Madness, and it’s about to begin again
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