The prime total seed, Alabama, has been on a roll regardless of being entangled in a homicide case. Another No. 1 seed, defending nationwide champion Kansas, is coming off a blowout loss and has a coach popping out of the hospital. Yet one other, Houston, simply watched its greatest participant go down in a heap with a scary damage.
This 12 months’s March Madness frontrunners are something however excellent, however the presence of those groups and all their questions on the prime of the bracket may make for exactly what the NCAA needs its match to be – a wonderfully unpredictable mess.
Most of the drama in selecting this 12 months’s bracket was resolved far earlier than Selection Sunday.
Arizona State and Nevada made it off the bubble and into the 68-team area. Rutgers and Oklahoma State didn’t. Purdue, with 7-foot-4 Zach Edey main the way in which, edged out UCLA for the fourth and closing No. 1 seed.
And in a call most everybody noticed coming, the choice committee left North Carolina, final 12 months’s nationwide runner-up, out of the match. It made the Tar Heels the primary group because the bracket expanded to 64 groups in 1985 to begin the season ranked No. 1 within the Associated Press ballot and end it by not making the Big Dance.
The group they misplaced to, Kansas, is making an attempt to turn out to be the primary back-to-back NCAA champion since Florida in 2007.
The Jayhawks earned the highest seed within the West Region, however solely the third total, behind the Crimson Tide and the Cougars. The Jayhawks are awaiting the return of coach Bill Self, who went to the hospital final week complaining of chest tightness and issues together with his steadiness. He has been discharged and is predicted again this week.
The head of the choice committee, Chris Reynolds, mentioned it took each damage, and each absence, under consideration.
“It’s certainly something the committee talked about during the course of the year, and certainly played a factor in seeding and selection,” mentioned Reynolds, the athletic director at Bradley.
He mentioned the committee additionally didn’t ignore lopsided losses: Two of Kansas’ seven Ls got here in March to Texas, a No. 2 seed, by 16 and 20 factors.
“They mark it how they feel and we’re just going to do what we need to do to get where we need to be,” Kansas ahead KJ Adams mentioned.
The match begins Tuesday with two First Four video games. The full insanity begins Thursday with 16 first-round video games, then 16 extra the following day.
Kansas’ loss to Texas within the Big 12 semifinal Saturday doubtless performed into FanDuel Sportsbook setting the Jayhawks at 10-1 to win the title, behind each Alabama of the South Region (8-1 odds) and the general favourite, Houston (5-1 odds), which might be taking part in the Final Four in its hometown if it wins the Midwest Region. The semifinals and finals are set for NRG Stadium on April 1 and three.
The Cougars misplaced their convention title sport Sunday, i n giant half as a result of they had been with out Marcus Sasser, the main scorer who left the day past’s sport early after sliding awkwardly and hurting his groin.
Purdue doubtless discovered its means onto the “1” line when it gained this system’s second Big Ten match title Sunday, lower than 24 hours after UCLA, additionally dinged-up this season, fell by two to Arizona within the Pac-12 title sport.
For Alabama, the SEC match was a relative breeze – no one stayed inside double digits of the Tide — not like the previous two months, which have been met with a close to fixed stream of headlines a few former participant, Darius Miles, who’s accused of capital homicide In the Jan. 15 killing of 23-year-old Jamea Harris.
“I’m not sure we would have predicted this,” mentioned coach Nate Oats of the Tide, which is a No. 1 seed for the primary time. “Being the No. 1 overall seed is great. It says what an unbelievable regular season we’ve had. You’ve still got to go win the games.”
The SEC and Big Ten led the way in which by inserting eight groups every within the 68-team area. Duke gained the ACC for the twenty second time and was considered one of 5 groups from that convention in a comparatively weak 12 months.
But this match is at all times about greater than massive faculties with massive pedigrees.
Some groups to look at for embody Thirteenth-seeded Iona, coached by the legend, Rick Pitino, who has the Gaels within the present for the second time in three years – with some individuals questioning if he’ll be heading over to a vacant job at St. John’s quickly. Iona obtained a brutal draw – a first-round assembly towards fourth-seeded UConn.
There is Southern Conference champion Furman, again within the match for the primary time since 1980, and MEAC champ Howard, again within the tourney for the primary time since 1992.
There is Kennesaw State, this system that went 1-28 in 2019-20 and now finds itself within the bracket. For the remainder of the dreamers, there’s Texas Southern – the group that gained its convention match as a No. 8 seed and involves March Madness at 14-20 for a play-in sport towards Fairleigh Dickinson.
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AP March Madness protection: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
