Tickets have been punched and bubbles burst. Better of luck placing that bracket collectively, ‘trigger you are going to want it.
An unpredictable end to the common season has yielded an unpredictable NCAA males’s match subject, the place the few certain issues — defending nationwide champion Connecticut, to call one — are outnumbered by the query marks in each area.
For one, can two-time defending Large Ten champion and Midwest Area No. 1 Purdue comply with in 2019 Virginia’s footsteps and go from final 12 months’s historic loss to Fairleigh Dickinson to this system’s first Remaining 4 since 1980?
Can the Large 12 and SEC justify having eight groups apiece within the match, tied for essentially the most within the nation, and ship a number of groups deep into the bracket?
Can Arizona make a Remaining 4 run and delay the shelf lifetime of the disappearing Pac-12 into April?
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Earlier than placing pen to paper and filling out our brackets, let’s evaluation the winners and losers from Choice Sunday:
Winners
North Carolina
It is not simply touchdown the No. 1 seed within the West Area that makes UNC one of many large winners from the match draw. Regardless of being the weakest of the 4 prime seeds — becoming a member of Connecticut within the East, Houston within the South and Purdue within the Midwest — the Tar Heels are in what appears on paper to be the best area. UNC is joined on the prime of the West by No. 2 Arizona, No. 3 Baylor, No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Saint Mary’s, the match’s flimsiest prime grouping. To get out of the primary weekend, the Tar Heels must keep away from shedding to a No. 16 after which beat the winner of No. 8 Mississippi State and No. 9 Michigan State.
LEFT OUT:Six groups that had been snubbed by the match committee
Kansas
Not counting the abbreviated COVID season, the Jayhawks’ 22 wins are this system’s fewest within the common season below Invoice Self since Self’s debut 12 months in 2003-04. Kansas misplaced eight video games in convention play; earlier than this 12 months, this system’s most league defeats below Self had been six in 2018-19 and 2020-21. KU completed tied for fifth within the Large 12, a brand new low for a program that had completed decrease than second within the convention standings simply as soon as below Self and by no means decrease than third. And right here we’re anyway: KU remains to be a No. 4 seed reverse No. 13 Samford within the Midwest area and in possession of a pleasant draw into the second weekend.
Illinois
Illinois was hovering between a No. 3 and a No. 4 heading into Sunday however ended up on the No. 3 line within the East. That is a simply reward for the second-place group from the Large Ten and homeowners of 14 mixed Quad 1 and Quad 2 wins. After an prolonged match drought from 2014-20, the Illini are dancing for the fourth 12 months in a row and a top-four seed for the third time below coach Brad Underwood. The subsequent step might be advancing out of the opening weekend, one thing this system hasn’t executed since reaching the championship sport in 2005.
Virginia
The information did not appear to assist a bid for the Cavaliers. Virginia completed 4 video games out of first within the ACC. The Cavaliers entered the postseason fifty fifth within the NET rankings with simply two Quad 1 wins. Total, the document, the wins and the group’s efficiency did not warrant inclusion within the subject; of the 92 pre-tournament brackets collected by Bracket Matrix, simply seven had UVA as one of many 68 groups. It would not make sense, however right here we’re anyway: Virginia is a No. 10 seed in one of many play-in video games reverse Colorado State.
Purdue and Rick Barnes
Placing Purdue because the No. 1 seed within the Midwest and Tennessee because the No. 2 will increase the chances that one of many Boilermakers and Tennessee advances to the Remaining 4. For the Boilermakers, a Remaining 4 bid can be this system’s first since 1980 and assist erase a number of the dangerous vibes nonetheless lingering from final 12 months’s loss. The Volunteers have by no means been. Barnes made his first match look as a head coach at Windfall in 1989 however has made the nationwide semifinals simply as soon as throughout stops with the Friars, Clemson, Texas and Tennessee That got here with level guard T.J. Ford and the Longhorns in 2003.
Losers
Iowa State
Tennessee’s early exit from the SEC match mixed with Iowa State’s dominant win towards Houston to win the Large 12 championship had put the Cyclones in late competition for a No. 1 seed. As a substitute, nevertheless, ISU landed because the No. 2 seed within the East, becoming a member of a area led by top-overall seed Connecticut, Illinois and No. 4 Auburn. That is a really crowded and top-heavy facet of the bracket that does no favors to any one of many favorites. But it surely’s significantly merciless to the Cyclones, who had the résumé to at the very least keep away from being positioned in the identical area with the Huskies.
Trev Alberts
This might be an ungainly few days for Alberts, the previous Nebraska athletics director who simply left for a similar place at Texas A&M. Seems the choice committee does have a humorousness, when you look shut sufficient: No. 9 A&M will tackle the No. 8 Cornhuskers within the first spherical of the South Regional. That is excellent news for the Aggies, one of many bubble groups heading into Choice Sunday, however not-so-great information for Alberts, who was largely in a position to dodge questions on his means out of Lincoln however will spend this week within the highlight.
Large East
There was a disconnect between how the Large East was considered through the common season — as possibly the second-best convention in Division I — and the way the league was seen by the choice committee. The Large East despatched simply three groups into match play within the Huskies, South Area No. 2 Marquette and Midwest Area No. 3 Creighton, leaving bubble groups reminiscent of St. John’s, Windfall and Seton Corridor on the surface of the sector. The convention had averaged over 5 bids per 12 months within the earlier 9 tournaments, so to have simply three this March is unquestionably a shock.
Mountain West
Just like the Large East, the Mountain West was a regular-season powerhouse predicted to position as many as six groups within the subject. Not like the Large East, nevertheless, the MWC did simply that: get six groups within the bracket, equaling essentially the most for a mid-major league with the Atlantic 10 in 2014. The difficulty is with seeding, and the place the committee positioned groups from the deepest non-major convention within the nation. Boise State and Colorado State had been made No. 10 seeds in play-in video games towards Colorado and the Cavaliers, respectively. Common-season convention champion Utah State is the Midwest No. 8. Match champion New Mexico is the No. 11 seed within the West. Nevada gained 26 video games, completed in second place within the convention and is the East No. 10. After which there’s San Diego State, which completed fifth however earned the No. 5 seed within the East.