This. Is. Almost March.
The NCAA Men’s DI Basketball Committee revealed the top 16 seeds yesterday, and we finally have a look at who the committee thinks is good enough to earn a top-four seed as of this point in the season.
The biggest question was who was going to be the number one overall seed, Purdue or UConn?
Both have had incredible seasons thus far, the defending champion Huskies are running through their competition as they seek to become the first back-to-back champs since Florida in 2007.
Purdue, on the other hand, is looking to pull off what Virginia did back in 2019; win the National Championship after losing to a No. 16 seed in the first round.
The committee gave Purdue the nod, but maybe that will change after UConn, No. 1 in the AP poll, destroyed No. 4 Marquette on Saturday.
The Huskies dominated the Golden Eagles, winning 81-53.
Meanwhile, Purdue lost 73-69 at Ohio State on Sunday.
The other No. 1 seeds include Arizona and Houston. While not at the level of Purdue or UConn, both teams have the ability to make deep runs come March.
Other notable teams to make the top 16 include the aforementioned Golden Eagles, who find themselves on the two-line. North Carolina is the top two seed, number five overall.
This drew some raised eyebrows due to Carolina’s three recent losses to a bad Georgia Tech team and to Clemson and Syracuse, both of whom are in the middle of the pack in the ACC.
To the Tar Heels’ credit, they’ve knocked off Duke, a three-seed in the committee’s initial rankings.
The committee placed both UConn and Carolina in the same region, which has fans salivating at a potential rematch of their game in December that saw the Huskies win 87-76.
The only non-Power 6 conference team to make the top 16 is San Diego State.
The Aztecs are coming off a magical run to the national championship last year and are tied for first in the Mountain West with Utah State.
Those two will play on Tuesday in Utah. San Diego State won the first matchup 81-67.
This is a weird year for college basketball.
Aside from Purdue, UConn, and Houston, no team has less than five losses, and Wisconsin, the final No. 4 seed in the committee’s initial rankings, is 16-8 on the season, having lost five of six since being ranked sixth in the AP poll.
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