Duke secured the top overall seed for March Madness on Sunday, followed by Arizona, Michigan, and Florida. Each of these teams would love to replicate last season’s success when all four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four.
The top seeding was the most predictable outcome of Selection Sunday. Michigan dropped one spot to the overall No. 3 seed after their loss to Purdue just moments before the brackets were announced, according to tournament selection chair Keith Gill.
In the day’s most suspenseful moment, Miami (Ohio) narrowly made the field as a No. 11 seed. Despite a strong 31-1 record, the RedHawks had the 339th-ranked strength of schedule, placing them among the last teams selected. They will face SMU in a First Four game on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio, which is relatively close to home.
The tournament begins Tuesday with other play-in games, including one featuring bubble teams and No. 11 seeds Texas and North Carolina State. The national champion will be crowned at the Final Four in Indianapolis on April 6.
Several notable teams were left out, including San Diego State, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Auburn. The Tigers, despite having 16 losses, held the third-best strength of schedule. Their exclusion drew criticism from Bruce Pearl, former Auburn coach and father of the current coach, who expressed on the CBS broadcast, “They played the toughest schedule in the country, and I don’t know if they were rewarded for it.”
Even with those snubs, the Southeastern Conference led all conferences by placing 10 teams in the 68-team field, just four short of its record from last year. The Big Ten followed with nine teams, while the ACC and Big 12 each placed eight teams. This distribution reflects the current landscape of college basketball, where massive conference expansion and NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) compensation attract top talent to the biggest spenders.
The Florida Gators (26-7), the defending champions, are aiming to repeat their back-to-back titles from 2006-07. Last season, Florida was part of an all-No. 1 seed Final Four—an occurrence that hadn’t happened in 17 seasons.
Stay tuned as the excitement of March Madness unfolds!
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