The day, at long last, has arrived. It’s Selection Sunday — college basketball’s universal holiday. Hearts will be broken. Dreams will be realized. We’ll have a bracket. The hundreds of Bracketologists can go into hibernation.
It’s nice to pick upsets and sleepers, your Final Four teams that will undoubtedly exit early, but before you do, let’s get ready for the big day.
Here is a primer on what to expect when the pairings are released:
- Duke has not only played its way back onto the 1-line with wins over Syracuse, North Carolina and Florida State en route to the ACC Tournament title, it may well garner the top-overall seed. Now that Zion Williamson is back and dominating like only the inevitable No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft can, the Blue Devils have proven they belong at No. 1. When healthy, as they are now, this team of one-and-done stars has lost just once, by two points Nov. 21 to title contender Gonzaga. The committee takes injuries into account when assessing losses. Duke fell to Virginia Tech and North Carolina, twice, while Williamson was out with a sprained right knee. Explore More 10 truly groundbreaking sports ‘firsts’ that shaped America — and beyond Georgia beats Mississippi State in wild 11-homer NCAA super regional slugfest UCLA men’s golf fizzles in NCAA final after sizzling run of upsets Despite its loss in the ACC semifinals to Florida State, Virginia will be a No. 1 seed as well. The only question is whether the three-loss Cavaliers will be the top-overall seed, but that seems unlikely considering their two head-to-head losses to Duke. A third No. 1 seed for an ACC team is possible, even if North Carolina has six losses. Its 17 Quadrant 1 and 2 wins stand out. Considering Gonzaga has just one elite win, over Duke, and has losses to Tennessee and North Carolina, and just four Quadrant 1 wins against three defeats, the Bulldogs should move down to the two-line after their WCC championship game loss to St. Mary’s. That leaves Tennessee for the last No. 1 seed, if it doesn’t slip up in Sunday’s SEC final against Auburn. Otherwise, Gonzaga may be able to sneak back into being a No. 1, or Michigan State and its 18 Quadrant 1 and 2 victories is another possibility.
- Once considered a near-lock, St. John’s will be sweating Sunday. Odds are the Johnnies, who lost five of their past seven games and own an underwhelming NET of 72, will be in the First Four in Dayton if included in the field. They may not have any company from the locals. Iona and Farleigh Dickinson could avoid Dayton, thanks to upsets in the MEAC and Summit, but will still be sacrificial lambs to No. 1 seeds. There is also one less at-large spot available following bid-stealer Oregon’s victory over Washington in the PAC-12 title game late Saturday night. Seton Hall could be seeing a No. 1 seed early as well. With seven Quadrant 1 victories and a strength of schedule of 27, the Pirates have played their way into a single-digit seed. Unfortunately, after Saturday night’s heartbreaking 74-72 loss to Villanova in the Big East Tournament, they seem headed for the dreaded 8-9 game for the third straight season. Like Seton Hall, Syracuse did enough to get into the tournament comfortably — the road win at Duke was the Orange’s regular season highlight — but not enough to avoid a potential meeting with a No. 1 seed in the second round. The 3-9 Quadrant 1 record didn’t do them any favors.
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