Contrary to what a certain Christmas song would have you believe, March Madness is the most wonderful time of year—the most exciting 96 hours in sports, with storylines and intrigue throughout its 64-team bracket. Let’s start right at the top with No. 1 overall seed Florida …
Who’s capable of challenging the Gators? Florida in the South Region seems to have the easiest path to the Final Four of any No. 1 seed. If the Gators get to the Sweet Sixteen they would likely face a talented but flawed team like No. 4 seed UCLA or No. 5 seed Virginia Commonwealth. Beyond that, No. 2 seed Kansas is uncertain how long it’ll be without freshman center Joel Embiid, who may be the No. 1 pick in June’s NBA Draft. And No. 3 seed Syracuse lost five of its last seven games after starting the year 25-0. So this region certainly seems like Florida’s for the taking.
They got seeded where? The biggest uproar on Selection Sunday came over a couple of title favorites getting strange seeds. In the sports books, Michigan State sits at 9-to-2 to win the national championship—behind only Florida—and Louisville is tied for the third-shortest odds at 7-to-1. Yet both received No. 4 seeds, Michigan State in the East and Louisville in the loaded Midwest.
The seeding likely has to do with the Spartans’ injuries throughout the season and the lack of respect for the Cardinals’ American Athletic Conference. Still, that won’t stop people from penciling those two teams in for Final Four runs, and while that might look like an upset to many fans across the country, Vegas knows better.
And about that Midwest Region … Wichita State is the first team since UNLV in 1990-91 to enter the NCAA Tournament undefeated. It’s going to take a run through one of the most difficult regions in tournament history for the No. 1 seed Shockers to end that way, because the committee did them no favors.
The selection committee orders teams 1 through 68, then seeds them based on that and other factors, like location and previous matchups. Based on that overall order, Wichita’s region includes the second-best No. 2 seed (Michigan) and the best seeds at Nos. 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9. Obviously the Shockers don’t have to play all those teams, but on paper Wichita State will be challenged more than any other top seed.
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament March 20-April 7; games broadcast on CBS, TNT, TBS & truTV.
