The highest general seed within the NCAA males’s match was awarded to the Auburn Tigers, whose star Johni Broome is a finalist for the Naismith Faculty Participant of the 12 months Award. The Alabama Crimson Tide have been awarded a No. 2 seed.
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Brandon Sumrall/Getty Photographs/Getty Photographs North America
Transfer over, Large East and ACC: Faculty basketball has a brand new heavyweight convention.
The Southeastern Convention, usually identified for its dominance on the soccer discipline, has set a brand new March Insanity report by sending 14 of its 16 groups to the NCAA Division I males’s basketball match. The SEC additionally boasts two of the match’s 4 No. 1 seeds, Auburn and Florida.
A few of sport’s powerhouse packages had combined data this season, and their seeds mirrored that. Whereas the Duke Blue Devils have been named a No. 1 seed for the fifteenth time, different perennial names like Kansas and UConn got No. 7 and No. 8 seeds, respectively, whereas one other, North Carolina, managed solely a No. 11 seed and must win a Tuesday play-in sport with the intention to attain the spherical of 64.
The boys’s match ideas off Tuesday, and the complete Spherical of 64 will get underway Thursday and Friday. The ladies’s bracket shall be introduced at 8 p.m. ET, Sunday.
Here is what to know:
Who’re the No. 1 seeds?
No shock, the 28-5 Auburn Tigers have been awarded the match’s prime general seed. Auburn misplaced solely 5 video games all season lengthy. 4 of these losses belong to opponents that are actually seeded No. 1 or No. 2 within the NCAA match — Duke, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee. And the Tigers have misplaced three of their final 4 video games, which does not often bode effectively for his or her match possibilities.
One other No. 1 seed was awarded to 31-3 Duke. The Blue Devils’ star freshman ahead Cooper Flagg sprained his ankle Thursday, however Duke went on to win the ACC match with out him. He is anticipated to be obtainable for the match.
Rounding out the boys’s prime seeds are 30-4 Houston and 30-4 Florida, which locked of their spots with their titles within the Large 12 and SEC convention tournaments, respectively.
Within the ladies’s bracket, the highest general seed may go to UCLA. That is a reputation with numerous historical past within the males’s sport, the place the Bruins have gained 11 nationwide titles and reached the Remaining 4 19 instances. However UCLA ladies’s basketball has had nowhere close to that stage of success: They’ve by no means reached the Remaining 4. Will this be the primary time?
South Carolina and head coach Daybreak Staley appear to be a lock for one more No. 1 seed. Search for stars JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers to steer USC and UConn, respectively, to different excessive seeds.
Who might be this yr’s Cinderella groups?
On the boys’s aspect, the trendiest upset decide could be the No. 11 Drake Bulldogs, led by first-year head coach Ben McCollum. McCollum gained 4 Division II nationwide titles at his earlier faculty, Northwest Missouri State. They will face No. 6 Missouri on Thursday.
Hold your eye, too, on UC San Diego. It is no small feat for a mid-major faculty to qualify for the match in any respect — not to mention within the first season it was eligible. The Tritons have completed simply that, and for his or her efforts have been awarded a No. 12 seed and a first-round matchup Thursday towards No. 5 seed Michigan.
Within the ladies’s match, greater seeds have at all times had extra success than within the males’s sport. No crew worse than a No. 3 seed has ever reduce down the nets.
One contender to make that historical past might be Iowa. Sure, the Hawkeyes have been runner-ups the final two years in a row. However that was with megastar Caitlin Clark, who graduated final yr and now performs within the WNBA. This yr, Iowa does not have the resume for the next seed, however nonetheless the Hawkeyes have been frisky, knocking off then-No. 4 USC in February on the day Clark’s jersey was retired.
Which first-round matchups ought to I watch?
Within the males’s match, Missouri vs. Drake shall be circled on numerous followers’ calendars. Followers may even have an eye fixed on two Southern area video games: Michigan vs. UC San Diego, in fact, and No. 4 Texas A&M vs. No. 13 Yale. Each of those greater seeds are on main upset alert: The Tritons have gained 15 straight getting into the match, the nation’s longest profitable streak. And Yale final yr pulled off the upset towards then-No. 4 Auburn.
It will even be intriguing to see if the SEC lives as much as the hype. These groups have been so spectacular all yr lengthy. However the final time one convention despatched a report variety of groups to the Large Dance — the Large East in 2011 — solely two of these groups reached the Candy 16. Whether or not the SEC fare any higher remains to be an open query.
When do the tournaments start?
The boys’s match ideas off with the opening “first 4” video games on Tuesday and Wednesday, then the insanity will get underway subsequent Thursday and Friday with the spherical of 64.
Males’s First 4
Tuesday, March 18 and Wednesday, March 19
Males’s Spherical of 64
Thursday, March 20 and Friday, March 21
Males’s Spherical of 32
Saturday, March 22 and Sunday, March 23
Males’s Candy 16
Thursday, March 27 and Friday, March 28
Males’s Elite Eight
Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, March 30
Males’s Remaining 4
Saturday, April 5
Males’s Nationwide Championship Sport
Monday, April 7
The ladies start their match a day later, with the primary 4 video games on Wednesday and Thursday adopted by the complete spherical of 64 subsequent Friday and Saturday.
Girls’s First 4
Wednesday, March 19 and Thursday, March 20
Girls’s Spherical of 64
Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22
Girls’s Spherical of 32
Sunday, March 23 and Monday, March 24
Girls’s Candy 16
Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29
Girls’s Elite Eight
Sunday, March 30 and Monday, March 31
Girls’s Remaining 4
Friday, April 4
Girls’s Nationwide Championship Sport
Sunday, April 6
