The NCAA Basketball Tournament brackets have been set. March Madness will begin shortly. 68 teams are vying for the National Championship. 8 teams play this Tuesday and Wednesday, and the winners are added to the 60 teams that are already locked into their corresponding brackets in the 4 regions. The West region will be played in Anaheim, California, the Midwest in Indianapolis. Indiana, the South in Memphis, Tennessee, and the East in New York City.
The top seeded team in the West region is Arizona, even though they were upset by UCLA in the Pacific (PAC) 12 title game 75-71. Arizona (30-4) was the #1 ranked team for much of the first half of the regular season. Wisconsin (26-7) is the 2nd seed in the West, after losing in the Big 10 semifinal to Michigan State 83-75. Creighton (26-7) is the 3rd seed, although they were upset in the Big East Conference Championship by Providence 65-58. The 4th seed is San Diego State (29-4) who also lost in their conference championship game, to New Mexico 64-58 in the Mountain West.
Undefeated Wichita State (34-0) is the top seed in the Midwest Region. They cruised through the Missouri Valley Conference unscathed, beating Indiana State for the conference title 83-69. The 2nd seed is Michigan (25-7) out of the loaded Big 10. They lost in the conference championship to Michigan State 69-55. The 3rd seed in the Midwest is Duke (26-8), who lost to Virginia for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship 72-63. Defending NCAA Champion Louisville (29-5) is the 4th seed, after winning the first-ever American Atlantic Conference (AAC) title game 71-61 over Connecticut. The 4th seed in the Midwest seems pretty low for the overall #5 ranked team.
Overall #1 ranked Florida (32-2) is the top seed in the South regional. They just slipped by Kentucky 61-60 to win the Southeastern Conference (SEC) tournament. Kansas (24-9) is the 2nd seed, after losing to Iowa State in the Big 12 semifinals. Syracuse (27-5) is the 3rd seed, losing in the first round of the ACC tournament to North Carolina State 66-63. After starting the season with 25 straight wins, Syracuse has lost 5 of their last 7 games. Not a good way to enter the NCAA Tournament. UCLA (26-8) grabbed the 4th seed in the South after winning the PAC 12 tournament.
Moving over to the the East region, Virginia (28-6) is the top seed, after winning the ACC tournament, it’s first since 1976. Villanova (28-4) is the 2nd seed, even after losing their Big East quarterfinal game against a .500 Seton Hall team, 64-63. The 3rd seed is Iowa State (26-7). the Big 12 Champions, after defeating Baylor 74-65 for the conference title. Michigan State (26-8) is the 4th seed as Big 10 Champions. Finally healthy, no one is looking forward to facing them in the tournament.
All the madness begins on Tuesday, with the 4 games in the first round, then the real action kicks into gear on Thursday with 16 games, and 16 more on Friday. By the end of the weekend, 68 teams will be down to the Sweet 16. I’m not a huge college basketball fan, but I do like the NCAA Tournament. With all the games going on, you can watch the end of one game, then switch to the end of another game. The champion has to win 6 games in a row, unless for some reason, the teams playing the first round go on a shocking run through the tournament. Bring on the Madness!
If you would like to have future commentaries sent to you, click on the link below, to take you to my website, then just enter your email address:
Sports With Frank Thomas
