#8 Wildcats (22-10) vs #1 Orange (32-2)
The Kansas State Wildcats advance to the round of 32 where they find the East’s # 1 seed Syracuse waiting for them.
The Kansas State Wildcats advance to the round of 32 where they find the East’s # 1 seed Syracuse waiting for them.
Kansas lost in the Big 12 conference semifinals and that likely cost them a #1 seed in the Big Dance. Detroit will not be a pushover and the Titans have won 5 straight and even though they only finished 3rd in the Horizon Conference this season they did not have much trouble winning the conference tourney.
South Florida was sitting on the Big Dance bubble, but they made it in and beat California in the play-in game to make the field of 64.
Purdue ended the season well winning 6 of their last 8 games, but they lost to Ohio State in the Big 10 semis.
Michigan is coming off getting crushed in the Big 10 semifinals and they now face an Ohio team that has won 4 straight.
The Florida State Seminoles excite with their wins even if they are not a very exciting team to watch. They took down Duke and North Carolina in the regular season and did so again in the ACC tournament to earn the conference’s automatic bid.
The Cincinnati Bearcats are a study in contrasts this year. After the brawl with Xavier they regrouped and played very good basketball, so good they surprised Syracuse in the Big East Tournament.
Georgetown is the 3rd seed in the Midwest Region, but they have lost in the first round in the last 2 NCAA Tournaments and they face a dangerous Belmont team that made the Big Dance last season and is the nation’s 4th highest scoring team.
The #9 vs. #8 match up in the Midwest Region between Creighton and Alabama is a good one with a couple of teams with contrasting styles and the winner will likely have the unenviable task of taking on North Carolina in the round of 32.
SDSU had won their last 6 games before falling to New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference finals and this season they were 3-1 facing ranked teams.
Well the Wisconsin Badgers have done it again. Early in the Big Ten season it looked like their run of tournament appearances might come to a close but this team is so well coached it seems like they are never down for very long.
According to the Selection Show the only reason the Buckeyes were not a #1 seed was because they lost to Michigan State in the Big 10 Championship game.
If you read the piece about the East Region that is posted you will know that I am very bullish on Gonzaga right now.
In the play-in game for the Midwest Region Vermont faces Lamar and the winner will get to play top seed North Carolina in the next Big Dance game.
In a Midwest Region play in game between a couple of teams that were sitting on pins and needles on selection Sunday South Florida faces California.
It feels like a bit of a setup having two schools better known for academics than hoops meeting in the first round.