The Madness Starts With The Selections

Production crews have been embedded with the teams beginning Selection Sunday.

Villanova’s Kris Jenkins (2) celebrates after a championship NCAA college basketball game against Creighton in the finals of the Big East men’s tournament Saturday, March 11, 2017, in NY. Over 128 total games, the No. 8 seed has 64 wins and the No. 9 seed has 64 wins. By the skin of their teeth, they were awarded an 11-seed for the NCAA tourney, however, and proceeded to shock the nation by winning four games against higher-seeded opponents and reaching the Final Four.

The ACC Tournament win also gave the Blue Devils a real shot a top seed, although the committee ended up giving them a No. 2 seed and giving the No. 1 to UNC.

Then there is preseason No. 1 Duke, which might be climbing toward a No. 2 seed with a national-best 12 wins against RPI top-50 teams.

The opening-round game between Providence and Southern California holds promise if only because these teams met in an 8-9 game previous year and the Friars pulled out a 70-69 victory. Traveling to Buffalo for the first two rounds, the Wildcats will play the victor of the play-in game between Mount St. Mary’s (19-15) and New Orleans (20-11) Thursday at 7:10 p.m.

Villanova will commence its title defense in Buffalo on Thursday.

After their performance in the SEC Tournament, Vanderbilt Coach Bryce Drew thought their overall worksheet was enough to get into the 68-team field.

There isn’t a consensus favorite this year, as Villanova, North Carolina, Duke or Kansas can be found at the top of the odds sheet depending on which book you go to.

No. 2 seed in South Region, vs.

The No. 1-seeded Bulldogs against the No. 16 South Dakota Jackrabbits. This team’s offense, by the numbers, is actually better than last year’s although it can’t possibly be any more efficient than the incredible offense the Wildcats showed in five of their six NCAA games last year.

Guards Grayson Allen and Luke Kennard garnered plenty of headlines this season, but Tatum is the engine that makes this team run. Is this the year Mark Few’s team finally breaks through to the Final Four? Some are even touting them as potentials to go all the way and win the championship this season considering all the talent and skill in their roster this year. “This year, it was virtually the same committee but they were emphasizing the losses you had”. Maybe you think I’m silly for mentioning a no. 10 seed in reference to a no. 1 seed’s chances, but don’t forget that Wichita State made the Final Four as a no. 9 seed not so long ago. Plus, 10-seed Wichita State (30-4) might be the most disrespected team in NCAA tournament seeding history. Albany, Gonzaga, Troy, Bucknell, Quinnipiac, UNC Asheville and more schools will take their place as they all look to dethrone CT from the top. You throw in what happened on Wednesday, now they got a lot of memories. “You put a team at “8” that shouldn’t be there, and the “1” looks at it like, ‘Why are we playing this team?'”

Next up for the Wildcats: winning a tournament game.