Opinion: Early seeding reveal makes case for wide open, free-for-all in NCAA tournament
Unlike the half dozen updates that the College Football Playoff gurus spoon-feed their sport’s rabid followers, college basketball’s tournament committees pulls the curtain back only once.
That sneak peek came Saturday and told us all we really need to know about the state of the sport this season.
There is a pulse out on the West Coast, two big dogs lie in the Big 12, it’s time to welcome plenty of new faces and a remarkable balance exists where no one is afraid of anyone else. Reports of a wide open, free-for-all NCAA tournament should be taken quite seriously.
A look at the No. 1 seeds is important. In the first three seasons of this process, nine of the 12 top seeds in February remained as No. 1’s on Selection Sunday. That should be the case again this time around. The picks were, in order, Baylor, Kansas, Gonzaga and San Diego State.
While the Bears and Jayhawks still have to (thankfully) play a second time Feb. 22 in Waco and potentially again in the Big 12 tournament, two of the four number one seeds hail from mid-major conferences. Toss in No. 2 seed Dayton and three of the top six teams will play only a handful of games against top 50 opponents between now and Selection Sunday.
SLEEPER TEAMS:Unranked in preseason, seven teams in Final Four mix
DEVILS PREVAIL:No. 7 Duke holds off challenge from No. 8 Florida State
BRACKETOLOGY:Forecasting the entire NCAA tournament field of 68
Put another way, while Baylor has six Quad 1 games remaining on its schedule, Dayton (2), Gonzaga (1) and San Diego State (zippo) shouldn’t have to sweat very much. The Aztecs (23-0) toughest game the rest of the way looks like a trip to Reno to play a Nevada team that is currently 87th in the NET. These teams may slip but even with one loss they aren’t destined to fall very far down the food chain.
