Alabama, Houston Top Preliminary List of Teams in NCAA Tournament

Top Preliminary List of Teams in NCAA Tournament: The Division I Men’s Basketball Committee on Saturday revealed its preliminary list of top teams with Alabama (23-4), Houston (24-2), Purdue (23-4) and Kansas (22-5) gaining the committee’s nod as top seeds. According to committee chairman Chris Reynolds, the Crimson Tide took the top spot over the Cougars by virtue of their 71-65 win in December. Alabama and Houston are 1-2 in the Associated Press Top 25, NCAA Evaluation Tool and the KenPom rankings. The Crimson Tide secured the edge by virtue of seven Quadrant 1 wins against the Cougars’ four. Both teams are unbeaten against Quadrant 2 rivals, according to experts betting for March Madness basketball.

Purdue and Kansas in the First Quadrant

With Alabama belonging to the South Region bracket and Houston in the Midwest, the selection committee placed the Jayhawks and the Boilermakers as the other top seeds in the remaining regional brackets. Purdue deserved to be in the spot as they enjoyed a national-best seven weeks in the AP Top 25 as the No1 seed. On the other hand, Kansas, which is trying to become the first back-to-back NCAA champions since Florida in 2006-07, is entering the week with a national-best 12 Quadrant 1 wins. Kansas, ranked fourth, are placed in the West Region, while the East Region will have Purdue as the top seeds.

Top Preliminary List of Teams in NCAA Tournament: Ranking the Second Seeds

The revelation of the top 16 seeds gives a clue of where things stand with a little more than three weeks remaining until the field is set. It was nationally televised so every people keeping an eye on the NCAA tournament will be aware of what will happen as they approach the final matches before March Madness begins. Texas, Arizona, Baylor and UCLA were placed as preliminary No2 seeds and they are followed by Tennessee, Virginia, Iowa State and Kansas State as third seeds. Indiana, Marquette, Gonzaga and Xavier rounded out the list as No4 seeds. Creighton, Miami, Saint Mary’s and Connecticut were the top teams to miss the cut, according to Reynolds.

Grouping the four brackets

The Top 16 seeds were divided into four regional groupings, with Alabama heading the South bracket that will play in Louisville, Kentucky. Baylor, Virginia and Indiana will join the Crimson Tide in the South. The Midwest bracket will consist of Houston, Texas, Tennessee and Xavier. The tournament will be held in Kansas City, Missouri. The East bracket, which is set to play in New York City, is made up of Purdue, UCLA, Iowa State and Marquette. Kansas is the top seed in the West division along with Arizona, Kansas State and Gonzaga. The matches are slated to be played in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Preliminary List

SOUTH REGION (LOUISVILLE)

1. Alabama
2. Baylor
3. Virginia
4. Indiana

MIDWEST REGION (KANSAS CITY)

1. Houston
2. Texas
3. Tennessee
4. Xavier

WEST REGION (LAS VEGAS)

1. Kansas
2. Arizona
3. Kansas State
4. Gonzaga

EAST REGION (NEW YORK CITY)

1. Purdue
2. UCLA
3. Iowa St.
4. Marquette

Conclusion

The preliminary list will definitely affect the betting schemes for the NCAA tournament as it would give a hint on who will be the prohibitive favorites in the yearly basketball event. However, it can still be prone to surprises as previous March Madness iterations had No1 seeds dropping in the first round of the knockout phase. This year’s tournament will still be unpredictable considering there are still games left for all teams that will determine the final positions for the regional clashes. Online sports betting will be exciting going into these crucial stages of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.