If the selection committee could revise their work after the first three rounds of the tournament, here's how it would look:
1. Louisville – The #1 overall seed has won its first two
games by a combined 57 points. No reason
to drop them now.
2. Indiana – The Hoosiers survived a scare from Temple in
the third round, but the B1G regular season champs still have a great chance to
reach Atlanta.
3. Michigan – Success in March is about guard play and the
way the Wolverines’ two-PG lineup and Tim Hardaway Jr. handed the VCU press is
proof that UM has the horses to cut down the nets.
4. Duke – I feel the Blue Devils are still getting
re-adjusted to life with Ryan Kelly, and the first two games were workmanlike
victories that should help prepare them for Indianapolis. They will need more of the same to set up a
likely rematch with Louisville in the Elite 8.
5. Michigan St. – Ho hum.
The Spartans are in the sweet 16 for what feels like the tenth straight
year. With physical play inside and
solid backcourt performance, Izzo has his March formula working for a run at
the Final Four.
6. Florida – The Gators are strong favorites to reach the
Elite 8 for the third year in a row with victories over the 14, 11, and
15-seeds in the South region. A date
with tournament Cinderella Florida Gulf Coast on Friday should be one of the
more entertaining games of the weekend.
7. Ohio St. – Aaron Craft’s three with one second left in
Ohio State’s third round matchup with Iowa St. saved the West region from
complete chaos and set the Buckeyes up for the easiest road to the Final Four
of all the 1’s and 2’s remaining.
8. Miami – With the news that the Canes will be without
senior center Reggie Johnson due to surgery on his knee, Miami’s road to
Atlanta took a slight hit. Miami was not the same without Johnson earlier in the season, but he has not been quite the same
player since returning from injury. If
they can get past Marquette in the Sweet 16, Johnson would have been a huge
help against Indiana or Syracuse in the regional final.
9. Kansas – Bill Self was able to escape another March
flameout despite three consecutive uninspired halves of basketball. The Jayhawks finally played like a top seed
in the second half of their victory over UNC.
10. Syracuse – Jim Boeheim’s team is good enough to continue
their run through the tournament and upset Indiana but has also shown the
inconsistency during this season and during their third round victory over
California to have their season end next round.
I’m putting my money on the latter.
11. Marquette – The Golden Eagles were able to escape
against Davidson with a miracle comeback in the final seconds of their second
round game and used a disguised defense to cause an ineffective inbounds play
execution by Butler to seal their victory and advance to the Sweet 16. Next up is Miami sans Reggie Johnson, which
should allow Marquette to continue its trend of out-rebounding opponents by 4.5
per game.
12. Arizona – The Wildcats have not been tested as they have
had one of the easiest roads to this point in the tournament, but they have
looked more like the team that was in play for a 1-seed earlier in the year
than the one that struggled to finish out the conference season.
13. Oregon – I think that Oregon has made it clear to the
committee that they were severely under-seeded on Selection Sunday. The Ducks dominated popular final four
sleeper Saint Louis after running through Oklahoma St in the second round, and
Dominic Artis and Damyean Dotson have a shot at the Louisville press to
advance.
14. La Salle – The Explorers have proven to be the class of
the Big 5 in 2013 by becoming the only team in the tournament with three
victories. Next up is a clash of styles
against Wichita St., as the guards of La Salle will try to control the tempo
against the bigger and more physical Shockers.
15. Florida Gulf Coast – There is no way the story of the
tournament could be ranked last. Dunk
City has captured college basketball, becoming the first 15-seed to advance to
the Sweet 16 in NCAA tournament history.
Brett Comer has been electric leading the Eagles offense to a meeting
against Florida on Friday evening.
16. Wichita St – The Shockers were able to take out top seed
Gonzaga in the round of 32, using a nine possession, 23-point stretch to propel
themselves to a 76-70 victory. The draw
couldn’t be better for a trip to the Elite Eight, but they cannot count on a
similar shooting run to advance.