LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — John Calipari featured in an NCAA Tournament play-in game?
Louisville headed to drivable Cleveland as a No. 7 seed despite its status as the second-best team in the Atlantic Coast Conference?
Kentucky holding onto a No. 3, even though the injured Wildcats have lost five of their last eight games?
Sagging Indiana sitting five spots off the tournament cut line as the Mike Woodson Farewell Tour enters its final weeks?
The increased likelihood that not only will this tournament end with a coach winning his first Division I title, but a program that will also be a first-time champion.
Joe Lunardi dropped his latest projected men’s tournament bracket on Tuesday morning at ESPN.com and it is packed with fascinating nuggets.
Where to begin?
*If you thought losing to Oakland or Saint Peter’s became a major smudge on Calipari’s Hall of Fame resume, how would you describe an $8 million coach slipping into the tournament as one of the final two at-large teams in the 68-team party?
That is what Lunardi forecasts for the Razorbacks, whose record will slip to 15-11 if they fail to win at Auburn Wednesday.
Arkansas vs. Wake Forest on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening in Dayton, in a battle of 11 seeds, trying to make the field of 64.
Dayton is a bit out of the way on the drive to Cleveland but I believe we can make an exception to catch the Razorbacks.
*The lack of top tier competition in the ACC continues to stall Louisville’s push to gain on the tournament seed line. The Cards were a No. 7 seed at the end of last week, and they remained a 7-seed on Tuesday after their rousing victory at Notre Dame.
All the Cards can do is keep winning, benefit from the stumbles of others and snag a Quad 1 win or two at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in Charlotte by beating Clemson (again) and Duke (think big).
Scenes from Louisville's 81-67 basketball win over Virginia in the KFC Yum Center on Jan. 18, 2025.
*Similar to the Tournament Selection Committee one-month-out reveal last Saturday, Lunardi tucked Mark Pope’s Kentucky team on the 3-seed line.
He has the Wildcats matched against North Carolina-Greensboro, his projected winner of the Southern Conference. Save your frequent flier miles. That game would be played in Providence, R.I, with Kentucky likely facing Illinois is the second round.
*Indiana has not won back-to-back games since Jan. 8 while losing 8 of its last 10.
But the bottom of the bracket is soooo weak that Lunardi has the Hoosiers five spots off the cutline.
In other words, if the Hoosiers can win their next two home games against Purdue (Sunday) and Penn State (Feb. 26), they’ll be in the middle of the survivor pool with North Carolina, Georgia, SMU, VCU, Wake Forest and Calipari.
Who knew Dayton could be that much fun?
*As I wrote Monday, odds are we will be adding a member to the club of coaches who have won a national title. Only six active coaches — Rick Pitino of St. John’s, Danny Hurley of UConn; Bill Self of Kansas; Tom Izzo of Michigan State; Scott Drew of Baylor and Calipari are in the club.
But get this: Of the top 16 projected seeds on Lunardi’s bracket, there are nine programs that have yet to win the title.
I’ll call the roll:
No. 1 Auburn.
No. 4 Alabama.
No. 5 Houston.
No. 6 Tennessee.
No. 7 Texas A&M.
No. 8 Iowa State.
No. 9 Texas Tech.
No. 10 St. John’s.
No. 13 Purdue.
If you expand the conversation to schools ranked in the current AP Top 25, you can add No. 15 Missouri, No. 18 Clemson, No. 21 Mississippi State, No. 22 Memphis and No. 24 Ole Miss to the list. That’s 14 — over half the top 25.
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