LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Starting Tuesday, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee will gather for three days in Indianapolis.
We’re 41 days from Selection Sunday, but now that the NFL has exited the stage, college basketball wants more of everybody’s attention. The best way to achieve that goal is to get people discussing the NCAA Tournament. And the best way to get people discussing the tournament is to gather the committee and have them pick the top 16 seeds if the field was announced this weekend.
That’s what the committee will do Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on CBS.
Here are five questions I’d like the committee to answer:
1. How close is the University of Louisville to a No. 1 seed?
The Cardinals have surged through the mid-way point of the Atlantic Coast Conference with the lead. They should be favored in eight of their final nine ACC regular-season games, starting with Wake Forest’s visit to the KFC Yum! Center on Wednesday night.
Currently, Louisville’s bracket projections tilt toward a No. 2. But the record shows that 13 of the last 16 ACC regular-season champs were rewarded with top seeds.
This has not been a vintage season for the ACC. Jeff Sagarin ranks the league the fifth best nationally while Ken Pomeroy slots the ACC sixth-best, behind (in order) the Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Pac-12 and Southeastern conferences.
Could the Cards claim a top seed with an 18-2 ACC record and solid ACC Tournament showing?
2. Who are the teams Louisville is chasing for top seeds?
As I’ve already written, one of the surest signs of how strange this season has been is the current front-runners for the four top seeds are schools located west of the Mississippi River, and a team from west of the Mississippi has not won the national title since 2008.
If the tournament started this week, Baylor, Gonzaga, Kansas and San Diego State would be on the top lines.
Nobody from the ACC, Big Ten, SEC or Big East.
I don’t expect anybody to beat San Diego State. Gonzaga should also roll into March. Those two are in great position. But Baylor and Kansas will play at least once more. That’s likely the only chance for movement on the top line.
3. Is Kentucky one of the top 16 teams?
Jerry Palm of CBSSports does not have the Wildcats in the top 16. They’re a six-seed in his bracket.
Joe Lunardi of ESPN had UK a four-seed, but as of 4 p.m. Monday, Lunardi had not updated his bracket since Friday.
Bracketville.com, another top bracket projection site, has the Wildcats as a No. 5 seed.
Can the Wildcats still get there? Sure. But they’ll likely need to win the rematch with Auburn and perhaps their trip to Louisiana State. And no more burps like the one at South Carolina.
The Wildcats were a No. 2 seed last season and a five-seed in 2018.
4. Is Dayton better than everybody from the Big Ten and SEC?
Anthony Grant was bounced from his job at Alabama five years ago. Then Grant followed Archie Miller at Dayton, and somehow he’s developed a team ranked higher than the one Miller has at Indiana or everybody in the SEC.
Considering Grant made one NCAA Tournament and failed to win an NCAA Tournament game in six seasons in Tuscaloosa, I’m reluctant to climb aboard the Dayton Express. But the Flyers' only losses this season have been to Top 25 teams (Kansas and Colorado) in overtime on neutral courts.
So if Dayton keeps doing what is has been doing, the Flyers should be a No. 2 seed.
5. What to make of the Big Ten?
Most bracket projections have nine or 10 Big Ten teams in the 68-team field. In Lunardi’s Friday bracket, he had a dozen: everybody but Nebraska and Northwestern.
But remember: The committee will only seed the top 16 teams.
The Big Ten does not have a candidate for a No. 1 seed or likely even a No. 2. As Clark Kellogg said, it’s a league with a lot of four-star teams but no five-stars.
How many Big Ten teams will make the top 16?
Maryland is the flavor of the day, at least a four-seed and perhaps a three. Michigan State is at least a five-seed and perhaps a four. Iowa is moving in the direction of a four-seed but the Hawkeyes are not there yet.
That is the list.
We'll have more answers Saturday.
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