Breaking down all angles, storylines heading into Selection Sunday
It’s that magical time of the year again.Soon, there will be an NCAA Tournament bracket.Sixty-eight teams sharing the same dream: To cut down the nets in Indianapolis.Before the pairings are announced Sunday night, The Post’s Zach Braziller gets you ready for Selection Sunday below:The top seeds are the easiest part of projecting the draw.
Duke, Arizona, Michigan and Florida should be pretty safe bets to land No.1 seeds.
They have been atop almost every bracketologists’ seed list for quite some time.It was only recently that Florida jumped Connecticut for the final No.1, after the Huskies lost at home to Big East also-ran Creighton, then dropped another game to under-.500 Marquette.
The Gators, meanwhile, have won 17 of 19 games in a far superior conference.While UConn did beat Florida head-to-head in early December, the Gators have been the more consistent team over the last two-plus months against better competition, and both teams lost in lopsided fashion on Saturday.
Florida also has five more Quad 1 wins, the highest caliber of victory based on NET ratings — the sorting tool the selection committee uses to evaluate teams.As for the overall No.1 seed, Duke has the best case.
The Blue Devils are a combined 23-2 in Quad 1 and 2 games, and have victories over Michigan and Florida.I don’t think the season-ending loss of starting point guard Caleb Foster will be held against them, because Duke still won the ACC Tournament without him, and it is expected to get back center Patrick Ngongba II for the NCAA Tournament.Could the selection committee really pass on a team that went undefeated during the regular season? Most experts believe Miami (Ohio) is safe despite losing in the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
It’s no lock, however.The RedHawks’ strength of schedule is incredibly weak, ranked 269th according to Ken Pomeroy.
Of their 28 Division I wins, 15 are of the Quad 4 variety.The MAC program is only one-half of the most intrigu...