Recapping NCAA Tournament seeding

The 68 teams participating in the NCAA Tournament were revealed Sunday afternoon. Here’s how it all breaks down.

The No. 1 seeds

The defending-champion Villanova Wildcats (East region) earned the top overall seed, while the Kansas Jayhawks (Midwest), North Carolina Tar Heels (South) and Gonzaga Bulldogs (West) followed suit as No. 1 seeds. Here’s how the top four seeds break down in each region:

East

1. Villanova (Big East)
2. Duke (ACC)
3. Baylor (Big 12)
4. Florida (SEC)

Midwest

1. Kansas (Big 12)
2. Louisville (ACC)
3. Oregon (Pac-12)
4. Purdue (Big Ten)

South

1. North Carolina (ACC)
2. Kentucky (SEC)
3. UCLA (Pac-12)
4. Butler (Big East)

West

1. Gonzaga (WCC)
2. Arizona (Pac-12)
3. Florida State (ACC)
4. West Virginia (Big 12)

The bubble teams

Normally the most controversial component of Selection Sunday is what the committee does with the bubble teams. According to the committee this season, USC, Providence, Kansas State and Wake Forest constructed resumes just impressive enough to partake in March Madness. On the contrary, the committee wasn’t impressed enough with teams like California, Illinois State, Iowa and Syracuse.

ACC dominates bidding

As expected, the ACC won the bidding war between the Power Five conferences and is the highest represented conference in March Madness with a staggering nine teams. The Big East and Big Ten tied for second with an impressive seven bids each; the Big 12 secured six bids; the SEC finished with five bids and the Pac-12 received only four bids.

ACC: No. 1 North Carolina, No. 2 Duke, No. 2 Louisville, No. 3 Florida State, No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 5 Virginia, No. 8 Miami, No. 9 Virginia Tech and No. 11 Wake Forest

Big 12: No. 1 Kansas, No. 3 Baylor, No. 4 West Virginia, No. 5 Iowa State, No. 10 Oklahoma State and No. 11 Kansas State

Big East: No. 1 Villanova, No. 4 Butler, No. 6 Creigton, No. 9 Seton Hall, No. 10 Marquette, No. 11 Xavier and No. 11 Providence

Big Ten: No. 4 Purdue, No. 5 Minnesota, No. 6 Maryland, No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 8 Northwestern and No. 9 Michigan State

SEC: No. 1 Kentucky, No. 4 Florida, No. 7 South Carolina, No. 8 Arkansas and No. 9 Vanderbilt

Pac-12: No. 2 Arizona, No. 3 UCLA, No. 3 Oregon and No. 11 USC

Selection Sunday: Scheduling and bracket

The full NCAA Tournament bracket and schedule can be found here.

Edited by Nathan Odom

Featured image by Chet White, courtesy of UK Athletics

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