-
Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer
The NCAA Tournament Men's Basketball Selection Committee's bracket preview released Saturday afternoon gave Purdue the No. 1 overall seed and reigning champion UW the No. 2 overall seed.
This will be the Boilermakers' second consecutive appearance as a No. 1 seed. Last season, they lost to Fairleigh Dickinson, becoming the second 1-seed team in NCAA Tournament history to lose to a 16-seed team.
UW is ranked No. 1 in this week's Associated Press poll, but Purdue has better metrics overall and the Boilermakers have nine wins in the first and second quadrants. They have 15 wins, so they are rated higher than the Huskies. It is the most common in Japan.
“It's important to get the No. 1 seed,” said committee chairman Charles McClelland. “We have the opportunity to choose which region we go to. It's good for the team and it's good for the fans.”
Houston — “It's a different league, but the result is the same,” McClelland said — and Arizona State, which ranks in the top five in each selection criteria, shut out the No. 1 seeds, McClelland said on the 12th committee. Added that all of the committee members have the exact same No. 1 seed -4 order.
“While it is not unheard of for a committee to unanimously agree on which four teams deserve the top seed, it is highly unlikely that nearly everyone would agree on the order of those teams in terms of how they should be voted on in the seed list. “It's unusual,” McClelland said.
All four No. 1 seeds in last year's mock bracket reveal ended up being No. 1 seeds in the bracket on Selection Sunday.
North Carolina, Tennessee, Marquette and Kansas are the No. 2 seeds, while Alabama, Baylor, Iowa State and Duke are the No. 3 seeds.
Auburn, San Diego State, Illinois and Wisconsin rounded out the top 16 as 4 seeds.
McClelland said Dayton, Creighton and Clemson (though not in exact order) are also among the contenders for the final spot in the top 16.
“Whether you've been a commissioner for years or it's your first time, this was a good process to go through,” McClelland said. “Parity is a word that gets thrown around a lot, but I think we're seeing a lot more parity than we've seen in previous years. So I think it's going to be wild throughout the season and into March.” It's crazy. The committee is excited and ready, as are millions of college basketball fans around the world. ”
This is the only mock bracket release of the season. Choice Sunday is March 17th.
