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Jeff Borzello
Auburn is the overall 1-seed in the NCAA tournament men’s basketball selection committee’s bracket preview, revealed Saturday afternoon, with the committee chair saying the Tigers were the unanimous choice.
“They are clearly our No. 1,” said North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham, who is the chair of this year’s selection committee.
Despite losing at home to Florida last weekend, Auburn remained the No. 1 team in this week’s AP poll for the fifth straight week. The Tigers have 13 Quadrant 1 wins, five more than any other team in the country, while also ranking No. 1 in five of the seven metrics considered by the selection committee.
Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn’s opponent in Saturday’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown, earned the No. 2 overall seed on Saturday afternoon. Duke was No. 3, while Florida edged out Tennessee for the final 1-seed.
Cunningham said there were five teams debated for the four 1-seeds, but Florida’s win over Auburn gave the Gators the final spot over the Volunteers. With Texas A&M earning the No. 6 overall seed, five of the top six teams were from the SEC.
“The narrative since the season began was how strong Southeastern Conference teams are, and that’s reflective in this Top 16 reveal,” Cunningham said. “While each team is evaluated independent of their conference affiliation, there’s no escaping the fact that the league is on course for a historic season in terms of representation in the tournament, specifically the highly sought-after top 16 seeds. Having five of the top six teams being from one conference is equally impressive as it is unusual.”
All four 1-seeds in the 2023 mock bracket reveal ended up as 1-seeds in the bracket on Selection Sunday, while three of the four 1-seeds in last year’s mock bracket reveal were 1-seeds a month later.
Purdue and Houston joined the Vols and Aggies as the 2-seeds. Iowa State, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Arizona were the 3-seeds, while Texas Tech, Michigan, Kansas and St. John’s rounded out the top 16 as the 4-seeds.
Iowa State and Kentucky have struggled for consistency in recent weeks, with the Cyclones losing four of six before winning their last two games and Kentucky starting 4-5 in SEC play before winning its past two games. But Cunningham pointed to injuries in the middle of those stretches — Milan Momcilovic for Iowa State, Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson for Kentucky — as mitigating factors.
“We think they’re in the right spot,” he said.
Cunningham said Michigan State Spartans and Marquette Golden Eagles were also in the conversation for the final spots in the top 16.
“With five first-year committee members, this was an important meeting, not only for the purpose of today’s unveiling but also to educate them about how selecting, seeding and bracketing works,” he said. “Going through this process will be valuable experience for them when we do it for real next month.”
This is the lone mock bracket reveal of the season. Selection Sunday is March 16.