T-27 Days until Madness

With the NCAA season closing down in the next few weeks and conference tournaments beginning soon, it’s worth previewing which teams will be ranked in the top three seeds in the tournament. Some teams like UConn are a lock for a #1 seed, but there will definitely be some surprises when the official brackets are released. Here are my predictions.

#1 Seeds – UConn, Purdue, Arizona, and Houston

My predictions don’t really differ that much from what most analysts have. These four teams have been consistently dominant all year, and they’ve all been able to handle good teams pretty soundly. Last week, UConn faced a really tough Marquette team (who was ranked #4 in the nation), and they destroyed them 81-53. I don’t see their offense having any issues in the tournament, and they should make it to the Final Four with ease.

Purdue and Houston have coasted through their schedules with relative ease, however both teams have suffered a pretty hefty conference loss recently, with Houston losing to then-#8 Kansas 78-65 in Lawrence and Purdue recently being upset by Ohio State 73-69. Arizona is in a similar boat as these teams, with a few upsets losses to Oregon State and Stanford, but they also only lost to Purdue by eight points. Even with these few upset losses, I think that all of these teams will at least make the Elite Eight and will handle teams that they *should* beat pretty soundly.

#2 Seeds – Kansas, North Carolina, Marquette, and Duke

Although these teams are all pretty solid, I think this is the weakest #2-seed class in a few years. Kansas is obviously a very talented team, but they’ve suffered some critical conference loses to teams such as UCF, West Virginia, Iowa State, and Texas Tech. Although it might be a controversial prediction, I have the Jayhawks losing early in the Sweet Sixteen. Marquette is the team I have the most faith in in this group. They’re a good team with a solid offense, and I think they’ll make a run to the Elite Eight. Lastly, we’ll look at North Carolina and Duke, who are in a near identical situation. They’re obviously good teams, but they’re nothing special. I’m not too hot on North Carolina since they went on an abysmal 2-3 run in conference games in the past month (losing to Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Syracuse), and Duke lost to this team in a close game. They’ll both do fine in the tournament, but neither are winning it all. At least one #2 seed has been upset in the past few years, and I think that trend will continue this year.

#3 Seeds – Baylor, Auburn, Tennessee, and Illinois

I’m going to be honest, I only know a little about all of these teams. I’ve followed all of them a little and watched a few of their games this season, but I don’t have much to go off of in terms of statistics or conference records. I think that if I were to pick a #3 seed to make a run this year, it would be Tennessee. Baylor and Auburn are good (but tend to choke in key games), and Illinois has been relatively spotty. I think that Colorado’s Dalton Knecht will help the Volunteers reach the Elite Eight, and we’ll see what happens from there. It is March Madness after all, where anything can happen on any given day.