![]() ![]() The Hawkeyes are fresh off their first Big Ten tournament championship since 2006, and seem to be more well-rounded than the 2020-21 squad that earned a No. If there is a team that becomes a trendy upset pick for Kansas in the region, it’s probably going to be Iowa. Kansas’ top three competitors in the region - Auburn, Wisconsin and Providence - are all teams that have shown major warts in the last couple of weeks and which aren’t exactly adored by the predictive metrics. Still, KU has been rewarded with a Midwest Region that does not appear to be nearly as difficult as its three counterparts. Everyone knows the Jayhawks are one of the best teams in the country, but no one has been referring to them as the elite of the elite. Kansas has flown a bit below the radar this season in terms of the teams we talk about as the most likely to cut down the nets. Kansas has the easiest path of the 1-seeds Once again, the Committee tells us without explicitly telling us that conference tournament championship games on Sunday do not matter, unless they put a team into the field that wouldn’t have otherwise made it.Ĭue up every single conspiracy you’ve got about the powers that be wanting to see Duke dance as long as possible in Mike Krzyzewski’s final season. This is a travesty by the selection committee. If Baylor is going to become the sport’s first repeat national champion since Florida in 2006/2007, it’s going to be supremely tested before it even makes it to New Orleans. And then there’s Murray State on the 7-line, the team with the best overall record in all of college basketball at 30-2. 1 overall seed Gonzaga by double-digits in the regular season finale for both teams. There’s Saint Mary’s, a team which beat No. There’s red-hot Virginia Tech as an 11-seed, a team that began the season with high expectations and has just found its stride in the last few weeks. There’s North Carolina on the 8-line, a team that two Saturdays showed the world what they’re capable of when they’re playing their best. 2 seed in Kentucky, a third-seeded Purdue team that for most of the season appeared destined to be on one of the top two lines, and a 4-seed in UCLA that started the season ranked in the top five and went to the Final Four a year ago.īelow the top four lines there’s also a Texas team with way more talent than your typical No. You’ve also got the, without question, strongest No. 1 seed in Baylor, but that’s also a Bears team that is just a year removed from one of the more dominant runs to a national title that we’ve ever seen. Sure, the East has, on paper, the weakest No. If pressed, I’ll go with the East, which is the last region we were shown. There’s not a clear-cut, can’t argue otherwise winner to the annual “which region is the toughest” question, so kudos to the Committee on that front. ![]() Let’s look at the five biggest takeaways from this year’s March Madness draw: 1. As is always the case in the immediate aftermath of the selection show, there are areas where it appears the selection committee did its job to perfection, and others where it appears the group fell short. ![]()
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