Villanova, Kansas, Gonzaga, North Carolina Latest Projected No. 1 Seeds Per Lunardi
Villanova, Kansas, Gonzaga and North Carolina are
Villanova, Kansas, Gonzaga and North Carolina are
By JIM O’CONNELL
For the third straight week, Gonzaga, Villanova and Kansas are the top three teams in The Associated Press college basketball poll.
It is the fourth week at No. 1 for Gonzaga (28-0), the only unbeaten team in Division I. The Zags received 59 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel on Monday.
Villanova (26-2) received five first-place votes and Kansas (24-3), which beat West Virginia and Baylor last week, got the other No. 1 vote.
By DENNIS CHAMBERS
NEWARK — In front of a sell-out crowd of 16,733 on Saturday against the reigning national champions, Seton Hall didn’t do any favors to its NCAA tournament résumé.
Instead, following the 92-70 beatdown they received from No. 2 Villanova at Prudential Center, the Pirates laid out the crystal clear path they need to take in order to have a shot at returning to the Big Dance.
As it stands, Seton Hall (16-10, 6-8) is sixth in the Big East with four games remaining on their schedule. Conventional wisdom says the Pirates need to finish at the very worst 9-9 in conference play – anything below an even record wouldn’t warrant a tournament invite.
Up next for the Pirates is their second meeting with Xavier, this time at home on Feb. 22. By all indications, the last game of their current three-game home stand is a must-win.
Khadeen Carrington and his Seton Hall teammates made the NCAA Tournament a year ago after stunning Villanova in the Big East Tournament championship game at Madison Square Garden.
Now, with another huge game against the No. 2 Wildcats on tap on Saturday, Carrington says the season will be a failure if the Pirates don’t go dancing again.
“I would consider it a failure,” Carrington, who is coming off a career-best 41-point outing in Wednesday’s win over Creighton, told me Friday. “I think we definitely have enough strength, enough players. We’re a good team. I think we definitely are a tournament team and we’re just focused on making this last home stretch a good one and making a run to the NCAA.”
By JOHN MARSHALL The NCAA Tournament selection committee
Villanova is the top-rated team in the country according to the Division I men’s basketball committee, which revealed a bracket of the best 16 teams this afternoon on CBS. In the unprecedented unveiling, committee chair Mark Hollis, the director of athletics at Michigan State University, said the defending champion Wildcats were selected as the overall No. 1 seed if the tournament were to start today.
Villanova was seeded in a loaded East bracket along with No. 2 Louisville, No. 3 Kentucky and No. 4 UCLA. The East Regional is at Madison Square Garden March 24-26.
If the #MarchMadness started today…here are the Top 16 Overall Seeds as of today. #BracketPreview pic.twitter.com/gdG464GIhl
— March Madness TV (@MarchMadnessTV) February 11, 2017
“Villanova played a challenging non-conference schedule and has achieved considerable success against several quality opponents on the road and on neutral-courts. Their consistency throughout the season gave them slight separation from other candidates for the overall top seed,” said Hollis.
Using a new policy adopted last summer, the committee asked Villanova for their preferred regional location, and the Wildcats selected the East regional in New York City. The other No. 1 seeds were assigned to regional sites using geographic proximity from their campuses. Kansas, the second-ranked team on the overall seed list, was sent to the Midwest regional in Kansas City, while fellow Big 12 Conference member Baylor is the top seed in the South regional in Memphis. The fourth No. 1 seed, unbeaten Gonzaga, was assigned to the West regional in San Jose.
“Those four teams are having tremendous seasons but as we know in college basketball, things can change quickly,” said Hollis. “There are more than 1,300 games left before Selection Sunday so how these teams are seeded and where they will ultimately be sent to play in the tournament remains a mystery.”
The four No. 2 seeds were North Carolina, which was assigned to the South regional; Florida State, which was sent to the Midwest; Louisville, which was placed in the East; and Oregon, which was sent West.
