The NCAA Tournament Committee Released The Top Four Seeds As They Stand Now


Getty Image

The NCAA Tournament tips off in just over a month, and while there’s plenty of basketball left to play including conference tournaments, the committee has taken a cue from college football in releasing an early look at seeding in an effort to build excitement and create conversation.

On Sunday, the committee released its first batch of seedings, revealing the top 16 teams for the first four seeds to offer a look at who would be where if the tournament were to start today.

NCAA


Compared to the current AP Top 25, the biggest surprises are seeing Michigan State, currently ranked No. 4, as a 3-seed and Gonzaga, currently ranked 12th, not on the list. The ACC leads the way with four top-4 seeds at this juncture, with the Big Ten and Big 12 both have three teams on the list. The Big East has two teams, but both are No. 1 seeds, which is an impressive feat for the conference.

Tournament committee chair Bruce Rasmussen joined the CBS broadcast in which the seeds were released and explained how they got to the one seeds they did.

“When the committee started our meeting on Tuesday, I think there was a general agreement on who the top three teams were, but by late Saturday night that group had grown to four,” said Rasmussen. “We initially felt Villanova was the overall top seed, but we flipped that Thursday morning after the Wildcats lost to St. John’s at home and Virginia won at Florida State. Despite UVA’s loss Saturday, we felt that based on their 13 wins in the first two quadrants, they deserved to remain on top. Villanova bounced back with a good win Saturday, so we kept them second. Purdue had two tough losses to quality teams, while Xavier picked up two good road wins to solidify the fourth No. 1 seed and ultimately leap Purdue on the seed list.”

There will be plenty of opportunities moving forward for teams to move around, but as noted by Rasmussen, last year 15 of the 16 teams that landed top four seeds were part of the February release. Teams may shuffle around on what line they’re on or what region they could go to, but this offers fans a good look at where the favorites are likely to land when the committee makes the final, official release on March 11 on TBS.

×