Top-sown Gonzaga, Villanova (6 overall), and Virginia (9) collapsed on Saturday with a gathering of great (and mere goods) as the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee unveiled its prospective top-16 seed for March Madness. A preview in the form of the meaningless weekly College Football Playoff rankings now reveals many of the same schools.
Just look at this list! Alabama and Ohio State, u college soccer title tilt just over a month ago, now both in the top half of the provisional Sweet 16 hoops … plus everyday football shows like Michigan, Texas and Oklahoma … but it’s not just football royals, nose … all of you favorite mediocre come-qualifying programs are also here, including 2020 Liberty Bowl champion, West Virginia, plus Tennessee, Iowa … and more!
Ohio State (4) does not have a rules change this time (ahem) to see his way to the 1 seed line with sworn enemies Michigan (3, and just happy to be it now avoid the buckeyes until a later round gave way the football team acted against them in the Jim Harbaugh era). Illinois (5) rounds out a Top 5 trifecta for the Big Ten.
2021 national champion (in the other sport), Alabama, is behind ‘Nova on the 2-seed line, along with recent participants in the New Mexico Bowl, Houston. West Virginia, Tennessee and Oklahoma complete the 3-seed line behind defending champion Virginia. (Yes, this time I mean basketball … but it’s been a while since anyone paid attention, so don ‘t feel bad when your last memory of the Cavaliers is the bed shit as the first 1-seed to lose against a 16-seed in UMBC, before you won the 2019 crown.)
The 4-seed line is live from an early October Saturday on the roster: Iowa, Texas Tech, Texas and Missouri.
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March Madness has a new look this year, and by a new look I mean good luck recognizing a lot of what’s happening next month.
Conference tournaments? ¯ _ (ツ) _ / ¯
Tournament regions? Well, all games are in or around Indianapolis, so … not so much.
First round games? On Friday and Saturday, I deviated from the usual Thursday tip, which made my grandmother call me dizzy every year because she misses her shows (that means soap operas). And finally, you can miss some blue-blooded basketball programs noticeably above. They all stink quite a bit this year.
Get used to the idea of a tournament without Duke, Kansas or North Carolina. Kentucky may not even be good enough for the NIT.
It all contributes to an unpredictable tournament, and is not that really what we all want? Okay, yeah, well, that’s what we want for at least one weekend.
Anyway, go team, rah, first and ten do it again. And let’s get through these post-Super Bowl February doldrums to March fast, please and thank you. Meanwhile, it wear a mask.