rightlow.blogg.se

Who put a stake through Kansas’ 51-game Allen Fieldhouse winning streak? Iowa State. And after all that the first week, further down the road could be delicious rematches from the season. Kansas and Michigan State.Īlso Gonzaga, the team that has waited forever to get to the Final Four, against Northwestern, the team that waited forever to get into the tournament.ĩ. Notre Dame (known for not making turnovers) and West Virginia (forces lots of ‘em). Iowa State, on a Big 12 roll, against Big Ten season champion Purdue. Duke against South Carolina and its SEC player of the year Sindarius Thornwell. SMU and Baylor in a Texas-sized showdown. Kentucky-Wichita State and Villanova-Wisconsin, as mentioned. You wonder how the committee members reacted - perhaps with a giggle or two - when they noticed all the potential second-round head-knockers they were creating with their handiwork. Do they fill out brackets in Anchorage and Bangor?Ĩ. They remain the only two states never to have put a team to the NCAA tournament. The field will come from 35 states, with North Carolina sending the most with five entrants. Selection Sunday: Chris Collins on Northwestern's first bid 7. Northern Kentucky, UC Davis, Jacksonville State, North Dakota and.

Isn’t democracy grand? The same tournament that welcomes Kentucky for the 57th time, North Carolina for the 48th time and Kansas for the 46th time, also has room for five rookies. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of who. 5.Īnd so regards to - with their potential first round trouble-makers in parentheses - Virginia (UNCW), Notre Dame (Princeton), Iowa State (Nevada) and Minnesota (Middle Tennessee). Only twice in the past 16 years has at least one 12th-seed not knocked down a No. Two were upset last year, three fell in 2014, three in 2013. 12 underdogs like bare arms are to mosquitoes. It is a well-known axiom of the tournament that in the first round, No. 5 seeds, those big-name teams that must feel as if they’re holding onto hand grenades with the pins pulled out. RELATED: 2017 NCAA tournament field by the numbersĥ.

Undoubtedly, that memory immediately occurred to Shocker Nation when they got their first look at this bracket. Three years ago, the Shockers and their 35-0 record were paired against the Wildcats in the second round and lost a marvelous duel 78-76. Wichita State drew a tough road, first with Atlantic 10 power Dayton, and if that works out, then probably Kentucky. 9 seeds just above them, by the way, have a combined 50 losses.Ĭlearly, the committee looked at the Missouri Valley this season and saw a putt-putt course. Their average margin of victory for the season is 19.4. And while we’re on the subject of the Missouri Valley Conference feeling a bit badly treated, who did Wichita State tick off? On paper, the Shockers have been an absolute monster, putting up a 30-4 record and winning 15 in a row, with only one of those by under 15 points. The 'Dores are dancin'! #AnchorDown /kOKh3em1B6ĭoubtful that Illinois State, left out at 27-6, is applauding much.Ĥ. So let’s hear it for the Commodores, who weren’t even sent to the First Four in Dayton. Vandy became the first team ever to be given an at-large invitation with 15 defeats. Selection Sunday arrived, and the team to make history was. Seeing your name pop up on that #SelectionSunday bracket. They are the common folk, suddenly riding in the same limo with three rock stars. The Bulldogs have never been seeded this highly. 4 seed, Butler, has been in more national championship games this decade than UNC and UCLA, and just as many as Kentucky with two. Maybe they can fight it out using their trophies. The top three seeds - North Carolina, Kentucky and UCLA - have 24 national titles among them.

When a team is 30-4 and has won 26 out of its last 27 games and is seeded - let’s check this again, yep - SIXTH, the region is made of pretty stern stuff.Īnd should we mention again what Duke did over the weekend? Just wondering how Kris Jenkins’ 3-point stroke is looking these days.Ģ. An even more veteran Baylor is lurking out there in the East, as is a Florida team that beat Kentucky. They could well have to deal with a veteran Wisconsin team in the second round. About that championship repeat run, the Wildcats will have to earn it, because the East is loaded.