Where does NCAA selection committee seed UNC, Duke with one month until real brackets?
Both ranked among the nation’s top 10 teams, North Carolina and Duke are among the top 16 seeds in the NCAA men’s tournament selection committee’s current bracket.
The committee provided a peek at its seed list on Saturday, the only time it will officially reveal who it considers the top teams before the full bracket is announced March 17 at 6 p.m.
The seed list had UNC (19-6), which entered Saturday’s play leading the ACC and ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press poll, at No. 5. It assigned the Tar Heels a No. 2 seed in the East Region.
Ranked No. 9 by the AP, Duke (19-5) is at No. 12 on the NCAA committee’s top 16 seeds. The Blue Devils were seeded No. 3 in the West Region.
No other ACC teams were listed among the top 16. But committee chairman Charles McClelland, the Southwestern Athletic Conference commissioner, said Clemson, along with Creighton and Dayton, were in the running for the No. 16 national seed (No. 4 regional seed).
The committee had Purdue as the No. 1 overall national seed followed by reigning national champion Connecticut, Houston and Arizona. Those four teams received No. 1 regional seeds, with UConn in the East, Houston in the South, Purdue in the Midwest and Arizona in the West.
Following UNC on the No. 2 seed line are Tennessee (Midwest), Marquette (South) and Kansas (West).
Ahead of Duke on the No. 3 seed line are Alabama (South), Baylor (Midwest) and Iowa State (East)
The No. 4 seeds are, in order, Auburn (West), San Diego State (Midwest), Illinois (South) and Wisconsin (East).
The NCAA Tournament begins with the First Four games in Dayton, Ohio, on March 19-20.
The first- and second-round sites, with games March 21-24, are Brooklyn, New York, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Omaha, Pittsburgh, Memphis, Salt Lake City and Spokane, Washington.
The regional round games, from March 28-31, are Boston (East), Detroit (Midwest), Dallas (South) and Los Angeles (West).
This year’s Final Four will be played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, April 6 and 8.