March Madness lookahead: Who will be the four No. 1 seeds?

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The men’s college basketball season began on Nov. 4 with Kansas as the preseason No. 1 and UConn, Gonzaga, Baylor and North Carolina each in the top 10.

Four months later, all five of those teams have tumbled out of the AP Top 25 and several are in jeopardy of not making the NCAA tournament at all.

That turmoil at the top of the sport is just one example of how chaotic and unpredictable this season has been. A team that starts two projected top-five NBA Draft picks is sub-.500. A team that starts four Division II transfers is 26-3. The favorite to win national player of the year began his college career at Morehead State. There are more SEC schools (8) in the current men’s basketball Top 25 than there were in this past season’s final football poll (7).

In a little over two weeks, Adam Zucker, Clark Kellogg, Jay Wright and Seth Davis will unveil a fresh 68-team bracket and the three-week sprint to determine this year’s national champion will begin anew. As the calendar turns to March, here are 12 biggest questions to be answered between now and Selection Sunday:

1. Who will be No. 1 overall seed?

Auburn has by far the nation’s best résumé. The Tigers (26-2, 14-1) are alone in first place in a historically strong SEC after defeating the likes of Houston, Iowa State, Purdue and Memphis in non-league play. They’re 15-2 in Quadrant 1 games. No one else in the country has more than 10 Quadrant 1 victories.

Two weeks ago, Auburn was the selection committee’s No. 1 overall seed in its early bracket reveal. When asked if he could remember another No. 1 overall seed separating itself from the pack like Auburn has, selection committee chairman Bubba Cunningham admitted he couldn’t.

“They were the unanimous choice,” said Cunningham, the athletic director at North Carolina. “They are clearly our No. 1.”

2. Who are other contenders for top seed line?

The likelihood of an unprecedented SEC sweep of all four No. 1 seeds has faded over the past two weeks. Duke and Houston…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-02-28 14:19:00

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