It's March Madness time: Can UConn three-peat, who to watch
March Madness is on.
The field was just announced. Let the filling out of personnel brackets and office pools begin.
Conference tournaments did little to change the No. 1 seeds as those went to Auburn (28-5), Duke (31-3), Houston (30-4) and Florida (30-4).
The SEC is sending a record 14 schools on while the Big Ten is next with eight. The Big 12 has seven and the Big East 5.
Let's look of some of what went down:
Is a three-peat possible?
UConn (23-11) was impressive in winning the last two national championships, including the one right here at State Farm Stadium a year ago when it defeated Alabama 86-72 in the semifinal and Purdue 75-60 in the title tilt. It won its postseason game by an average margin of 23 points.
A few players are back from that team, most notably 6-foot-8 junior forward Alex Karaban but the supporting cast is less experienced and that youth showed at times, with turnovers perhaps the biggest issue. The Huskies were third in the Big East behind St. John's and Creighton and lost a conference semifinal to Creighton 71-62.
UConn is the No. 8 seed in the West Region and will face No. 9 Oklahoma (20-13) in its tournament opener — with a potential showdown against No. 1 seed Florida in the second round. It looks like it will be a shorter-than-usual postseason for the Huskies.
What conference looms as the Big Dog?
It is usually the Big 12, but this season the SEC has been the deepest top to bottom. It has two of the top four seeds in Florida and Auburn among its record 14 qualifiers. The only teams NOT reaching the tournament — LSU and South Carolina.
That's not to say the Big 12 is down. It did have seven teams selected but some teams have not lived up to billing. Most notably Kansas (21-12), Baylor (19-14), Arizona (22-12) and Cincinnati (18-15) started the season nationally ranked but now are nowhere to be found in the rankings. Kansas was No. 1 and the conference favorite but it has 12 losses, the most it has had since the 1988-1989 season. The Jayhawks made the field for the 35th straight season as a No. 7, though and get a first-round date with No. 10 Arkansas (20-13).
West Virginia (19-13) was among the first four out.
Other teams have stepped up such as BYU (24-9), a No. 6 seed, and Texas Tech (25-8), a No. 3, while Houston and Iowa State (24-9), also a No. 3, remain legitimate contenders. Arizona is a No. 4 and Baylor a 9.
Who could be the Cinderella?
Colorado State (25-9): There always seems to be a Mountain West team that makes a run. This year the Rams could be that team. They have won 10 straight games, defeating Boise State 69-56 in the conference championship game to earn the automatic bid. Senior Nique Clifford, who played three years at Colorado, leads the effort by averaging 19 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists.
Colorado State drew a 12 seed and its first opponent will be No. 5 Memphis (29-5), the American Athletic Conference champion which has won eight straight games.
Biggest March Madness controversy?
North Carolina (22-13) getting in: Most had the Tar Heels out of the field. They could have bolstered their case by beating Duke in the ACC Tournament, but they lost the semifinal to the Blue Devils 74-71. It turned out not to matter. North Carolina was 1-12 in Quad 1 games and had a Quad 3 loss to Stanford, which seemed reason enough to be left out — especially because Indiana, which was among the First Four out, had four Quad 1 wins and had no losses lower than Quad 1.
Also, the chair of the selection committee is Bubba Cunningham, who just happens to be the athletic director at North Carolina. In such selections, those with such an interest excuse themselves from the room with that team's selection is discussed.
The strength of its non-conference schedule helped North Carolina, which played the likes of Florida, Auburn, Kansas, Michigan State, Alabama and UCLA.
On the selection show, vice-chair Keith Gill said North Carolina was the last team in and its inclusion came down to Memphis beating UAB in the American Athletic Conference championship game. Had UAB won, it would have been in the field and North Carolina out.
North Carolina has 21 Final Four appearances — more than any other school. This will be its 50th tournament appearance, second to only Kentucky's 58.
ASU fans pay attention to . . . .
Creighton (24-10): One of the star players for the Blue Jays is guard Jamiya Neal, who spent the previous three years at Arizona State. Neal is the only player at Creighton to have started every game and is averaging 11.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists. He tallied 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists in Creighton's Big East title game loss to St. John's and had 19 points, five rebounds and three assists in the semifinal win over UConn. Creighton drew a 9 seed in the South and will first face No. 8 Louisville.
McNeese State (27-6): The Mustangs won the Southland Conference. The team features a former Sun Devil in Bryant Selebangue, who was in Tempe just last season. He is averaging 14.8 minutes per game off the bench and is at 3.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. McNeese is the No. 12 seed in the Midwest and opens play against Clemson.
Arizona fans pay attention to . . .,
Illinois (21-12): The Illini finished tied for seventh in the Big Ten for the regular season. Junior point guard Kylan Boswell is in his first year after playing at Arizona for two years. Boswell has played in 33 games, starting 32. He's averaging 11.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists, better numbers than he posted either year in Tucson. Illinois was given a No. 6 seed in the Midwest and first faces the winner of Texas-Xavier.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: March Madness: Biggest bracket controversy? Can UConn 3-peat?
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