Purdue is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament men's basketball selection committee pool preview, revealed Saturday afternoon, and defending champion UConn received the No. 2 overall seed.
It would be the Boilermakers' second consecutive tournament with a first-place finish. Last season, they lost to Fairleigh Dickinson, becoming the second first-place team in NCAA tournament history to lose to a 16th seed.
UConn is ranked No. 1 in this week's AP Poll, but Purdue got the nod over the Huskies due to its superior metrics across the board, as well as the Boilermakers' nine wins in Quadrant 1 and 15 victories. in Quadrants 1 and 2, which are the most in the country.
“Getting first place is important,” said committee chairman Charles McClelland. “You have the opportunity to choose the region you go to. It's good for the teams and also for the fans.”
Houston – “Different league, same results,” McClelland said – and Arizona, which is ranked in the top five in every recruiting metric, rounded out the top spot, with McClelland adding that the 12 committee members were exactly the same 1-4 order.
“It's not unprecedented for the committee to be unanimous on which four teams deserve to be the top favorites, but for almost everyone to agree on the sequence of those teams in terms of how they were voted on the favorites list is very unusual.” McClelland said.
The four 1 seeds in last year's mock pool reveal finished as 1 seeds in the pool on Selection Sunday.
North Carolina, Tennessee, Marquette and Kansas were runners-up, with Alabama, Baylor, Iowa State and Duke third.
Auburn, San Diego State, Illinois and Wisconsin rounded out the top 16 as fourth seeds.
McClelland said Dayton, Creighton and Clemson, not in that exact order, were also in the conversation for the final spots in the top 16.
“This was a good process, whether you've been on the committee for several years or it was your first time,” McClelland said. “Parity is a word that gets thrown around a lot, but I think we've seen a lot more of it than in most years, which makes me think we're in for a wild ride down the stretch of the season and when we get to March.” . Craziness. “As is the case for millions of college basketball fans around the world, the committee is excited and ready.”
This is the only mock reveal of the season. Selection Sunday is March 17.
