The first mock top 16 is out
The Road to Phoenix has begun as the annual Men’s Bracket Preview revealed the in-season top 16 teams. Let’s begin with the reveal.
One Seeds
MIDWEST — PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (1:1)
Purdue was unsurprisingly revealed as the number one overall seed as the 23-2 Boilermakers have steamrolled everyone in their path with the frontrunner for National Player of the Year, Zach Edey, dominating in historic ways.
EAST — UCONN HUSKIES (1:2)
UConn has followed up their National Championship with another great season, and with a healthy Donovan Clingan, they’re looking primed to repeat.
SOUTH — HOUSTON COUGARS (1:3)
Kelvin Sampson and Houston have been unfazed by the move to the Big XII as the 21-3 Cougars top the charts in both the NET and most advanced metrics such as KenPom.
WEST — ARIZONA WILDCATS (1:4)
Per the committee, the ‘Cats just made the cut as the final one-seed at 19-5 and in first place in the lowly PAC-12. Despite losses to multiple teams hovering around or below the 100 rank in the NET, Arizona’s strong non-conference performance, including wins at Duke, against Michigan State on a neutral floor, and against Wisconsin and Alabama, have anchored their hold on the final one seed.
Two Seeds
EAST — NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS (2:5)
Despite recent struggles, the Tar Heels sit atop the two seeds.
MIDWEST — TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (2:6)
The Vols are locked into the Midwest Region here with Purdue as Dalton Knecht’s ascension into a NPOY candidate has lifted the Vols’ offense to a top 20 unit to go with their always suffocating defense.
SOUTH — MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES (2:7)
Marquette sits at 19-5 having won eight straight, and Tyler Kolek is playing as well as any guard in the nation once again.
WEST — KANSAS JAYHAWKS (2:8)
Kansas sneaks in as the final two seed despite being predicted by many to be the best team in the nation before the season began.
Three Seeds
SOUTH — ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE (3:9)
Alabama has turned a terrific start in conference play into a top 10-seed overall. It will be interesting to see if Nate Oats can take home more trophies in SEC play.
MIDWEST — BAYLOR BEARS (3:10)
Baylor continues to ride strong guard play into good teams as they are the final team in the top 10. The 18-6 Bears stumbled early in conference play, but since then, they’ve won four of five including wins over Iowa State, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma.
EAST — IOWA STATE CYCLONES (3:11)
Iowa State is the sleeper of this entire group. Viewed largely as a top five defense in the nation, their offense lately has come along as well. Tamin Lipsey orchestrates a fantastic home team that’s also begun to pick up big wins on the road lately.
WEST — DUKE BLUE DEVILS (3:12)
Duke, like Kansas, feels like a team chalked full of potential that hasn’t reached theirs yet. Despite questionable struggles at times, Duke sits at 19-5 in a very opportune ACC to bolster their win total and try and sneak into the two line if they can beat North Carolina to end the season.
Four Seeds
WEST — AUBURN TIGERS (4:13)
Auburn has been rolling, and it’s all thanks to Johni Broome and Jaylin Williams. The two are All-SEC locks as Bruce Pearl has his deepest Tiger team to date.
MIDWEST — SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS (4:14)
Brian Dutcher is back with a lot of the same players from their National Title Runner-Up squad from a season ago, and they look great once again. Jaedon LeDee is in his final year, and is making the most of it, averaging 20.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in one of the tougher conferences in the country.
SOUTH — ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI (4:15)
Illinois may be the second best team in the Big Ten, and as long as their core starters remain healthy and on the floor, they’re a tough out for anyone.
EAST — WISCONSIN BADGERS (4:16)
Wisconsin, despite tremendous struggles lately, slide in as the final team revealed in the field. AJ Storr stars for the Badgers while Steven Crowl, and Tyler Wahl lead the way in the front court. The back court is set to get John Blackwell back from injury soon, and just in time as Wisconsin ends their season with Illinois, a surging Rutgers team they just lost to, and Purdue at Mackey.