Michigan, MSU hoops listed in early reveal of NCAA men's top 16 seeds
Published in Basketball
DETROIT — To no surprise, the Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans are on track to earn a high seed in next month’s NCAA tournament.
The men’s basketball selection committee released an early reveal of the top 16 seeds on Saturday, with Michigan being listed as a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region and Michigan State a No. 4 seed in the West Region.
Michigan, the No. 1 overall seed, and Michigan State, the No. 14 overall seed, were two of the five Big Ten teams to make the cut in the projection, along with Illinois (No. 7 overall), Purdue (No. 8) and Nebraska (No. 11).
The other No. 1 seeds were Duke, Arizona and Iowa State. UConn was the top team on the 2-seed line, followed by Houston, Illinois and Purdue.
The No. 3 seeds were defending national champion Florida, Kansas, Nebraska and Gonzaga. Texas Tech, Michigan State, Vanderbilt and Virginia were the No. 4 seeds.
The Wolverines (25-1, 15-1 Big Ten) entered play Saturday with the consensus No. 1 national ranking and a resume that has them atop the NET rankings. They are 10-0 in Quad 1 games, 9-1 in Quad 2 games, 4-0 in Quad 3 games and 2-0 in Quad 4 games, giving them a strength of schedule that ranks eighth in the country, per KenPom.
The Spartans (21-5, 11-4) are No. 12 in the NET rankings, with a 6-4 record in Quad 1 games, 5-1 mark in Quad 2 games and a combined 10-0 record in Quad 3 and 4 contests.
Michigan and Michigan State will both have several opportunities to bolster their body of work. Most notably, the Wolverines face Duke in a top-five clash in Washington, on Saturday and have a trip to Illinois on the horizon, while the Spartans travel to Purdue and Indiana next week. The two rivals will also square off in the regular-season finale on March 8 in Ann Arbor.
The full 68-team field and official bracket will be unveiled during Selection Sunday on March 15, with First Four games tipping on March 17-18 followed by first- and second-round games on March 19-22. The regionals are set for Chicago, Houston, Washington, and San Jose, Calif., from March 26-29.
The Final Four will be held in Indianapolis, with the national semifinals being played on April 4 and the championship game on April 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
NCAA tournament men's top 16 seeds
Seeds by overall ranking:
— No. 1 seeds: Michigan (1), Duke (2), Arizona (3), Iowa State (4)
— No. 2 seeds: UConn (5), Houston (6), Illinois (7), Purdue (8)
— No. 3 seeds: Florida (9), Kansas (10), Nebraska (11), Gonzaga (12)
— No. 4 seeds: Texas Tech (13), Michigan State (14), Vanderbilt (15), Virginia (16)
Seeds by region:
— Midwest Region: No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Houston, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Virginia
— East Region: No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Illinois, No. 3 Kansas, No. 4 Vanderbilt
— West Region: No. 1 Arizona, No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 4 Michigan State
— South Region: No. 1 Iowa State, No. 2 UConn, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Texas Tech
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