As we come up on March, that means everyone's attention is going to turn to college basketball. Kentucky's pursuit of perfection has been making headlines, but they're still a long way from a national title. It's obvious that the Wildcats are a cut above the rest, though. And they'll be the no-brainer No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament even if they lose their remaining regular season games and their first game in the SEC Tournament.
So, it was an easy call to put Kentucky as the overall No. 1 in my mock bracket (which is obviously subject to change with two weeks left until Selection Sunday). Two of my other three 1-seeds come out of the ACC, which has probably been the best conference this season. Duke, which I think is the second-best team in the nation, is No. 2 overall, and I've got Virginia at No. 3, although I don't think the Cavaliers are as good as their one-loss record suggests. The fourth No. 1 was a close call between Gonzaga and Wisconsin, but the one loss for Gonzaga was enough to trump last year's Final Four team, which gets the highest No. 2.
With those being the four No. 1 seeds, that sets up Final Four matchups of Midwest (Kentucky vs. West (Gonzaga) and East (Duke) vs. South (Virginia). Kentucky's in the Midwest instead of the South because the regional's in Cleveland, while Duke gets the East and Syracuse as opposed to the South and Houston as the higher overall seed.
And now for the bracket...
MIDWEST (Cleveland)
Louisville: (1) Kentucky vs. (16) Eastern Washington/North Carolina Central, (8) Pittsburgh vs. (9) Cincinnati
Charlotte: (4) North Carolina vs. (13) Central Michigan, (5) Wichita State vs. (12) UCLA/Illinois
Columbus: (3) Notre Dame vs. (14) North Dakota State, (6) Georgetown vs. (11) Oregon
Columbus: (2) Wisconsin vs. (15) James Madison, (7) Mississippi vs. (10) Dayton
WEST (Los Angeles)
Seattle: (1) Gonzaga vs. (16) Lehigh, (8) Texas A&M vs. (9) Davidson
Jacksonville: (4) Louisville vs. (13) Murray State, (5) Baylor vs. (12) Iona
Omaha: (3) Iowa State vs. (14) UTEP, (6) Butler vs. (11) Purdue
Seattle: (2) Utah vs. (15) Texas Southern, (7) Indiana vs. (10) San Diego State
EAST (Syracuse)
Charlotte: (1) Duke vs. (16) St. Francis Brooklyn/Charleston Southern, (8) Tulsa vs. (9) St. John's
Jacksonville: (4) Oklahoma vs. (13) Valparaiso, (5) Arkansas vs. (12) Harvard
Pittsburgh: (3) Maryland vs. (14) Georgia State, (6) West Virginia vs. (11) NC State/Stanford
Pittsburgh: (2) Villanova vs. (15) Florida Gulf Coast, (7) Michigan State vs. (10) LSU
SOUTH (Houston)
Louisville: (1) Virginia vs. (16) Stony Brook, (8) Xavier vs. (9) Georgia
Portland: (4) Northern Iowa vs. (13) New Mexico State, (5) VCU vs. (12) Stephen F. Austin
Portland: (3) Arizona vs. (14) UC Davis, (6) SMU vs. (11) Colorado State
Omaha: (2) Kansas vs. (15) Chattanooga, (7) Providence vs. (10) Iowa
Conference Breakdown: ACC (7), Big Ten (7), Big East (6), SEC (6), Big 12 (5), Pac-12 (5), American (3), Atlantic 10 (3), Missouri Valley (2), Mountain West (2)
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