North Carolina barely slid into this year’s version of March Madness, a development that led its athletic director to remind everyone that he had nothing to do with that choice even though he’s the head of the group that sets the bracket.
Texas also made it in – barely -- giving the Southeastern Conference a record 14 teams in the tournament, including overall top seed Auburn. The Tigers received higher billing than Duke even though they’ve lost three of their last four games.
And coach Rick Pitino’s reward for leading St. John’s back to prominence: a journey back to where his coaching career took off with his first Final Four – Providence – and a juicy potential second-round matchup against another coaching firebrand, John Calipari of Arkansas.
“There were,” North Carolina AD Bubba Cunningham said, “a number of challenges” in putting together a bracket that hoops fans can only hope provides as many thrills on the court as it did during the 60-minute bracket show.
Auburn beat out Duke to receive top billing in the tournament despite those three losses over the past two weeks, and despite also dropping a game to the Blue Devils back in December. Clearly, one deciding factor in choosing Auburn over Duke was the Tigers’ schedule, which was second toughest in the country, largely on the strength of playing a conference that put so many teams in the field.
No. 1 seed Florida, which captured the SEC tournament by winning three games with an average margin of 15 points, opens as a slight betting favorite to win it all at the Final Four in San Antonio on April 5 and 7.
Houston was the remaining top seed and could face a second-round matchup against No. 8 Gonzaga, making its 26th straight trip to the tournament.
The North Carolina Tar Heels were the last team in, based not on its 1-12 record against Quad 1 teams, but on its 8-0 mark against Quad 2, along with other favorable metrics. Both North Carolina (vs. San Diego State) and Texas (vs. Xavier) are playing in the First Four, which kicks off the action Tuesday.
Elsewhere in the bracket, Pitino leads his unprecedented sixth program into the tournament. Another coaching icon, Tom Izzo, leads Michigan State to its 27th straight tournament.
The SEC, Big Ten (eight spots) and Big 12 (seven) captured 42.5% of the tournament’s 68 spots, which leads to questions about whether March Madness really needs to expand to bring even more big-school teams into the mix.
(AP Photo George Walker IV)
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