Dave Preston is an AP Top 25 voter. Read his ballots here.
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament kicks into high gear this afternoon with Louisville facing Creighton at 12:15 p.m., as the Cardinals get hosed seed-wise (a No. 8 for the ACC Tournament runner-up that’s ranked No. 10 in the nation) and hooked site-wise (Lexington’s Rupp Arena sits 76 miles from Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center).
The madness ended for American (22-13) last night when the Eagles lost their First Four game with Mount St. Mary’s 83-72.
The Eagles lost forward Matt Rogers (seven points and two rebounds on 3 of 4 shooting over eight minutes on the floor) to a knee injury in the first half and trailed by 10 at intermission, but still found themselves within 56-51 with 15:11 left in regulation.
Unfortunately, the Mountaineers went on a 12-0 run to keep a three-possession cushion the rest of the way, shooting 58% on the night. The Mount advances to face Duke Friday while head coach Duane Simpkins’ team returns to D.C. to focus on next season.
March can sting sometimes.
Midwest Region
Our final region preview takes us to the Midwest, with Houston making a third straight appearance as a No. 1 seed. The Cougars have reached the Sweet Sixteen in five straight tournaments, but history has not been kind to this program: their six Final Fours are the most for any school without a national championship.
Call this the bracket of not quite: Gonzaga’s also chasing a championship, Purdue’s tied for the third most NCAA appearances (35) without a title while Tennessee’s 27 trips are the fourth most for a school that has never reached a Final Four.
Bold: Clemson may be the second-highest seed in the ACC this year, but you wouldn’t know it by the attention given North Carolina barely making the field and Louisville coming up short against Duke in the Tournament Championship. But the Tigers have won 15 of 17 (the two losses coming by three points apiece) and are the last team to defeat Duke. The Tigers reached the Regional Final last March and could do so again this year.
Folds: Purdue and Illinois have both had their moments during the Big Ten season (Boilermakers leading the conference in shooting and the Illini ranking second in rebounding) but both have presented plenty of red flags down the stretch: Purdue has lost six of nine entering the tournament while Illinois posted four losses by 14+ points over the final month of the season. But the biggest red flag might be UCLA: the Bruins went one-and-done in the Big Ten Tournament while head coach Mick Cronin consistently complained about the team’s less than ideal coast-to-coast travel. Their First Round site? Lexington, Kentucky, in the Eastern Time Zone.
Gold: Tennessee allowed the fewest points per game in the SEC, while also leading the conference in defensive field goal percentage as well as defending the 3-point line. The Volunteers also possess firepower in the form of guard Zakai Zeigler (7.3 assists per game) and sharpshooter Chaz Lanier (17.7 points per game while hitting 40% of his threes). That combination gets the Vols to their first ever Final Four.
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