NCAA Tournament Preview

As we head into that great unknown, AKA the first round of the NCAA championship tournament, a few things are fairly clear; there will be a few early upsets, teams from the power conferences will eventually take over the brackets, and no more than two #1 seeds will make it to Indianapolis and the Final Four. Thanks to recent losses by Connecticut, Villanova, Texas and Duke, this tournament seems to be more wide-open than one might have thought earlier in the season. Here are a few notes to feed your tournament hunger.

Most undeservingly good seeds: Tennessee, #2 in the Washington, D.C. region, 2-4 over their last four games; Indiana, #6 in Oakland region; Oklahoma, #6 in the Minneapolis region.

Undeserved bad seeds: George Washington, #8 in Atlanta; Xavier, #14 in Oakland; Wichita State, #7 in Washington.

Best 1st-round match-ups: George Washington-UNC-Wilmington; Marquette-Alabama; Kentucky-UAB; Oklahoma-UW-Milwaukee.

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Best potential second-round match-ups: Texas A&M-LSU; Southern Illinois-Iowa; Pitt-Kansas; Indiana-Gonzaga; Washington-Illinois; Michigan State-North Carolina; Wichita State-Tennessee; Boston College-Nevada; Oklahoma-Florida; Georgetown-Ohio State.

Don’t be surprised if: Southern Illinois beats West Virginia; Bucknell beats Arkansas; Winthrop beats Tennessee; UW-Milwaukee beats Oklahoma.

Lucky to be in the tournament: Utah State, Seton Hall, Alabama, Air Force, Texas A&M, Bradley, Wisconsin.

The Minneapolis bracket has some great potential second-round match-ups, including Boston College-Nevada, Oklahoma-Florida and Georgetown-Ohio State. And wouldn’t a dose of the old Big East, a potential BC-Villanova Sweet 16 bout, be fun?

– Teams that won their conference tournaments and are underdogs in their first-round games vs. at-large bids: Winthrop +7 vs. Tennessee; UNC-Wilmington +2 vs. George Washington; UW-Milwaukee +3 vs. Oklahoma; Iona +7 vs. LSU; Pacific +8 vs. Boston College; San Diego State +3 vs. Indiana; Davidson +11 vs. Ohio State; Murray State +12 vs. North Carolina; Kent State +6 vs. Pittsburgh; Southern Illinois +4 vs. West Virginia; Bucknell +5 vs. Arkansas.