The bracket for the NCAA Tournament is officially set, and now college basketball fans around the country are scrambling to fill out their brackets. St. John's, Arkansas and Purdue are among the hottest teams in the country after winning their respective conference tournaments.
As usual on Selection Sunday, some teams will be happy with their draws, and others have a gauntlet of both travel and great teams in front of them if they want to make a deep run into March. A season ago, a resurgent Louisville program was given a No. 8 seed when many Bracketologists had the Cardinals projected as a No. 5.
There was nothing quite as egregious as that this season in terms of seeding, nor was there a major exclusion from the field that took the college basketball world by storm. However, there are still some teams that will be rightfully unhappy with the way that the draw went for them. Here are three teams that will feel like they got the short end of the stick from the committee on Selection Sunday.
St. John's
St. John's was the talk of college basketball after crushing UConn in the Big East title game at Madison Square Garden, with many Bracketologists anticipating a move up to the No. 4 line to go with it. Instead, Rick Pitino and company instead were left on the No. 5 line and have a grueling path to get deep into the tournament.
St. John's will start with Northern Iowa, who is hot and will be plenty rested after winning the Missouri Valley title last Sunday. A Round of 32 game would likely be against Kansas. While a Rick Pitino-Bill Self clash would be a treat for fans, Pitino would not love to see Darryn Peterson in the second round.
If St. John's can get out of that pod, which includes a cross-country trip all the way over to San Diego, it would likely take on top overall seed Duke in the Sweet 16 before a fourth matchup with UConn in the Elite Eight. If Pitino and company are going to get to the Final Four, it is going to have to take down four very good opponents to do so.
Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt was one of the final unbeaten teams in the country, but the Commodores sputtered a bit in the middle of the season while Duke Miles was out injured. Now, Miles is back, and Mark Byington's club is showing exactly what it can do when he is in the lineup. In back-to-back days, Vanderbilt knocked off Tennessee and Florida to get all the way to the SEC title game, where it ultimately fell short against Arkansas.
However, that run combined with a fourth-place finish in a loaded SEC had many people thinking Vanderbilt would end up as a No. 4 or even a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Commodores had non-conference wins over UCF, St. Mary's, SMU and VCU along with a handful of quality SEC wins, but were only rewarded with a No. 5 seed.
Their reward for that regular season is a game against McNeese, one of the best mid-majors in the nation over the last few years. The Cowboys are coming into the NCAA Tournament hot with a 28-5 record and a 10-game win streak. McNeese is 68th in KenPom, making them a formidable threat in the first round.
Vanderbilt would then likely get Nebraska, the second-place finisher in the Big Ten, in the second round, to get to a Sweet 16 rematch against Florida. The Commodores just beat the Gators by 17 in Nashville at the conference tournament, so Vandy will have a lot of confidence if it can get to that game. However, even if Vanderbilt can win the rubber match against Florida, there's a good chance that Houston awaits in what would essentially be a true road game in the Elite Eight.
UConn
UConn lost any chance it had at a No. 1 seed when it was blown out by St. John's in the Big East Championship Game, so the Huskies entered Selection Sunday likely knowing they were going to end up as a No. 2 seed. UConn got placed in the East region with the top overall seed, Duke, but that's not why Dan Hurley will be unhappy with this draw.
The Huskies do get to start their quest for a third national title in four years in Philadelphia, which is a positive, and they should have no problem dismissing Furman in the first round. However, UConn got arguably the best No. 7 seed in the field to deal with in UCLA. The Bruins are coming off of a quality run in the Big Ten Tournament that included an upset win over Michigan State. Donovan Dent is playing some of the best basketball of any player in the country and will be a handful for UConn to deal with, especially with Silas Demary Jr. banged up.
If the Huskies get through to the second weekend, they will likely see Tom Izzo and Michigan State in the Sweet 16. Beyond the fact that Izzo is one of the best NCAA Tournament coaches in history, the Spartans spent most of the season as a projected No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The aforementioned loss to UCLA dropped Michigan State to a No. 3 seed, but playing against a legitimate top 10 team in the Sweet 16 isn't a great draw. Duke would likely be waiting in the Elite Eight as the best team in the nation.
