West Virginia, Boise State, Indiana left out of men’s tourney
Boise State and Indiana are on the outside looking in after Texas and North Carolina squeaked into the men’s NCAA Tournament.
And West Virginia may be an even more surprising omission. The Mountaineers were not even one of the last four in when ESPN, Sports Illustrated and the Washington Post made their projections. They were expected to make it more comfortably than that.
SEC shatters record
The Southeastern Conference shattered the previous record for getting the most teams into the NCAA Tournament. The previous mark was 11 set by the Big East in 2011.
The SEC topped it by three, with Auburn, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Missouri, Mississippi State, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas all getting in. Only LSU and South Carolina were left out from the league best known as a football powerhouse.
Men’s West Region
1. No. 1 Florida vs. No. 16 Norfolk State
2. No. 8 UConn vs. No. 9 Oklahoma
3. No. 5 Memphis vs. No. 12 Colorado State
4. No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Grand Canyon
5. No. 6 Missouri vs. No. 11 Drake
6. No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 14 UNC-Wilmington
7. No. 7 Kansas vs. No. 10 Arkansas
8. No. 2 St. John’s vs. No. 15 Omaha
Men’s Midwest Region
9. No. 1 Houston vs. No. 16 SIU Edwardsville
10. No. 8 Gonzaga vs. No. 9 Georgia
11. No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 12 McNeese State
12. No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 13 High Point
13. No. 6 Illinois vs. No. 11 Texas/ Xavier
14. No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 14 Troy
15. No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 Utah State
16. No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Wofford
Men’s East Region
17. No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 American/Mount St. Mary’s
18. No. 8 Mississippi State vs. No. 9 Baylor
19. No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 12 Liberty
20. No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 13 Akron
21. No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth
22. No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 14 Montana
23. No. 7 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 10 Vanderbilt
24. No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 15 Robert Morris
Men’s South Region
25. No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 16 Alabama State/Saint Francis
26. No. 8 Louisville vs. No. 9 Crieghton
27. No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 12 UC San Diego
28. No. 4 Texas A&M vs. No. 13 Yale
29. No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 San Diego St/North Carolina
30. No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 14 Lipscomb
31. No. 7 Marquette vs. No. 10 New Mexico
32. No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 15 Bryant
Conference realignment slightly alters bids
Each conference receives an automatic bid to both the men’s and women’s tournaments, and then the rest of those fields are filled by the committee’s at-large selections.
The recent demise of the Pac-12 lowered the number of automatic qualifiers to 31, leaving room for 37 at-large teams.
Hey football fans, the SEC is a basketball power, too
The Southeastern Conference, normally a football power, has been unusually strong this season in basketball.
Its two newest members — Oklahoma and Texas — are both on the bubble, but if they get in, the SEC could have as many as 14 of its 16 teams in the men’s tournament.
March Madness is ready for its ‘Cinderella
’
A high seed that makes a run to the Sweet 16 or beyond is affectionately called “Cinderella.”
Five No. 11 seeds have advanced to the men’s Final Four: LSU (1986), George Mason (2006), VCU (2011), Loyola Chicago (2018) and N.C. State (2024).
Villanova is considered the ultimate Cinderella — the Wildcats won the 1985 NCAA Tournament by upsetting top-seeded Georgetown as a No. 8 seed, the lowest to ever win the title.
Finding a Cinderella is tougher on the women’s side. No teams lower than a No. 3 seed have won the women’s event. It happened three times: 1994 North Carolina, 1997 Tennessee and 2023 LSU.
Men’s NCAA Tournament schedule
33. First Four: March 18-19
34. First round: March 20-21
35. Second round: March 22-23
36. Sweet 16: March 27-28
37. Elite Eight: March 29-30
38. Final Four: April 5
39. Championship game: April 7
