On Sunday, the NCAA selection committee picked the defending nation champion UConn Huskies as the overall No. 1 seed in this year's tournament.
The Huskies got the nod just a day after clinching the Big East tournament and finishing 31-3 overall. The three remaining No. 1 seeds went to Houston, Purdue, and North Carolina. Despite all three teams appearing in the Associated Press Top 25 on a consistent basis, they failed to win their conference tournaments this past week.
UConn will begin their title defense on Friday against Stetson at Barclays Center. Should they advance, they will play either Florida Atlantic or Northwestern in the second round on Sunday.
Houston earned a top-seed for the second straight season, winning the Big 12 regular-season championship and reaching the conference finals before losing to Iowa State. They will have to navigate their way through a South Region that consist of Duke, Kentucky and Kansas. But first they will face 16th-seed and Big South champion Longwood in Memphis, Tennessee on Thursday. The Cougars will be looking to return to the Final Four as they did in 2021.
"Longwood is a champion -- that's what I know about them," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said in his media availability after the selection show when asked about the Cougars' first opponent. "They just won a championship."
Purdue finished the season 29-4 and won the Big 10 regular season title, but lost to Wisconsin in the tournament semifinals. The Boilermakers will be looking to redeem themselves after losing to No. 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson in last year's tournament. Purdue will face a winner of a First Four matchup in Dayton.
In order to reach Phoenix, the Boilermakers could face matchups with No. 4 seed Kansas or No. 5 seed Gonzaga, and possibly No. 2 seed Tennessee or No. 3 seed Creighton, two teams that are coming off disappointing appearances in their conference tournaments.
The fourth and final No. 1 seed was North Carolina, who got the spot after some debate among committee members. The Tar Heels will open up their bid for a title run on Thursday in Spokane, Washington, against another winner from Tuesday's First Four.
Comments