Gonzaga and Kansas continue to lead top seeds as Selection Sunday is under two weeks away
Inside two weeks from Selection Sunday for the 2020 NCAA Tournament and it is safe to say that some teams have not only lock up top seeds but are locked into specific regions.
Meanwhile, you have some schools surging up the seed board and others looking to avoid monumental slides come the March 15 selection show.
Here is where I have the top four seeds in each region with 13 days to go before it all becomes official.
Midwest Region (Lucas Oil Stadium: Indianapolis, IN)
No. 1 Kansas (Overall No. 1 Seed)
No. 2. Creighton
No. 3 Duke
No. 4 Michigan State
Region Analysis
In any other year, you could make the case this is the toughest top four regional seeding that we’ve seen in a long time. This college basketball season hasn’t been like most seasons of recent memory. You’ve got the preseason number one (Michigan State), the current number one (Kansas), a team trending downward at the wrong time (Duke) and perhaps the hottest team in America that isn’t even being discussed (Creighton).
If the season were to end today, I’d expect Kansas to come out of this region and head to the Final Four. Things get a lot more interesting if both Michigan State and Duke can get their act together here in the next ten days or so. Michigan State is off to a good start with an impressive win over Maryland this past week, Duke however has lost three of their last four.
West Region (Staples Center: Los Angeles, CA)
No. 1 Gonzaga
No. 2. Florida State
No. 3 Villanova
No. 4 Oregon
Region Analysis
I think we can save everyone some time for the next few weeks here and say the following...
Gonzaga will be the top seed in the west region.
You can pretty much book it at this point. Gonzaga’s loss to BYU in February was not as damaging as it could’ve been because it meshed with San Diego State’s loss on the same day. That was a major break for the Bulldogs because now SDSU’s path out west as the top seed is now gone. However another loss by the Aztecs and they’re firmly in position to make the 127 mile trip north to Los Angeles. If you’re a Gonzaga fan, you may want to keep rooting for the Aztecs.
East Region (Madison Square Garden: New York City, NY)
No. 1 San Diego State
No. 2 Maryland
No. 3 Seton Hall
No. 4 Kentucky
Region Analysis
Honestly, I feel awful for San Diego State and I think everybody else should too. I mean, imagine you have a very good chance of entering the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed for the first time in school history and how does the bracket potentially break at this point? The regions are tipped towards everybody else EXCEPT for you. Not only are you going a little over 2,700 miles away but you’re also potentially getting a Kentucky team that is coming together at the right time. It is really unfortunate that the Aztecs have this kind of year in 2020.
South Region (Toyota Center: Houston, TX)
No. 1 Baylor
No. 2 Dayton
No. 3 Louisville
No. 4 Penn State
Region Analysis
Perhaps, this is the most balanced and “normal” of regions. Baylor, more than likely will be the top seed down south. The only true mystery is will they hold the top overall seed. That should be decided in a Kansas-Baylor Big 12 tourney final in about 12 days. There is a lot to like about the south region though.
You’ve got the Dayton Flyers and Louisville Cardinals, two of the most consistent teams during the season. Rounding out the group is Penn State, yes THAT Penn State in BASKETBALL. The Nittany Lions are the type of team you don’t want to see in a win-or go home scenario but neither are the Flyers or Cardinals. Baylor may be home, but their road to the Final Four in Atlanta is far from easy.
This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
