March Madness bracket set
Selection Sunday put Duke at the No. 1 overall seed after a run capped by a 74-70 ACC title win over Virginia — Duke is the betting favorite at +325 — the men's First Four kicks off Mar. 17-18 and the Round of 64 starts Mar. 19; UConn earned the No. 1 overall seed in the women's bracket at a perfect 34-0. The selection committee chair described a “scrubbing” process that moved Miami into the final at-large spot and flagged Auburn’s 16 losses as a decisive exclusion; NC State landed in the First Four while Vanderbilt slid in as a 5-seed on the strength of 17 Quad 1/2 wins (committee comments via the Selection Committee interview). Yahoo Sports ESPN CBS News CT Insider #.
Arizona, Michigan and Florida rounded out the men’s No. 1 seeds, with Arizona placed in the West, Michigan in the Midwest and Florida in the South. nytimes.com The First Four will be staged in Dayton, Ohio, and the play-in slate features UMBC vs. Howard and Texas vs. NC State on one night and Prairie View A&M vs. Lehigh and Miami (Ohio) vs. SMU on the other. ncaa.com Early bracket pairings set several 1-v-16 games to watch — Duke vs. Siena and Arizona vs. Long Island University — while Michigan and Florida will await First Four winners for their round-of-64 opponents. ncaa.com Betting markets diverged after Selection Sunday: BetMGM listed Michigan at roughly +325 to win the title, while other books showed Duke as the shortest-priced favorite on some boards. sports.yahoo.com Selection Committee chair Keith Gill told CBS that Auburn’s 16 losses and 51.5% winning percentage were key reasons the Tigers landed among the first teams out, and Auburn finished the season 17-16 after losing nine of its last 12 games. si.com On the women’s side, the committee made UCLA, Texas and South Carolina the other No. 1 seeds alongside the top seed, and the women’s First Four will be held on campus sites with regionals in Fort Worth and Sacramento and the Final Four scheduled for Phoenix. ncaa.com Cameron Boozer’s breakout season — Sporting News tabbed him its College Basketball Player of the Year after he averaged about 22.7 points and 10.2 rebounds — and Michigan’s Aday Mara’s defensive accolades (Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year) are two player storylines to track as the bracket begins. sportingnews.com
