NCAA Tournament: How the Bracket is Built

1. Kentucky – Placed in the closest regional (Cleveland) and the closest pod (Louisville).

2. Villanova – Placed in the closest regional (Syracuse) and the closest pod (Pittsburgh).

3. Duke – Couldn’t be placed in the 2 closest regions because Kentucky and Villanova were already there, so they were sent to the next closest region (Houston) and the closest pod (Charlotte).

4. Wisconsin – Placed in the last remaining regional (Los Angeles). Pod sites Omaha, Louisville, and Columbus are roughly equidistant so the committee sent Wisconsin to Omaha to save Louisville and Columbus for east coast teams as the majority of teams are from that area of the country.

5. Virginia – Could have been sent to either Syracuse or Cleveland but were sent to Syracuse to create a more balanced region and avoid Kentucky. Could have been sent to Pittsburgh or Charlotte for pod site. Sent to Charlotte-pod now full.

6. Arizona – Placed in the closest regional (Los Angeles). Omaha and Portland are equidistant so they were sent to the west coast and Portland.

7. Gonzaga – Placed in the closest remaining regional (Houston) and closest pod (Seattle) .

8. Kansas – Sent to the last remaining regional (Cleveland) and sent to the closest pod (Omaha-pod now full).

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9. Iowa State – Couldn’t be sent to closest regional (Cleveland) because Kansas(Big 12) is there. Could be sent to either Houston or Syracuse. Committee sent them to Houston and closest pod (Louisville-pod now full).

10. Baylor – Could be sent to either Los Angeles or Syracuse. Committee sent them to Los Angeles. Couldn’t be sent to closest pod (Louisville full). Sent to next closest pod (Jacksonville).

11. Oklahoma – Could only be sent to Syracuse as Big 12 teams are in every other region. Can’t be sent to closest pod sites (Omaha and Louisville filled already). Sent to next closest pod (Columbus).

12. Notre Dame – Sent to last remaining regional (Cleveland). Honestly, here’s where the committee loses me – they sent the Irish to Pittsburgh (pod now full) instead of Columbus which is far closer to South Bend. Consider me confused on this pod placement.

13. North Carolina – ACC teams had already been placed in Cleveland, Houston, and Syracuse, so the committee sent them to Los Angeles. Could have been sent to either Pittsburgh or Jacksonville for pod site. Sent to Jacksonville (presumably to save Pittsburgh for Maryland). Jacksonville pod now full.

14. Maryland – Could have been sent to either Syracuse or Cleveland. Sent to Cleveland and closest remaining pod site (Columbus-pod now full). Not only were the Terps shafted by being sent to Kentucky’s region instead of Villanova’s, the committee’s decision to send Notre Dame to the Pittsburgh pod backfires here too. If they sent Notre Dame to Columbus like they should have, Maryland would be in Pittsburgh and both teams would be closer to home. Puzzling.

15. Louisville – Because this is the 5th ACC team in the top 16, there was no restriction on which region they could be sent to due to conference affiliation. Only remaining regions are Syracuse and Houston. Fellow ACC member Duke is the 1 seed in Houston, and placing Louisville there wouldn’t break any rules as they only met once this season, but committee opted to avoid a potential rematch and sent them to Syracuse. Could be sent to either Seattle or Portland. Sent to Seattle(pod now full)

16. Georgetown – Sent to last remaining region (Syracuse) and last remaining pod site (Portland)

Next: Seed List 17-32