Busting Brackets
Fansided

NCAA Basketball: Top 16 reveal, Tennessee’s hidden flaw, and more weekly takeaways

By Brian Rauf

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers high fives head coach Rick Barnes as he checks out of the second half of the game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers high fives head coach Rick Barnes as he checks out of the second half of the game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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PHOENIX, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 09: Brandon Clarke #15 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs handles the ball against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half of the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 09: Brandon Clarke #15 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs handles the ball against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half of the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

1) Thoughts on Top 16 Reveal

I did not see any glaring problems with the top 16 seeds released by the selection committee. Though Duke was the No. 1 overall seed due to their strength of schedule (as I thought they should be), NCAA Tournament Selection Committee chair Bernard Muir said that the Blue Devils and Tennessee were 1a and 1b, showing how close those two teams are.

I also thought it was interesting that Gonzaga was the fourth top seed. It shows how much the committee values Gonzaga’s non-conference schedule, that win over Duke, and that they’ve won 13 games in a row.

Kentucky, Michigan, and UNC are all in position to claim a No. 1 seed should any of those top teams stumble, but putting the Zags on the one-line now tells me that the Bulldogs will remain there when it matters should they win out.

The other part that I found interesting was Purdue getting the No. 9 overall seed and Wisconsin getting the final four seed. The Big Ten has been up and down this year but I think those moves show that the committee thinks very highly of that conference.

Muir further said that Villanova, Virginia Tech, Texas Tech, and LSU were also discussed by the committee as potential four seeds, so my guess is that’s the five-seed line right now.

There’s still a lot of very important basketball to be played and there will be a lot of shakeups before Selection Sunday, but the fact there wasn’t anything egregious revealed today was a good sign.

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