South Region (Houston, TX)
(1) Baylor vs. (16) Robert Morris/Monmouth
(8) Wisconsin vs. (9) Arkansas
(4) Louisville vs. (13) North Texas
(5) Creighton vs. (12) Memphis/Mississippi State
(6) Auburn vs. (11) Virginia
(3) Michigan State vs. (14) Wright State
(7) Arizona vs. (10) Rhode Island
(2) Seton Hall vs. (15) Winthrop
Dear Virginia: Welcome back to the projected field! After struggling through the opening month and a half of the season and falling out of the national spotlight, the defending national champions are starting to find their rhythm just a little bit. The Cavaliers have been inching back towards the cutline for the past few weeks and knocking off Florida State at home put them over the edge.
Virginia’s defense remains one of the most feared in the nation and the team could be very dangerous in March as a result. Improvements on the offensive end, though, will still be necessary.
Virginia currently owns the best defensive rating in the ACC but the worst offensive rating. The team is currently 14-6 (6-4 ACC) on the season and has some work to do to remain firmly in the field. With that said, though, head coach Tony Bennett’s team appears to be trending in the right direction.
Wisconsin, on the other hand, has dropped three of its last four games and has been dealing with some off-the-court headlines over the past week as well. Most notably, redshirt sophomore guard Kobe King elected to leave the program and Brad Davison was issued a one-game suspension for his foul at the end of the team’s loss to Iowa. This puts the Badgers in a bit of a tough spot with a home matchup against Michigan State followed by a road date with Minnesota up next.
Wisconsin is still firmly in my projected field as a No. 8 seed here, but it could quickly drop if it doesn’t win at least one of these next two. The Badgers are just 12-9 (5-5 B10) for the season.