Bracketology 2023 projected field: UConn and Purdue land No. 1 seeds

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 8: Led by committee chairman Mark Hollis (3rd from L), the NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee meets on Wednesday afternoon, March 8, 2017 in New York City. The committee is gathered in New York to begin the five-day process of selecting and seeding the field of 68 teams for the NCAA MenÕs Basketball Tournament. The final bracket will be released on Sunday evening following the completion of conference tournaments. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) /

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Jordan Hawkins #24 of the Connecticut Huskies (Photo by Porter Binks) /

East Region (New York)

(1) UConn vs. (16) Wagner/Northwestern State
(8) Memphis vs. (9) TCU
(5) Ohio State vs. (12) Iona
(4) Duke vs. (13) Dayton
(6) Maryland vs. 11 LSU/Utah
(3) Texas vs. (14) Umass-Lowell
(7) Auburn vs. (10) Penn State
(2) Arizona vs. (15) Colgate

The Connecticut Huskies are my overall No. 1 seed in the bracket of the year. They are 14-1 entering the first week of January with a 4-1 quad 1 record, suffering their lone loss to Xavier on New Year’s Eve. It’s not just the win-and-loss record that puts the Huskies at the top of the field. All the metrics that the committee uses when evaluating teams have UConn in the top six, with only the BPI and KPI having them outside the top two.

A little further down in this region, there is one team to keep an eye on, the Dayton Flyers. In the preseason, the Flyers were one of those teams from a non-power conference that some thought could make a deep run in March. It’s been a weird year for the Flyers who began the year 3-4 and then lost guards Kobe Elvis and Malachi Smith to injuries. Since they have gone out and won seven of their next eight. Dayton has some work to do with their resume considering they have no quad 1 or 2 wins, but Smith and Elvis should return sometime this season and if Dayton gets whole, they could be an under-seeded sleeper when the bracket is revealed.

Another team that could be dangerous in this bracket, especially with their style of play is the Penn State Nittany Lions. Nearly half of their shots come from beyond the arc and they knock down over 38% of them which is 18th in the country as of Jan. 2. Five players have attempted over 40 three-pointers and only Jalen Pickett shoots below 38%. If Penn State is knocking down three-pointers they are a dangerous team because over 43% of their point production comes from the long ball. They are an efficient team offensively ranking 32nd in that category on KenPom, are 17th in effective field-goal percentage, and are the best team in the country in protecting the ball with a 12.9% turnover percentage. If the Nittany Lions get hot and the right matchups they could be dangerous.

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