Latest 2023 Bracketology Field of 68: Alabama new No. 1 overall seed
East Region (New York)
(1) Alabama vs. (16) Grambling/SIU-Edwardsville
(8) Florida Atlantic vs. (9) Northwestern
(5) Miami vs. (12) Charleston
(4) Iowa State vs. (13) Liberty
(6 )Rutgers vs. (11) North Carolina
(3) Xavier vs. (14) Youngstown State
(7) Providence vs. (10) Wisconsin
(2) Baylor vs. (15) Vermont
The Alabama Crimson Tide find themselves as the new No. 1 overall seed and atop the East Region with a No. 2 NET ranking with a 22-3 record and an unblemished 12-0 record in the SEC. Yes, the Tide had a big hiccup in the Big 12/ SEC Challenge against Oklahoma but reeled off nine straight wins prior to that, and four since. Aside from that loss, we are looking at a team that hadn’t lost since the week before Christmas with 13 wins over the first two quads and a metric darling.
Both KPI and SOR have them as the best team in the country and the BPI is their lowest rank at 3rd. This is an elite defensive team that is first in the nation in two-point defense, and second in both three-point and effective field-goal defense all while playing the 2nd fastest pace in the country and averaging over 83 points per game.
The rest of the region has mid-major darlings Florida Atlantic and Charleston and teams like Baylor, Xavier, and Miami who can all make a strong case for being the best teams in their respective conferences. Add in an Iowa State team that may be better than last year’s version and the national runner-up in last year’s tournament, North Carolina and the East is full of potential land mines should a team get hot at the right time.
If you’re a fan of offense and not much defense, look no further than the Youngstown State Penguins from the Horizon League. The league-leading Penguins are 20-7 and put up 83 points per game but also give up 73. They have four guys averaging in double figures led by guards Dwayne Cohill (18.1) and Brandon Rush (14.4) and forwards Malek Green and Adrian Nelson throw in 13.8 and 12.9 respectively. They rank in the top 40 in effective field goal percentage, turnover percentage, three-point, two-point, free throw, block, and steal percentages.
The issue for the Penguins comes on the defensive end where they rank no higher than 116th in any of those categories. But, should their opponents get into a track meet with them, these Penguins will certainly get happy feet.