South Region (Atlanta)
Lexington
1.) Houston vs. 16.) Morehead St/Norfolk St
8.) Florida vs. 9.) Providence
Providence
5.) Indiana vs. 12.) Princeton
4.) Tennessee vs. 13.) Arkansas State
Seattle
6.) Marquette vs. 11.) Boise State
3.) Arizona vs. 14.) UC-Irvine
Raleigh
7.) Michigan State vs. 10.) Missouri
2.) Duke vs. 15.) South Dakota State
Some are down on Houston relatively speaking, but the Cougars begin the year as the No. 1 seed and head to Lexington with eyes on Atlanta. Despite losing Jamal Shead, the talent is still there. We know Houston will rebound and defend if Houston can stay healthy and Milos Uzan can help fill Shead's shoes, the Cougars will once again be a force to be reckoned with.
The rest of the Cougars’ region is loaded. The top freshman in the country, Cooper Flagg, leads Duke as the No. 2 seed, and a Big 12 newcomer is the No. 3 seed. A potential Sweet 16 matchup with Tennessee or a much improved Indiana team looms before they even get a shot at the bottom of the bracket. In these projections, Houston seems to land in a region with other elite defensive teams. This time, they also have the aforementioned Tennessee and Marquette in the South.
The Indiana Hoosiers have reloaded. Even though they lost Kel’el Ware to the NBA draft, Mike Woodson returns Mackenzie MgBako, Malik Reneau, and Trey Galloway. To supplement them, he brought in six transfers, headlined by Oumar Ballo, Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle, and center Langdon Hatton. Woodson also landed top-100 forward Bryson Tucker who should also be able to crack the rotation.