For the second year now, the NCAA Selection Committee has revealed the current Top 16 teams at this point for the NCAA Tournament, and the Buckeyes came in at No. 4 seed in the East Region. The rest of the top four seeds in the East Region are No. 1 Villanova, No. 2 Duke, and No. 3 Texas Tech.
The reason for the reveal is to generate interest for the tournament next month, but also to give the public an idea of where the committee is on current teams. Last year, the committee unveiled their first Top 16, and they successfully projected 15 of the final Top 16 seeds.
“I don’t think that will happen this year,’’ Creighton athletic director Bruce Rasmussen, the chair of the committee, told NCAA.com last week. “There is a consensus with the top three but after that it gets a bit messier.”
Of course, that consensus should now be up in the air with the losses by No. 2 Virginia and No. 3 Purdue on Saturday. Right?
Not so much.
Here is how the Top 16 shook out on Sunday.
1. Virginia – #1 seed in the South (Atlanta)
2. Villanova – #1 seed in the East (Boston)
3. Xavier – #1 seed in the Midwest (Omaha)
4. Purdue – #1 West in the West (Los Angeles)
5. Auburn – #2 in the Midwest
6. Kansas – #2 in the West
7. Duke – #2 in the East
8. Cincinnati – #2 in the South (Cincinnati and Kansas were swapped for competitive balance reasons.)
9. Clemson – #3 in the Midwest
10. Texas Tech – #3 in the East
11. Michigan State – #3 in South
12. North Carolina in #3 in West
13. Tennessee – #4 in the South
14. Ohio State – #4 in the East
15. Arizona – #4 in the West
16. Oklahoma – #4 in the Midwest
The seeds will be known for real on March 11, which is Selection Sunday. The First Four will then tip off March 13-14 before the Tournament gets going full bore on March 15.