The Auburn Tigers, led by SEC Player of the Year Johni Broome, were chosen as the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA tournament on Sunday, with conference champions Duke (ACC), Houston (Big 12) and Florida (SEC) also tabbed as 1-seeds by the selection committee.
The selection committee favored Auburn, which won the SEC regular-season title despite three losses in its last four games, as well as a loss to Duke in the lone meeting between the teams.
Duke (+320), however, was listed as the favorite at ESPN BET to win the men’s NCAA tournament shortly after the bracket was released, while Florida (+450) had the second-shortest odds.
The SEC, which last won a men’s basketball national championship in 2012, made NCAA tournament history with 14 representatives among the 68 teams to make the field. The highest prior mark was the Big East’s 11 bids in 2011.
In something of a surprise, both North Carolina (22-13) and Texas (19-15) slid in off the bubble, while Indiana, West Virginia and Boise State did not.
“There were,” said North Carolina AD and selection committee chairman Bubba Cunningham, “a number of challenges” in putting together a bracket that hoops fans can only hope provides as many thrills on the court as it did during the 60-minute bracket show.
Auburn (28-5) will be the top seed in the South Region and will face the Alabama State-St. Francis winner in Thursday’s first round in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Tigers faltered down the stretch, including a 70-65 defeat to Tennessee in the semifinals of the SEC tournament Saturday.
“We’ve got to get our mojo back a little bit,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said.
Auburn was joined in the South by second-seeded Michigan State, third-seeded Iowa State — who will be without starting guard Keshon Gilbert (muscle strain) — and a familiar foe in No. 4 seed Texas A&M.
Duke (31-3) is the No. 1 seed in the East Region and will play the American-Mount St. Mary’s winner in Friday’s first round in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Alabama is the 2-seed in the bracket as it chases a second straight Final Four appearance, followed by Wisconsin, Arizona and Oregon.
Despite losing Cooper Flagg to a sprained ankle during the first half of Thursday’s victory in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, the Blue Devils won the final two games without their star freshman, who was the ACC Player of the Year.
Coach Jon Scheyer on Sunday told ESPN that the goal for both Flagg and the Blue Devils is for him to play on Friday.
Houston (30-4) is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region and will go against SIU Edwardsville in Thursday’s first round in Wichita, Kansas.
The Cougars swept the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles, securing their fourth straight 30-win season to tie Gonzaga for the second-longest streak in Division I history.
The Gators (30-4) lead the way in the West Region and will go against Norfolk State in the first round Friday.
A potential second-round matchup against two-time reigning national champion UConn awaits. The eighth-seeded Huskies open against No. 9 seed Oklahoma in a West Region that concludes in San Francisco.
The region also includes second-seeded St. John’s, fresh off its first Big East tournament title since 2000, No. 3 Texas Tech, No. 4 Maryland and No. 7 Kansas.
Florida improved to 5-2 in top-10 matchups this season after beating Tennessee 86-77 — the most points scored against the Vols this season — for the Gators’ first SEC title since 2014. They have been one of the nation’s most well-rounded teams, ranking No. 1 in the KenPom offensive efficiency ratings and 10 on defense.
The SEC’s 14 teams were followed by the Big Ten with eight and Big 12 with seven. There are three potential second-round games between SEC teams — the sort of matchups the committee is asked to avoid, but that became inevitable with the conference having so many teams in the field.
The ACC, meanwhile, ended up with four teams, barely avoiding its worst showing since 2000, back when the conference was half the size it is now.
North Carolina eked in as an 11-seed — its lowest placement since seeding began in 1979, according to ESPN Research — and will play San Diego State in a First Four game. The Tar Heels were the last team in, based not on its 1-12 record against Quad 1 teams, but on its 8-0 mark against Quad 2, along with other favorable metrics, Sun Belt Conference commissioner and selection committee vice-chairman Keith Gill said.
“You take all those things in consideration, and the committee felt they should earn that last spot,” said Gill, who said he “managed all the conversations we had about North Carolina, and we had quite a few.”
Cunningham reminded viewers Sunday that rules stated that he, as chairman, could not be part of any debate about his own team.
Texas was also in — its seven wins against Quad 1 teams outweighing its overall 15 losses, which tied for the most for an at-large team to earn a bid into the NCAA tournament, according to ESPN Research.
Elsewhere in the bracket, St. John’s coach Rick Pitino leads his unprecedented sixth program into the tournament, and what a road he would have to take to get to the Final Four.
First, he will travel to Providence, the same building where the coach led the Friars to a surprise Final Four trip back in 1987, to lead St. John’s in a first-round game against Omaha. Pitino’s second game could come against Arkansas and John Calipari in what would be a titanic matchup between two of the game’s biggest coaching names.
Another coaching icon, Tom Izzo, leads Michigan State to its 27th straight tournament. The Spartans are seeded second and will face America East champion Bryant in their opener.
And Gonzaga is in for the 26th time, though extending its streak of making the second weekend to 10 years will be tough. The Bulldogs, after an “off” year in which they still won the West Coast Conference, are seeded eighth and could face Houston in the second round.
The 68-team bracket starts whittling down Tuesday with the First Four games, and the main draw kicks off Thursday and Friday, with 32 games at eight sites around the country.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
