Sixty-eight teams are set to begin their final pursuit towards a national championship, with a season of chaos promising a wide-open field as the 2022 men's tournament tips-off Tuesday night.
The trick, and ultimately the disappointment, of selecting a 68-team field for the NCAA tournament is that there will always be deserving teams left out.
The Texas A&M Aggies (23-12) are feeling that sting at the moment.
A remarkable SEC tournament that saw the Aggies reach the final was not enough to lift them into the Big Dance. Despite going 8-2 to close the season, an eight-game losing streak just prior likely sealed their fate. (Instead, the Aggies will be a top-seed in the NIT, where they face Alcorn State on 3/15).
Grumblings about seedings can also be heard, especially for a Boise State Broncos (27-7) squad. Mountain West regular season and tournament champions, the Broncos went 24-3 since beginning the season 3-4 and were rewarded with an 8-seed.
Not only that but the Broncos have a tough first-round contest with the Memphis Tigers (21-10), who closed the season with a 12-2 stretch. Plus, the two teams met in a very close quarterfinal game in last season's NIT.
Bracketology, of course, is not a perfect system. And the same gripes happen every season and there will perhaps never be one perfect metric to settle debates. That's part of the fun and heartbreak this time of year for college basketball. And while it certainly wasn't perfect, there seems to be more disparity among conferences this season, at least as far as entrants go.
Boise State was one of four teams from the Mountain West to make the field as conference representation was spread out. The Big Ten did send nine teams to the Big Dance but other power conferences, like the PAC-12 and ACC, were underrepresented compared to normal.
Plus, there is really no clear-cut favorite this year. Most of the top-three seeds in each region have a legitimate shot to win it all, in addition to those surprise teams that make a run along the way.
With no team standing head-and-shoulders above the rest, the next three weeks promise to be a lot of fun.
NCAA men's tourney: The top seeds
A season of chaos led to a lot of indecision heading into the final week regarding which teams would be on the 1-seed line. The top spot was a game of hot potato throughout much of the 2021-22 season, with teams bouncing in and out of the spot until the final weeks.
In the end, only one team (defending champion Baylor Bears) secured a top spot without winning their conference tourney. The Bears (26-6) lost in the Big 12 quarterfinals to the Oklahoma Sooners.
Baylor began the season hot, winning their first 15 games but an 11-6 finish after that isn't exactly comforting for a team looking to be the first program to win back-to-back titles since the Florida Gators won in 2006 and 2007.
The Arizona Wildcats (PAC-12), Kansas Jayhawks (BIG 12), and Gonzaga Bulldogs (WCC) all won their conference tourneys in route to earning top-seeds.
Number one overall goes to the Bulldogs (26-3). Last season's runner-up put together another outstanding season, including non-conference victories over Texas, Texas Tech, and UCLA. And all three losses occurred against teams in the NCAA tournament, losing non-conference contests to Duke and Alabama while falling to Saint Mary's in conference play.
Gonzaga is again formidable but, in all honesty, last year seemed like their best chance to win it all. Of course, this season has shown to be anything than normal and when the Bulldogs get going, they really get going. Gonzaga averages 87.8 pts per game and are led by Drew Timme, who returned to school for a chance to win that championship.
Timme averages 17.5 points, one of five Bulldogs to average in double figures.
Quietly, the Wildcats (31-3) put together one of their best seasons in recent years. The PAC-12 was down somewhat this season, getting only three teams in the NCAA tournament, but that hasn't stopped Arizona from excelling.
Arizona began the season 11-0 until losing to Tennessee by four. And while they played well in conference, each of their losses (UCLA, Colorado) were on the road by 16 points. The Wildcats are one team that can run up and down the court to rival Gonzaga, averaging 84.6 points per game. Arizona shares the ball (19.9 assists) and is also a top-15 rebounding team.
They are equally adept at shooting the three, with Bennedict Mathurin and Kerr Kriisa combing to make 152 three-pointers this season. And on the inside, Azuolas Tubelis and Christian Koloko each shoot better than 55 percent.
Rounding out the top line is Kansas (28-6). The Jayhawks had a fairly steady season and have a star in Ochai Agbaji. Agbaji averages 19.7 points per game and knocks down 40.5 percent of his three-point attempts.
The First Four
Tuesday night (3/15) action begins with two 16-seeds squaring off, both of which happen to play in the state of Texas.
Southland Conference champions Texas A&M-CC Islanders (23-11) responded nicely after a five-game losing streak towards the latter part of the season. They went onto win seven of their last eight games and have a 10-point loss to Notre Dame among their losses this season.
Texas Southern (18-12) did the same in going 7-1 down the stretch and we will see two contrasting styles in this contest. The Islanders average 76.9 points and 38.4 rebounds per game while the Tigers score a shade over 69 points per game (though they averaged 74.3 in the last eight games). The Tigers also grab 39.5 rebounds per game, good for 36th best in the nation.
Isaac Mushila leads the Islanders in scoring (13.5) and rebounds (9.5) while Texas Southern has ten players averaging between 4.6 and 9.9 points per game.
The late game on Tuesday night has 12-seeds Wyoming and Indiana facing off. Both teams had their struggles down the stretch, with the Cowboys (25-8) going 3-4 while the Hoosiers (20-13) went 4-8, including a five-game losing streak.
Three of those four losses for Wyoming came against teams in the NCAA tourney and the Hoosiers used a run to the Big Ten Conference quarterfinals to earn this spot. This First Four game will feature two talented big men going against one another. Graham Ike leads the Cowboys in points (19.6) and rebounds (9.6) while Trayce Jackson-Davis does the same for Indiana with 18.1 and 8.2, respectively.
The difference maker could be Wyoming's Hunter Maldonado, who averages 18.4 points. Both Ike and Maldonado can shoot the three-ball but both shoot less than 30 percent.
Wednesday night has two more 16-seeds with the Wright State Raiders (21-13) playing the Bryant Bulldogs (22-9) in the South region. Each team features two high-level scorers and the game should be an up-tempo affair.
Wright State has Tanner Holden, who drops 19.8 points per game. Grant Basile provides the Raiders with 18.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.
On the Bulldog side, the nation's leading scorer Peter Kiss (25.1) resides and has a tendency to get under opponent's skin. He is joined by Charles Pride, who scores (18.6 ppg) and rebounds (8.6).
Closing out the First Four is a game between 11-seeds in the West region. Both teams have been inconsistent but also whoever wins has the ability to play Cinderella moving forward.
Rutgers (18-13) looked poised to finish strong after picking up four straight wins over ranked opponents in February. The Scarlett Knights, however, lost three straight and were firmly entrenched on the bubble until Selection Sunday.
Their opponent Notre Dame (22-10) went 3-3 to close the season. They had a solid season up until that point and even own a win over Kentucky.
Look for two matchups to decide this game. On the perimeter, Ron Harper Jr. (15.6 ppg) for Rutgers matches up against Notre Dame's Blake Wesley (14.6 ppg). And on the inside, Clifford Omoruyi (11.8 points, 7.9 rebounds) will go to work against Notre Dame's Paul Atkinson Jr. (12.3 points, 7 rebounds)
All First Four games can be seen on TruTv
Teams to keep an eye on
The Virginia Tech Hokies (23-12) might be one of the more feared 11th-seeds in recent years. That has a lot more to do with their recent run, and ACC tourney title, than it does with their complete resume.
The ACC was not as strong this season, as compared to recent years. Only five teams from the conference will be going to the Big Dance, down from seven in the 2021 NCAA men's tournament.
After a loss to the Miami Hurricanes on January 26, the Hokies dropped to 10-10 overall and 2-7 in conference. Things looked bleak but all Virginia Tech did after that was go 13-2 to close the season and hoist their first ACC tournament title after defeating Duke.
The Hokies will open play on Friday (3/18) against 6-seed in the East region, the Texas Longhorns. Virginia Tech has a tough road ahead of them but they are playing outstanding basketball and a Sweet 16 appearance is a very good possibility.
Another team playing well is the Tennessee Volunteers (26-7). Tennessee won the SEC tournament, defeating Texas A&M by 15. That victory gave the Volunteers seven straight victories and they have won 12 of their last 13, defeating Kentucky (twice), Auburn, and Arkansas in that span.
The Volunteers love to share the ball, averaging 16.1 assists per game, and are led by two outstanding guards. Kennedy Chandler (13.8 ppg) and Santiago Vescovi (13.4 ppg) lead the team in scoring and combine to average 7.7 assists and 3.7 steals per game.
Tennessee is the third-seed out of the South region and open with Longwood on 3/17.
The San Diego State Aztecs (23-8) also open on 3/17, with the eighth-seed Aztecs taking on the no. 9 Creighton Blue Jays in the Midwest region. San Diego State, too, has been playing well in the back half of the season, winning 11 of their last 13 games.
Part of the early conference season was paused due to COVID-19 delays but once the Aztecs got into rhythm they played well. They lost by one to Boise State in the conference title game and, in all three conference tournament games, held opponents to under 60 points.
All told, the Aztecs allow only 57.7 points per game, and they have a star on offense. Matt Bradley averages 17 points per game and is shooting 41.6 percent from three-point range.
It's the defense that could propel the Aztecs to multiple wins in this tourney. Their offense can go into silent mode from time-to-time but their defense can be suffocating enough to potentially upset Kansas in a possible second-round match-up.
One team that wasn't consistent down the stretch but has the talent and depth to make a deep tourney run is the Texas Tech Red Raiders (25-9). Texas Tech carries with them a 3-seed in the West region and open play 3/18 against Montana State.
The Red Raiders lost in the Big 12 title game to Kansas but did pick up one win over the Jayhawks earlier in the season. A 3-3 record down the stretch is a little disheartening but also a bit deceiving, as those three losses were a combined 13 points.
Six guys average 8.4 points or more per game and ten players average at least ten minutes per contest. Bryson Williams leads Texas Tech the team with 13.7 points and shoots 40.5 percent from three-point range.
Interesting opening-round games
There are a lot of intriguing match-ups on Thursday and Friday. Here are a few games on my radar that I'm looking forward to.
- West region: (8) Boise State vs (9) Memphis. 3/17 @ 1:45 p.m. (ET) on TNT
- East region: (7) Murray State (30-2) vs (10) USF Dons (24-9). 3/17 @ 9:40 p.m. (ET) on CBS
- South region: (5) Houston (29-5) vs (12) UAB (27-7). 3/18 @ 9:20 p.m. (ET) on TNT
- Midwest region: (6) LSU (22-11) vs (11) Iowa State (20-12). 3/18 @ 7:20 p.m. (ET) on TBS
Follow along with the action, updates, results and more via this blog as we move towards crowning a champion the first part of April.
photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
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