March Madness: A look at the tournament field

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Greg Gumbel of CBS Sports went on air to reveal the NCAA Tournament’s field of 68 teams Sunday evening, but the pairings did not come without controversy. 

Luckily for Pitt fans, the Panthers (25-9, 11-7 ACC) were awarded the seed that most self-proclaimed bracketologists projected, and they could play their first four games on the east coast.

Their bracket, the South region, features the field’s No. 1 overall seed and No. 1-ranked Florida Gators. The ninth-seeded Panthers’ first-round game will be played against No. 8 seed Colorado (23-11, 10-8 Pac-12)  on Thursday.

With a first-round win against the Buffaloes, Pitt will likely face Florida, who plays the winner of the Albany-Mount St. Mary’s play-in game.

The Gators edged out Kentucky on a last-second defensive stand to win the SEC Tournament on Sunday. 

Also in the south region are No. 2 seed Kansas, No. 3 seed Syracuse and No. 4 seed UCLA.

In the West region, Pac-12 champion Arizona was awarded the No. 1 seed, with Wisconsin, Creighton and San Diego State trailing.

Oklahoma State was given the West’s No. 9 seed, despite going 8-10 in Big 12 play, causing some analysts to wonder why and how a team that finished eighth in its conference not only received an invitation to the tournament, but received such a high seed. 

With a second-round victory over Gonzaga, the Cowboys could advance to face Arizona, which faces Big Sky champion Weber State.

In the Midwest region, No. 1-seed Wichita State leads the way with Michigan, Duke and Louisville following.

Some expressed concern that No. 4 seed Louisville, co-champion of the American Athletic Conference and winner of the AAC Tournament, was snubbed, while No. 2 seed Michigan (25-8, 15-3 Big Ten), who lost 69-55 to Michigan State in the Big 10 Tournament Championship, got a better position than it deserved.

In fact, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said on Sunday morning that he thought his team had the final No. 1 seed locked up.

But the slot in the East region was instead given to ACC regular-season champion and tournament champion Virginia. 

The Cavaliers play Coastal Carolina in a second-round game in Raleigh, N.C.

Villanova, which was upset in the second round of the Big East Tournament by Seton Hall, slipped to the East’s No. 2 seed, followed by Iowa State, Michigan State and Cincinnati.

Analysts have also expressed confusion over Cincinnati’s No. 5 seed, since the Bearcats (27-6, 15-3 AAC) tied with Louisville to win the AAC.

Other teams that received bids to the tournament include seven teams from the Big 12, six from the ACC, Atlantic-10, Big 10 and Pac-12, four teams from the AAC and Big East, three teams from the SEC and two from the Mountain West Conference and West Coast Conference.

Two teams in particular that were projected to make the field but did not are Southern Methodist and Green Bay-Phoenix.

According to NCAA Tournament selection committee Chairman Ron Wellman, Southern Methodist (23-9, 12-6 AAC) was omitted from the Big Dance because of its weak nonconference schedule.

Green Bay (24-6, 14-2 Horizon) beat Virginia in December and lost to Wisconsin by three points, but the squad was a win shy of making the tournament.

The committee has received heavy criticism for both decisions.

Such an unpredictable field will make it even harder for gamblers around the world to fill out a perfect bracket.