NCAA Tournament field set: UNC sneaks into First Four, VCU gets BYU in first round

Duke (31-3) is the top seed in the East, Auburn (28-5), despite not making the SEC Tournament final, is the top seed overall, and North Carolina (22-13), somehow, was one of the Last Four In.

VCU (28-6), earlier in the day on Sunday, punched its ticket with a 68-63 win over George Mason in the A-10 Tournament final, and it’s good that the Rams didn’t leave their fate in the hands of the Selection Committee, because they were left as just an 11 seed in the East, where they will face six seed BYU in the first round.

The low seed for VCU, with an average metric ranking at 34.9, which suggests a nine seed, wasn’t the only miss by the committee.

Louisville (27-7) is the eight seed in the South, despite an average metric ranking at 19, while Clemson (27-6) is the five seed in the Midwest with an average metric ranking at 18.4.

The metrics suggest both Louisville and Clemson should have been fives.

I’m not sure that it’s Louisville or VCU necessarily getting screwed there.

Louisville’s opponent in the 8-9 game is Creighton (24-10), and the winner of that one likely gets Auburn in the second round.

Neither Creighton, as a nine, nor Auburn, as a one, should have to play a team that should be a five that early in the tournament.

Same goes for VCU’s first-round opponent, BYU (24-9), which itself feels underseeded as a six, but certainly shouldn’t be getting a VCU squad in the first round.

Is what it is.

UNC is a controversial pick with the TV folks because of its 1-12 record in Quad 1 games.

The Heels’ average computer ranking at 36.5 suggests either a nine or 10 seed should have been forthcoming, so, whatever.

A couple of final notes here:

• The ACC got four bids, with Carolina sneaking in, and SMU (23-10) and Wake Forest (21-11) not getting serious consideration. SMU’s average computer ranking was 52.5; Wake’s was 61.3.
• Two other Virginia teams are in the field: Liberty (28-6) is in as the AQ from Conference USA, and is the 12 seed in the East, slotted with five seed Oregon (24-9). Norfolk State (24-10), the AQ from the MEAC, is the 16 seed in the West, and gets the top seed there, Florida (30-4).