The NCAA released its top 16 Men’s Basketball seeds today. What’s our reaction to them, especially from an ACC perspective?
The current #MarchMadness Top 16 seeds! 👏
1. Purdue
2. UConn
3. Houston
4. Arizona
5. North Carolina
6. Tennessee
7. Marquette
8. Kansas
9. Alabama
10. Baylor
11. Iowa State
12. Duke
13. Auburn
14. San Diego State
15. Illinois
16. Wisconsin pic.twitter.com/m5HssiV8kN— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) February 17, 2024
I think there is some respect shown to the ACC. North Carolina even with losses in 3 of their last 5 games sits #5 and only one spot away from the top seed line. Duke at #12 is also 5 spots higher than their NET ranking of 17. Both being ahead of the MWC’s top team San Diego State might be an indication that the MWC may not be the 6-bid league several bracketologists are calling it.
Every other conference that is rated higher than the MWC in the NET – Big12, Big10, SEC, ACC, Big East, Pac12 has a program in the top 6. All but the Big 10 have at least two teams rated higher than the MWC first team.
We can use these rankings at least through the top 16 having more value than than the NET.
Where is Clemson?
It’s difficult to say where Clemson is exactly, but let’s compare resumes to the last 3 teams on the list.
#13 Auburn – 20-6, Q1, 2-4, Q2 7-1, NET 7
#14 San Diego State – 18-6, Q1 5-6, Q2 3-0, NET 18
#15 Illinois – 19-6, Q1 4-5, Q2 4-1, NET 12
#16 Wisconson – 17-9, Q1 6-6, Q2 5-3 NET 21
Clemson – 17-8, Q1 4-3, Q2 4-3 NET 25
The Tiger’s numbers compare quite favorably with teams 13-16 and I wouldn’t be surprised if Clemson was in the 17-20 range and 5 seed. That puts Clemson in a position to work their way into a top 4 seed, though Saturday’s home loss to NC State, puts a dent in the Tigers ceiling. They should be no lower than a 6 seed in any projection.
All things considered, I think it’s a reasonable first go of the top 16.
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