Bracket Breakdowns
East Region: Villanova, the reigning champions, earned the top overall seed. Sitting at the bottom of the region is the Duke Blue Devils, fresh off four wins in four nights to claim the ACC Tournament championship on Saturday night. Several other ranked opponents are in this region, as well as two potential Cinderellas. Rob Dauster broke down the East Region here.
Midwest Region: Kansas likely would have been the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament had it not been for an upset loss in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals. However, the Jayhawks find themselves in a region potentially filled with fun matchups. The Midwest also features a dangerous double-digit seeds in No. 11 Rhode Island, fresh off an Atlantic 10 Tournament title win which kept the Rams from the First Four. Scott Phillips breaks down how the Midwest will be won here.
RELATED: Printable NCAA Tournament Bracket
South Region: Despite not winning its conference tournament, North Carolina is the top team in the South. Its a region of bluebloods as the Tar Heels, Kentucky and UCLA make up the top three seeds. A potential second round matchup everyone would like to see: No. 10 Wichita State vs. No. 2 Kentucky, a rematch of the epic clash from 2014 Rob Dauster fills you in on the rest of this bracket here.
West Region: Gonzaga, which flirted with perfection up until February, is the final No. 1 overall seed. If everything goes to plan, Gonzaga will be in line for a rematch with No. 2 seed Arizona. The Zags beat the Wildcats in a neutral floor meeting earlier this season.
This region also features Northwestern, which will be playing in its first-ever NCAA Tournament. Scott Phillips has the rest of the insight on this region.
Bubble Teams
All season long, Rob Dauster has been tracking bubble teams with his Bubble Banter series. While Rhode Island won its wayin, USC earned one of the final at-large bids along with Kansas State and Wake Forest. This sent Syracuse, Cal and Illinois State to the NIT. But did the committee make the right call on bubble teams? Rob answers that question here.
The No. 1 seeds
Duke entered the season as the overwhelming favorite to cut down the nets in April. The Blue Devils’ season is well documented, but this past week in Brooklyn, they started to look like the team we thought they could be. With the most RPI top-50 wins and an ACC Tournament title, did Duke belong on the top line? Scott Phillips tells you whether or not the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee got it right with the No. 1 seeds.
What teams can win it all?
Like last year, this field has an abundance of Final Four caliber teams. Will this be nothing more than a bunch of No. 1 seeds vs. No. 2 seeds in the Elite 8? Or is there are darkhorse you need to know about before filling out that bracket? Rob Dauster has all the answers for you here.
Which conference reigned supreme?
Even with Syracuse as one of the notable snubs, the Atlantic Coast Conference led all other leagues with nine bids. Check here for the conference breakdown.
Official Seed List
In 2016, Villanova was the No. 7 overall seed entering the NCAA Tournament. This time around the selection committee saw the Wildcats as the top team in the field .The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee official seed list -- Nos. 1-68 -- is all right here.