Bracketology: Michigan pushes into 1-seed talk
The eight-team battle for a No. 1 seed continues to heat up heading into the last week of the regular season and with less than two weeks until Selection Sunday.
The top two No. 1 seeds, the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Virginia and Duke, are relatively safe, though the Blue Devils’ Zion Williamson injury situation could sway the selection committee.
Where the No. 1 line gets tricky starts with Gonzaga, the third No. 1 seed that currently leads the rankings in the NET — the NCAA’s new metric replacing the RPI this year — and Tennessee. The Volunteers fell back to a No. 2 seed last week but bumped back to the fourth No. 1 thanks to a road win over Mississippi and a convincing home victory over Kentucky last week.
For both teams, winning out the rest of the way would secure the top seed. However, that’s an easier task for the ’Zags given lowly West Coast opponents. The Vols will likely be challenged in the Southeastern Conference tournament with either UK or LSU, teams they lost to last month.
North Carolina and Kentucky sit at the No. 2 line. The Tar Heels are about as close to a top seed as a No. 2 can get, having won 12 of their last 13 games. The Wildcats were at the No. 1 line last week but fell back as a result of Saturday’s loss to Tennessee, which came without one of their best players in Reid Travis. Keep in mind, UK beat UNC in a headto-head matchup on a neutral court. Ultimately, the Tar Heels’ clash with Duke on Saturday could determine their topseed fate.
Michigan has entered the No. 1 seed conversation. The Wolverines are a little bit further back than UNC or UK, but a solid Quadrant 1 (top-30 home, top-75 away) road victory over Maryland on Sunday has helped. Michigan’s resume features nine Q1 victories to go with no bad losses.
Saturday’s Big Ten regular-season finale matchup against rival and fellow No. 2 seed Michigan State, a team it lost to Feb. 24, has the stock to catapult the Wolverines right into the thick of the No. 1 seed battle before power conference tournaments tip off.
Notes: Mostly all statistical data are used from WarrenNolan.com . ... Mast has been projecting the field since 2005 on his website, Bracket W.A.G. In his sixth season as USA TODAY’s national bracketologist, Mast has finished as one of the top three bracketologists in the past five March Madnesses.