Auburn, Alabama, Florida part of SEC’s haul

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Selection committee puts out early top-16 NCAA tourney seeds

Alabama forward Jarin Stevenson (15) reacts as he scores against Texas in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday. ERIC GAY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Image

By Aaron Beard

The Associated Press

Auburn has spent the past month ranked as the nation’s best team in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll. The committee that will choose the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament is just as high on the Tigers.

And the Southeastern Conference, for that matter.

Auburn was the top overall seed in the committee’s preliminary rankings unveiled Saturday, while Alabama and Florida joined as No. 1 regional seeds. They were the headliners for a league that had five of the top six seeds and six spots in the 16-seed unveiling with a month left until Selection Sunday.

Duke was the only interruption to the SEC’s running name call at the top, claiming the No. 3 overall seed.

The Tigers have held the top spot in the AP Top 25 for five straight weeks, and in advanced metrics they rank No. 1 in KenPom; No. 2 for Bart Torvik; and No. 3 for Evan Miyakawa. They also entered the weekend with a 13-2 record in Quadrant 1 games that headline a postseason resume; no other team had even 10 of those wins.

“Of all the voters in our group that were available to vote, they were the unanimous choice,” committee chairman Bubba Cunningham said on the CBS unveiling broadcast. “So they are clearly our No. 1.”

That impact trickled further down the bracket, too. Cunningham said five teams were seriously considered for top seeds. Ultimately Tennessee lost out, with Cunningham pointing to Florida’s win over Auburn as the edge for the Gators.

Fittingly, the unveiling came hours before the Tigers visit their in-state rival Crimson Tide in an AP 1-vs-2 throwdown, the first of two regular-season meetings that could alter landing spots by March.

The seeds >> SEC member Texas A&M followed Tennessee as the No. 6 overall seed, followed by Purdue and Houston as regional 2-seeds. Iowa State was next at No. 9 overall, followed by Kentucky, Wisconsin and Arizona as regional 3-seeds.

Texas Tech, Michigan, preseason AP No. 1 Kansas and St. John’s were 4-seeds to round out the top 16.

The regional paths >> Auburn is positioned to claim a close-to-home regional route by topping the South bracket in Atlanta, grouped with Texas A&M, Wisconsin and Texas Tech.

Alabama would head to the Midwest running through Indianapolis, followed by Purdue — which would have a home-state advantage in that scenario — Iowa State and Kansas.

Duke led the East, followed by Tennessee, Arizona and St. John’s — which would put Rick Pitino’s surging Red Storm practically in its backyard in Newark, New Jersey.

Meanwhile, with Arizona as the only top-16 seed west of Texas, Florida headlined the West bracket running through San Francisco. The Gators were joined by Houston, Kentucky and Michigan.

Of those groups, Cunningham said the committee made one adjustment to balance bracket strength by swapping the destinations for Michigan and St. John’s.

Regional winners go to San Antonio for the Final Four, with the national semifinals set for April 5 and the title game two nights later in the Alamodome.

Wait list >> Cunningham said AP No. 11 Michigan State and No. 18 Marquette are “right there” for consideration of the teams just outside the top 16.

Rankings variations >> Of the top-16 seeds, the AP Top 25, KenPom, Torvik, Miyakawa and NCAA’s NET rankings agreed on 11.