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The bracket is set, the wagers are being placed and in about 48 hours, we will tip off the 2023 men’s NCAA Tournament.
Gosh, we missed March Madness.
Now before you fill out your bracket and then tear it up by midday Thursday, we wanted to break down who was treated well and who wasn’t. Below you will find the list of the biggest winners and losers throughout the 68-team bracket. It’s possible you will strongly disagree — maybe you feel your team was slighted, or you’re celebrating an extremely favorable draw.
Part of the fun of this time of year is arguing over the smallest details and then realizing it doesn’t matter anyway, because a double-digit seed you’ve never heard of is about to pull off the impossible (we still see you, UMBC!)
Men’s rankings have been all over the place this year, and while Alabama certainly seems to be peaking at the right time, there’s no clear favorite. That makes all of us winners. The best way to enjoy this tournament each year is to lean into the madness. We encourage everyone to get bold with their bracket picks, trust your gut and definitely call in sick on Thursday and Friday. Who can be expected to work during all this chaos?
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Winners
Alabama
Besides the fact that the Tide got the overall No. 1 seed after thrashing Texas A&M in the SEC tournament final, they got a reasonably favorite draw. Already both Charleston (a 12-seed) and Furman (a 13) are upset favorites, which very well means Alabama could play a double-digit seed in the Sweet 16. A lot of teams would prefer that route.
REGIONAL BREAKDOWNS: East | South | Midwest | West
LEFT OUT:The five biggest tournament snubs led by Oklahoma State
HIGHS AND LOWS:Winners and losers from the NCAA Tournament field
Utah State
The Aggies have been a much-discussed bubble team over the last 10 days, and for long stretches Saturday night in the Mountain West tournament championship, when they led top-seeded San Diego State. But SDSU figured out a way to win despite not making a field goal the final 3:03 of the game.
Some wondered if that loss would knock the Aggies off the bubble and out of the tournament entirely but instead, they’re sitting relatively pretty as a 10-seed. The Aggies are ranked 33 spots higher on Kenpom — many people’s Bible this time of year — than Missouri, and will likely be favored to win.
Houston
The Cougars might not have earned the top overall seed after getting smoked by Memphis in the AAC final early Sunday, but clearly they didn’t pay much of a price. (Don’t be deceived by the 75-65 final score — Memphis was running all over them for most the game.) Houston still got a 1-seed, will travel two hours by plane to Kansas City and will be playing for a shot at competing for a national title in its hometown. Talk about a win-win.
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The Pac-12
Lots of chatter the last few weeks focused on if the Pac-12 would be doomed to just two teams dancing, with UCLA and Arizona the only locks. But both Arizona State and USC played their way off the bubble and into the tournament, and while neither of their seeds are great (ASU is an 11 in a play-in game and USC a 10), that’s a win for the conference in a down year. The Pac-12 is the Power Six conference with the fewest teams in — the Big Ten and SEC both have eight — but given how grim things looked not that long ago, it’s a big step forward.
Gonzaga
Yes, it’s been a “down” year for the Zags considering their previous accomplishments. But now they go into the postseason as a 3-seed, with considerably less pressure on them than past tournaments. A potential UCLA-Gonzaga regional semifinal, a rematch of one of the NCAA Tournament’s most iconic games of all time, has a lot of fans drooling. Additionally, the Zags have a veteran-laden team and won’t get rattled easily. Maybe they’ve got another Final Four run in them in a year no one would have predicted it.
Losers
Texas A&M
The selection committee knows that Texas A&M finished second in the regular season in the SEC, right? And then, before Sunday’s SEC tournament final 83-63 loss to Alabama, the Aggies had won 10 of of their last 11 games? What are we missing here? For a solid team with a 26 NET ranking — remember NET is supposed to be THE thing that matters — the Aggies really got the short end of the stick.
Northwestern
The Wildcats remain one of the best feel-good stories in college hoops and are making their second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. A 7-seed isn’t bad by any means, especially considering the Big Ten is not that great top to bottom, but Boise State is a seasoned team that played in last year’s tournament and will be eager to pull an upset. Don’t be surprised if Northwestern’s stay is a short one.
Pittsburgh
Talk about a rough year in the ACC. Picked to finish 14th (out of 15 teams), the Panthers instead cracked the Top 25 just before March and wound up with the fifth seed in the ACC conference tournament. Are they a national title contender? Certainly not. But sticking them in as an 11-seed and putting them in a play-in game really seems like a slap in the face.
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