Alabama has the edge on Houston for the No. 1 overall seed in the first glimpse at the potential top 16 seeds for the NCAA Tournament.
The committee that will select the field of 68 revealed its preliminary list of top teams Saturday, with the Crimson Tide taking the top spot over the Cougars due to a head-to-head road win in December — which committee chairman Chris Reynolds said made the difference.
Purdue and reigning national champion Kansas were the other No. 1 seeds.
If the order holds, it would mark the first No. 1 regional seed for Nate Oats’ Crimson Tide in program history. Alabama climbed to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll earlier this week for the first time since 2003, though the Tide lost to No. 10 Tennessee on Wednesday in its first game with that ranking.
Texas, Arizona, Baylor and UCLA were the No. 2 seeds, followed by Tennessee, Virginia, Iowa State and Kansas State as 3-seeds. Indiana, Marquette, Gonzaga and Xavier rounded out the list as No. 4 seeds.
Reynolds said Creighton, Miami, Saint Mary's and Connecticut were the top teams to miss the cut.
Selection Sunday is March 12, with First Four games beginning two days later. The Final Four will be held in Houston, with the semifinals set for April 1 and the championship game two days later.
___
Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap
___
AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
