Virginia's surge gives it a No. 1 seed in our latest bracket watch
North Carolina (20-4) holds a half-game lead atop the ACC standings, but two teams right behind the Tar Heels – Virginia (20-4) and Miami (20-4) are streaking closer to the top of the bracket.
The Cavaliers replaced Iowa as my fourth No. 1 seed in this edition. Currently on a seven-game winning streak, Virginia sits at No. 2 on KenPom.com, No. 6 in the RPI and boasts a staggering nine wins over RPI top-50 teams. Those conquests include one of my other No. 1 seeds (Villanova).
Miami (19-4) moved up from a No. 3 seed to a No. 2. The Hurricanes’ recent wins over Notre Dame and Pittsburgh give them a 7-1 record against the RPI top 50, albeit with two of their four losses coming to teams below 100th.
UNC, a No. 3 seed, does not have the same caliber ACC resume as those two with only three top-50 wins and Maryland as its only top-25 conquest. But the Tar Heels could look considerably stronger soon enough; their next three games – all at home – come against quality foes Pittsburgh, Duke and Miami.
NOTES: The current first-place team in each conference is designated as the automatic berth (*). In the event of ties, I use the highest-ranked RPI team.
The Midwest winner will play the East winner in the Final Four and the West will face the South.
| Midwest Region (Chicago) | ||
| Seed | Team | Location |
| 1 | Kansas | at Des Moines |
| 16 | Bucknell*/Texas So.* | |
| 8 | Syracuse | |
| 9 | Florida | |
| 4 | USC | at Spokane |
| 13 | Temple* | |
| 5 | Dayton* | |
| 12 | Stony Brook* | |
| 6 | Utah | at Providence |
| 11 | St. Mary’s ↓ | |
| 3 | North Carolina* | |
| 14 | Stephen F. Austin* | |
| 7 | South Carolina* | at Des Moines |
| 10 | Monmouth* ↑ | |
| 2 | Iowa ↓ | |
| 15 | Belmont* |
