NCAA Bracket
Four items.
That’s all that was on the UConn Huskies To Do List this season. Feats that needed to be accomplished this season but had eluded the Huskies’ grasp even in their national championship season of a year ago.
Four items.
Sounds simple enough, but when you have to run the 20-game gauntlet that is the BIG EAST regular season, and then follow that up with what is arguably the finest/toughest postseason tournament there is in college basketball in the BIG EAST Tournament, heck. even checking off one item on your To Do List is quite the accomplishment.
Yet somehow the UConn Huskies and their “No Prisoners” approach checked three of those boxes before Selection Sunday came along. First to be checked off the Huskies list was winning the BIG EAST regular-season title. They accomplished that feat two weeks ago when they wound up winning the conference title by four games and clinched it with a win over Seton Hall on March 3.
Next up was the BIG EAST Tournament title, one that eluded the Huskies last year when they dropped a two-point decision to Marquette in the tournament semifinals. This time around there would be no last-second heartbreak for UConn as they rolled past Xavier, outlasted St. John’s and wore out Marquette to win their first BIG EAST Tournament title since 2011.
Two down, two to go.
The third hurdle came Sunday. UConn was looking to be the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament as they not only posted 31 wins this season but came into Selection Sunday as the defending champions. And when Houston, Purdue, Tennessee and North Carolina all bowed out of their respective tournaments without a title, well, the path was just laid out for the Huskies to grab that overall No. 1 seed. And when the CBS Selection Show aired at 6 p.m. ET, it took about 15 seconds for the Huskies to realize they had checked that third box. Overall No. 1 in all the basketball land.
It should not have come as a surprise to UConn coach Dan Hurley,
“There’s just not a lot of holes in the way we play,” Hurley said after knocking off Marquette to capture the BIG EAST Tournament title Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. “I think you’ve got to look at from the selection committee, what we did in the non-conference, what we did in the conference regular season and what we did in the conference tournament, I think is the best that anyone’s done through those three parts of the season. We’ve been the best team in college basketball. Obviously, March Madness next week, who knows what goes on there. But we’ve clearly been the best program in the country this year.”
What was the BIG EAST’s problem now becomes Stetson’s problem as the No. 16 Hatters out of DeLand, Florida, will be the Huskies’ next victim, I mean, opponent. The Hatters, the alma mater of former Mets and current Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob DeGrom, will be making their first appearance in the Big Dance in the 53-year history of the school. The Hatters (22-12) won the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament with a win over Austin Peay. The two teams will meet in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Friday at 2:45 p.m. ET on TNT. The winner (really? Are we really going there?) will face either eighth-seeded Florida Atlantic (25-8) or No. 9 Northwestern (21-11) in a second-round game on Sunday,
In all the BIG EAST landed three top 10 seeds. With UConn being the overall No. 1 seed, Marquette checked in at No. 7 overall with Creighton landing in the No. 10 spot.
Marquette (25-9), which was coming off a BIG EAST Tournament championship game loss to UConn Saturday night, is a No.2 seed and the Golden Eagles will take on No. 15 Western Kentucky (22-11) Friday at 2 p.m. in Indianapolis.
Obviously the biggest question surrounding Marquette is the availability of Tyler Kolek, one of the premier point guards in the country and who missed the final three regular-season games and the entire BIG EAST Tournament while nursing an oblique injury. The good news is Kolek is expected back for the tournament while the Hilltoppers will be making their first trip back to the NCAA Tournament since 2013 under first-year coach Steve Lusk.
The winner will take on either No. 7 Florida (24-11) or the winner of the Boise State/Colorado play-in game next Sunday.
The third of the BIG EAST entrants in the NCAA tournament will be Greg McDermott’s Creighton Bluejays. Creighton (23-9) finished the year ranked eighth in the nation but was surprised in the BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinals by Providence. Still. Ryan Kalkbrenner, Baylor Scheierman, Trey Alexander and company earned a No. 3 seed and will take on the 14-seeded Akron Zips (24-10) in a first-round game Thursday at 1:30 p.m. on TNT in PIttsburgh.
If Creighton were to advance the Bluejays would face either South Carolina (26-7) or Oregon (23-11) next Saturday.
“To be able to secure a three-seed, tied for the best in the history of our school, it’s a real credit to these guys’ work ethic,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said as he sat with Ryan Kalkbrenner and Trey Alexander . “Akron is a really good team. I’ve known (head coach) John Groce for a long time. He’s been a terrific coach everywhere that he’s been and I’m not surprised that he’s done as well as he’s done at Akron. It’s interesting that I’m a Steelers fan and I’ve never been to Pittsburgh so I’m kind of looking forward to that.”
The Bluejays reached the Elite Eight last season and were thisclose to a berth in the Final Four.
“This year we have high aspirations to make it far in the tournament,” said Alexander. “If you don’t get a little excited about this as a basketball player I don’t think you play basketball at a high enough level. I’m excited and I know the guys are excited so we’re just ready to get going.”