The March Madness Tournament that we lost in 2020 will be back in 2021 (thank god!), but will look much differently than like any other NCAA Tournament before.
Every single game will be played in the state of Indiana at a few different sites, but we know the Final Four and National Championship games (April 3 & 5) will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the fixed 2015 National Championship game).
This is my first edition of where I think teams will be seeded if the tournament started today. Of course, there’s still plenty of regular season games and conference tournament games where teams can improve their resume and move up or move down.
Disclaimer: These aren’t my final predictions of where I think teams will finish in terms of seeding. These are my seeds if the tournament started today, February 24.
In my seeding, it goes in order from top to bottom in terms of who I think the No. 1 team is on that seed line and who the No. 4 team is on that seed line.
Remember, there are four play-in games. There’s two play-in games involving four 12-seeds, and two play-in games involving four 16-seeds.
Here’s where I have everyone seeded entering play today (February 24):
1. Gonzaga
1. Baylor
1. Michigan
1. Ohio State
2. Iowa
2. Villanova
2. Alabama
2. West Virginia
3. Illinois
3. Florida State
3. Virginia
3. Houston
4. Texas
4. USC
4. Creighton
4. Purdue
5. Clemson
5. Oklahoma
5. Kansas
5. Wisconsin
6. BYU
6. Tennessee
6. Arkansas
6. Florida
7. Oklahoma State
7. San Diego State
7. Colorado
7. Missouri
8. Illinois-Chicago
8. Maryland
8. Texas Tech
8. UCLA
9. North Carolina
9. Oregon
9. Virginia Tech
9. St. Bonaventure
10. UCONN
10. Drake
10. Georgia Tech
10. VCU
11. Richmond
11. LSU
11. Louisville
11. Boise State
12. Western Kentucky
12. UC Santa Barbara
12. Seton Hall
12. Colorado State
12. Rutgers
12. Stanford
13. Belmont
13. Colgate
13. Toledo
13. Wright State
14. Abilene Christian
14. Winthrop
14. Furman
14. Liberty
15. South Dakota State
15. Eastern Washington
15. Grand Canyon
15. James Madison
16. University of Maryland Baltimore County
16. Texas State
16. Bryant
16. Prairie View A&M
16. Siena
16. Morgan State
First Eight Out (in order):
- Indiana
- Xavier
- Wichita State
- Saint Louis
- Duke
- Michigan State
- Southern Methodist
- Utah State
Comment and let me know your projections!