NCAA March Madness Tournament Selections and Top Seeds

March Madness is upon us. It's Selection Sunday, the day the brackets for the men's and women's NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments are released. The 32-2 Duke Blue Devils, fresh off a 74-70 win in the ACC Tournament championship game on Saturday over Virginia, were named the top overall seed in the men's tournament. On the women's side, the UConn Huskies will enter the NCAA tournament undefeated for the first time since 2018 with ambitions of repeating as national champions. They were named the women's top overall seed. The men's tournament begins with the "First Four" matchups on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the full Round of 64 beginning Thursday. The women's tournament follows behind a day, with the "First Four" on Wednesday and Thursday and the full Round of 64 beginning Friday. Duke is 32-2, fresh off an ACC title, and injuries to two key players (guard Caleb Foster and center Patrick Ngongba) haven't slowed the Blue Devils down. Now, they'll have the top overall seed with ambitions of reaching the school's 19th all-time Final Four appearance. The other No. 1 seeds in the men's tournament are Arizona, who also went 32-2 and won their conference tournament title game; Michigan, who finished 31-3 after losing the Big Ten title game to Purdue on Sunday; and Florida, the defending national champions. One of the biggest questions facing the selection committee was what to do with Miami (OH): The RedHawks were 31-1, their single loss coming just a few days ago in the quarterfinals of their conference tournament. A one-loss team had never missed the tournament. But the RedHawks played one of the easiest schedules in Division I; they played no ranked teams or major conference teams — their best win was over… Akron? The statistician and analyst Ken Pomeroy had them ranked No. 93, which was historically low for an at-large bid. In the end, the committee named them a No. 11 seed and placed them in a "First Four" matchup against Southern Methodist University (SMU), meaning they must win that game to advance to the Round of 64. Although Miami (OH) were ranked the lowest of any at-large team, selection committee chair Keith Gill, the commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference, told CBS they had not been the last team selected into the tournament. "They came in before N.C. State, Texas and SMU," Gill said. But eventually those teams were moved ahead of Miami (OH) "relative to the predicted metrics and the difference in the quality of the wins," he added. One of the biggest thrills of this season has been the unusually talented freshman class. That'll continue in the tournament as these players arrive at the biggest stage of their young careers so far. Forwards AJ Dybantsa of BYU and Duke's Cameron Boozer (one of two fraternal twin sons of NBA star Carlos Boozer, both of whom are playing in Durham), along with guard Darryn Peterson of Kansas (despite persistent issues with cramps), are expected to be the top three picks in this summer's NBA draft. Kansas received a No. 4 seed, and BYU a No. 6 seed. Finally, two schools will be making their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance: The Royals of Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina, in their first year of eligibility after moving up to Division I, received a No. 15 seed and will face No. 2 seed Purdue. The Lancers of California Baptist University, who won Saturday night's Western Athletic Conference championship game after their opponents Utah Valley missed a game-tying dunk in the game's final seconds, received a No. 13 seed and will face Kansas. Before last season, the UConn Huskies had seemingly lost their grip on women's college basketball. After winning four titles in a row from 2013 to 2016, the Huskies took a backseat for almost a decade as other programs had their time in the sun. Finally, last year, under the leadership of point guard Paige Bueckers, UConn reclaimed the trophy. Now, with forward Sarah Strong and guard Azzi Fudd in the driver's seat(s), they're an early favorite to repeat as champions for the first time since that mid-2010s run. The Huskies are 34-0 after the 11th undefeated regular season in school history, and now they've claimed the top overall seed in this year's tournament. It's not too much to celebrate, though. The Huskies have a potential second-round matchup against No. 8 seed Iowa State, whose center Audi Crooks is the nation's second-leading scorer. Then, they could have an Elite Eight matchup against No. 2 seed Vanderbilt, who had a shot at No. 1 seed before they fell early in the SEC Tournament; Commodores star Mikayla Blakes is a National Player of the Year contender. Meanwhile, the 31-1 UCLA Bruins, whose single loss came to Texas (who are now ranked No. 3) back in November, were named the second No. 1 seed. All but two of their victories were won by double digits. A week ago, they beat now-No. 7 Iowa by 51 points (not a typo) in the Big Ten title game. Their trio of seniors — center Lauren Betts plus guards Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez — are looking for redemption after a bruising loss to UConn in last year's tournament. Rounding out the top seeds are UConn's opponents in last year's title game, South Carolina, who two years ago were the last team to pull off an undefeated season, and the Texas Longhorns, who've consistently been a top player in the women's game but haven't gotten over the hump to win a title since 1986. The women's tournament has historically had fewer upsets than the men's tournament. The lowest seed ever to win a title is No. 3, most recently in 2023 when Louisiana State and their star Angel Reese toppled Caitlin Clark's Iowa. For another result like that, look to the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils. For all their success in the men's tournament, Duke has never won a title in the women's event, and they haven't reached the title game in 20 years. But they have a talented team and the 2026 ACC Coach of the Year in Kara Lawson.