With the college basketball season only 8 days away from beginning, we now have all the conferences weighing in on who will be predicted to win each conference along with the release of the preseason Top 25 polls in both the AP and the Coaches’ Poll. What I have attempted to do is build a seed list based on the average ranking of the top 36 at-large teams along with the 32 projected conference champions of each league.
Below is the media bracket:
North Carolina is the consensus preseason #1 team and is seeded accordingly. As far as teams receiving votes in the Top 25, preference is given to teams receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches’ Polls; beyond that, preference is given to teams that are receiving the most votes in a singular poll. Notre Dame would be the first team out of the field based on the polls.
Also noteworthy is the placement of teams like UAB and Toledo – both teams received votes in both polls and are ranked above the First Four for purposes of this exercise. Drake received votes in one of the polls and is the top-ranked team below the First Four. This year, the Under-The-Radar teams were seeded based on overall KenPom ratings. (Northern Kentucky and Purdue-Fort Wayne tied for 1st in the preseason Horizon poll, but NKU was chosed by virtue of a higher KenPom rating).
Later on this week, we will also have our Under-The-Radar preview podcast along with Chad’s preseason bracket reveal of who he thinks will be in the field come March. (I will go out on a limb and guess that Louisville will not be included anytime soon.)