February selection show projections

Below are my projected top 4 seeds in each region, with city assignments, in advance of the committee's show on Saturday.

New York City:
1. Villanova, Big East (Buffalo)
2. North Carolina, ACC (Greenville)
3. West Virginia, Big 12 (Buffalo)
4. Wisconsin, Big 10 (Milwaukee)

San Jose:
1. Gonzaga, WCC (Salt Lake City)
2. Oregon, Pac 12 (Sacramento)
3. Virginia, ACC (Greenville)
4. Duke, ACC (Milwaukee)

Kansas City:
1. Kansas, Big 12 (Tulsa)
2. Arizona, Pac 12 (Salt Lake City)
3. Florida State, ACC (Orlando)
4. Florida, SEC (Orlando)

Memphis:
1. Baylor, Big 12 (Tulsa)
2. Louisville, ACC (Indianapolis)
3. Kentucky, SEC (Indianapolis)
4. UCLA, Pac 12 (Sacramento)

I bumped Duke up into the top 16, at Cincinnati's expense. I just felt like, despite not losing since early December, the Bearcats didn't have a win on the magnitude of beating UNC and didn't play as tough a schedule. Since 5 ACC teams are in the top 16, I had to put Duke somewhere, so they're out west with a potential Elite 8 matchup with Virginia. I didn't consider anyone else for the 4-seeds.

I was going to swap Baylor and UNC had the Tar Heels won at Cameron Indoor on Thursday night.

I'm keeping the Mountaineers on the 3-line for now. Beating Kansas and Baylor... not many teams can claim two wins of that quality, plus they beat Virginia, so two 1's and a 3 on my chart. I could listen to moving UCLA or Wisconsin up. UCLA has much better big wins than the Badgers, though, so I think the Bruins are closer to that 3-slot than Wisconsin.

I'm not sure if the committee would care that the NYC regional final would be a rematch of last year's title game, or that the two Florida powerhouses could meet in the Kansas City elite 8, or that Kentucky-Louisville could be a Sweet 16 game. Maybe it doesn't matter to them. Looking forward to seeing how this compares to the Committee.