In a break of tradition, the NCAA selection committee gave a sneak peek at its top 16 seeds for the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
Live on CBS, the top 16 teams were revealed and slotted to their appropriate regions, with reigning national champion Villanova pegged as the overall No. 1 seed as of Feb. 11.
Well, we just can't see a bracket (even a partial one) and not fill it out, can we?
So CBS Sports' Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander grabbed their pencils and, based on the NCAA's official regional pairings, filled out their brackets all the way through to their national championship picks.
Hey, it's good practice for Selection Sunday, which is now just a little more than four weeks away.
Gary Parrish's bracket
The hypothetical East Regional is loaded -- with three of the top four seeds having, at one time or another, received first-place votes in the AP poll this season. I could see any of them losing in the Sweet 16 or winning the entire tournament. But I'll give the edge to UCLA because I'm in love with the Bruins' offense.
Nobody is better on that end of the court.
The question, of course, is whether UCLA can guard well enough to win six straight games -- at least five of which should be against quality opponents. I won't pretend to have the answer definitively. But I do know this: If the Bruins can bring the same kind of energy to defense that they brought down the stretch in Thursday's win over Oregon, they're good enough to beat anybody. And that's why I'm predicting them to win the national championship. Simply put, I think UCLA's best might just be better than anybody else's best.
Matt Norlander's bracket
I had the Jayhawks in October. I had the Jayhawks at our mid-season reset. I still have Bill Self's top-seeded team right now. Even though they've got respectable and tough company in the Midwest region, the Jayhawks are No. 1 for a reason. Looking below them, you see No. 2 Florida State.
The Seminoles have earned that No. 2 seed, but I'll be interested to see -- if FSU can keep up the good play -- how they'll respond to such a high seed without any tournament experience. Then there's No. 3 Arizona, and if you remove the Oregon beatdown, the Wildcats have been one of the best teams in America over the past six weeks. The Wildcats, who i would have getting by Florida State, would pose a Final Four threat due to the stretch-4 weaponry of Lauri Markkanen, but the backcourt would be in favor of KU in that matchup. Obviously I would take KU.
Now, Duke as a No. 4 seed is really scary. The Blue Devils could easily play their way onto the 2-seed line before all is said and done. The UNC win was big. But Duke's still gotta play more consistently for me to fully buy in. Remember, KU and Duke met at MSG back in November, at the Champions Classic. The Jayhawks won on a Frank Mason III game-winner. I like Kansas' experienced backcourt, and when we get to the NCAA Tournament, I expect Devonte' Graham and Mason to be superstars.
The most important aspect of Saturday's bracket reveal is how the committee put together its top 16, not the actual teams, though. Results will throw this arrangement out of whack almost immediately. But we do know that Kansas' overall strength of schedule, the quality and depth of the Big 12 (KU is 10-2 in the league) and having two of its three losses come in overtime all certainly played a factor in the Jayhawks landing a No 1 seed.
