On February 18th, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee gave us all a sneak peek at their bracket for the upcoming 2023 NCAA Tournament. And the top four seeds on that preview? Alabama, Houston, Purdue, and Kansas. Today the full bracket was announced and here are your top four seeds for the 2023 Ncaa Tournament.
Top Overall Seed: Alabama
- Overall Record: 29-5
- SEC Record: 16-2
- Quad 1 Record: 12-5
- Quad 2 Record: 6-0
Alabama was dominant in the SEC tournament and nothing changed in Sunday’s SEC tournament final where the Crimson Tide blew out Texas A&M 82-63 to take home the SEC crown. Alabama blasted Mississippi State in their first SEC tournament game 72-49 and pulled away in the semis against Missouri 72-61 before dominating the Aggies in Sunday’s final.
As impressive as the Tide’s run through the SEC Tournament was, their biggest win of the season came on the road at #1 Houston earlier in the year. The Cougars were first in the NET rankings and KenPom at the time. Some experts have even hailed it as the best win in college basketball so far this season.
Alabama has an impressive total of 18 Quad 1 and 2 wins. Among these are two victories over Arkansas, considered some of their best wins this season. The Razorbacks are ranked No. 22 in NET and No. 20 in KenPom, adding even more weight to Alabama’s impressive resume. Beating Kentucky, who was ranked 26th in the NET, is also a solid win for Alabama’s resume.
Alabama has now secured 12 quad-one wins, putting them third behind Texas and Kansas for most quad-one and two wins.
#2 Overall Seed: Houston
- Overall Record: 31-3
- Big 12 Record: 17-1
- Quad 1 Record: 7-2
- Quad 2 Record: 8-0
Houston comes in as the #2 overall seed in the tournament despite losing to a very good Memphis team in the finals of the AAC Tournament. But the Cougars are a well-deserving #2 overall seed. With 31 overall wins and 15 combined Q1 and Q2 wins, it was going to be hard to deny Houston a top-2 seed when you look at their entire body of work.
With Alabam’s recent surge, their run through the SEC tournament resulting in an SEC title, and their head-to-head win earlier in the year over Houston, I think it makes sense that Bama is #1 and Houston is #2. I think they got this right.
#3 Overall Seed: Kansas
- Overall Record: 27-7
- Big 12 Record: 13-5
- Quad 1 Record: 17-7
- Quad 2 Record: 4-0
Kansas’ men’s basketball team has been on a bit of a rocky patch lately, having gone 2-2 in their past four games while losing two games in just over a week and a half to the Texas Longhorns. Despite this, the Jayhawks still deserve a number one seed in the NCAA tournament. This is thanks mainly to their impressive 17 Quadrant 1 wins, which leads the nation. It’s worth noting that Kansas also has the most losses of any team currently in the running for a No. 1 seed, as they finished 27-7.
The number of their Q1 wins is an NCAA record and speaks volumes about the team’s ability to take on top-ranked opponents. As of Sunday, the Jayhawks have a total of 21 Q1+Q2 wins, three ahead of Purdue. Considering their entire resume, it’s hard to argue against the strength of Kansas’ season so far. The one thing that scares me about Kansas is its lack of depth. They’re barely six deep, and it looked like it weighed on them in the Big 12 final as it was the Jalen Wilson show.
#4 Overall Seed: Purdue
- Overall Record: 29-5
- Big 12 Record: 15-5
- Quad 1 Record: 9-4
- Quad 2 Record: 9-1
One has to wonder if Purdue’s somewhat easy path to the Big 10 championship impacted them just a tad in the overall seeding. While I don’t think they were going to jump Kansas, Houston, or Alabama, perhaps they could have been helped with a win against Indiana or Northwestern. But they never got the chance as they faced off against 13th-ranked Buckeyes and 10th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions in the Big 10 finals.
In the final minutes of the Big-10 title game, Purdue looked a bit frazzled against Penn State’s full-court pressure. The Boilermakers watched an 11-point lead shrink down to two with Penn State having the ball with three seconds left. But Purdue survived and they now head into the NCAA Tournament as 1-seed.
Source: Basketball Insider
