Power 16: NCAA Tournament EditionBy:

With Selection Sunday just around the corner, the Power 16
has decided to do something a little different. Instead of ranking the nation’s
sixteen strongest teams, this selection committee of one has chosen the 64 strongest
teams (seeded #1 through #16) to give you insight as to what to expect tomorrow.

#1 seeds: North Carolina, Louisville, Connecticut,
Pittsburgh

Oklahoma was here until Thursday night, and Memphis could grab a spot although
they shouldn’t get much credit for another C-USA title. Louisville’s win over
Villanova and subsequent birth in the Big East Final cements their spot here.

#2 seeds: Michigan State, Oklahoma, Memphis, Kansas

Despite a loss to Baylor, Kansas still gets a #2 seed thanks to an impressive
resume. With that said, the committee could look at that game and drop them down
to a #3. There is an outside chance that Michigan State gets consideration at
#1 if they win the Big Ten.

#3 seeds: Duke, Wake Forest, Washington, Villanova

The team to watch out for here is Wake Forest. The enigmatic Demon Deacons have
Final Four talent and, at times, have looked like the best team in the country.
On the other hand, they are very young and have lost games this year that they
had no business losing. It’ll be interesting to see which team shows up next week.

#4 seeds: Gonzaga, Clemson, Syracuse, Arizona State

People can knock Gonzaga all they want for the schedule they play, but this team
is talented and tournament-tested. They’re not a Cinderella anymore, but they
aren’t getting nearly enough credit. Arizona State gets the nod here after beating
Washington and could swap places with the Huskies if they beat USC on Saturday.

#5 seeds: Missouri, Purdue, LSU, UCLA

This is where it gets hard. Missouri could get a #4 seed, even though they looked
terrible at Kansas and suffered a bad loss at A&M to close the season. Meanwhile,
LSU and UCLA could find themselves lower, although LSU shouldn’t fall too much
after winning the SEC regular season title.

#6 seeds: West Virginia, Florida State, Tennessee, Texas

Texas and Tennessee are #4 seeds or better based on talent alone. The Longhorns
squandered a chance to move up by losing to Baylor. West Virginia moves up after
a great win over Pitt. Florida State has a chance to confuse the committee if
they beat UNC today.

#7 seeds: Illinois, Marquette, Xavier, Oklahoma State

Illinois and Marquette suffer because of ending their seasons poorly. Marquette
let a great opportunity to move up slip away against Villanova Thursday. Oklahoma
State let nothing slip away, stripping OK of their potential #1 seed and bumping
themselves up to a #7 seed. Finally, there are many bubble teams angry with Xavier
(and Dayton) for allowing the A-10 to get a 3rd team in.

#8 seeds: Butler, Boston College, California, BYU

Butler falls after losing to Cleveland State. BYU could move up by winning their
tourney, which will be difficult with the presence of four bubble teams looking
to cement their status as tournament-worthy.

#9 seeds: Texas A&M, Ohio State, Utah, Michigan

I had A&M as an eight-seed, but the loss to Texas Tech in the first round
puts them here. They could conceivably fall even further than this despite ending
the season with a six-game winning streak. Utah’s presence in the Mountain West
Final should prevent them from falling lower than this.

#10 seeds: San Diego State, Wisconsin, Siena, Creighton

Siena, the MAAC’s automatic bid, is a team that probably could have gotten an
at-large bid. They beat Vanderbilt last year before falling to Villanova, so they
are dangerous. Creighton is thought to be a bubble-team, but their resume is simply
too strong to ignore. 8-4 on the road, and 9-5 against the RPI-100 should be more
than enough to get the Bluejays in.

#11 seeds: VCU, New Mexico, Minnesota, Dayton

Would anyone be shocked if VCU wins a first-round game? They knocked Duke out
two years ago, and they showed in the CAA Final against George Mason that they
have the talent to take on a top team. Eric Maynor is a lottery pick, and Larry
Sanders showed that he could be an intimidating presence inside. Dayton was a
#9 seed before losing to Duquesne and enabling the A-10 to steal a bid from a
power conference.

#12 seeds: Utah State, Penn State, Northern Iowa, Temple

Utah State needs to win the WAC tourney. If they don’t, they’ll have to sweat
on Sunday, with 25 of their wins coming against team outside the RPI top 100.
The question here is whether or not Temple will need to win the A-10 championship
to get in. Their at-large resume looks pretty strong with wins over Penn State,
Tennessee, and Xavier.

#13 seeds: Cleveland State, American, North Dakota State, Western Kentucky

After knocking off Syracuse earlier in the year, Cleveland State gets in by defeating
Butler to win the Horizon League title. They are very athletic and can give any
#4 seed a run for their money in the first round. Wouldn’t it be interesting to
see them match up with Syracuse again on a neutral court after stealing a win
at the Carrier Dome?

#14 seeds: Robert Morris, Stephen F. Austin, Binghamton, East Tennessee State

The best win of any of these four teams was Binghamton’s victory at Rutgers. None
of the other teams beat anything close to a quality opponent. According to my
crystal ball, no 14 seed will make it past the first round.

#15 seeds: Radford, Portland State, Cornell, Morgan State

Portland State is a dangerous team that could get a higher seed. They beat Gonzaga
earlier in the season and lost to Washington by 1, which shows they can play with
the big boys. They still have to win the Big Sky and cannot overlook a Montana
State team that just knocked out Weber State, who was 15-1 in conference.

#16 seeds: Cal-State Northridge, Morehead State, Buffalo

The play-in game will feature Southern Conference champ Chattanooga (who beat
College of Charleston, the team that knocked out Stephen Curry’s Davidson squad)
against the SWAC champion, which should be Alabama State. Buffalo gave Connecticut
a tough battle early on and won’t just lay down in the first round.

Just Missing Out (in order): UNLV, Arizona, New Mexico, Saint Mary’s

There is a solid chance that the Field of 65 could look eerily similar to this
come Sunday. Or, a team (like USC, Baylor or Duquesne) could win their respective
tournaments and mess everything up. That’s the beauty of college basketball. Anything
can happen.