The unveiling ceremony has started, with Duke set to begin in Raleigh as the top seed in the East against the victor of the game between American and Mount St. Mary’s.
If Duke emerges victorious, they will proceed to face the team that triumphs between Mississippi State and Baylor.
In either scenario, the Blue Devils will go up against a former Blue Devil: Jaemyn Brakefield from Mississippi State or Jeremy Roach from Baylor.
Oregon and Liberty are set for the 5/12 match-up.
On April 13th, Arizona and Akron will compete in the match at the lower portion of Duke's section of the bracket.
In the lower section of the bracket, BYU faces off against VCU at position #6/11, Wisconsin competes with Montana in the 3/14 matchup, St. Mary’s goes head-to-head with Vanderbilt in the 7/10 slot, and Alabama takes on Robert Morris for the 2/15 placement.
UNC is in on the South bracket which has already sparked massive controversy. We’ll have more soon.
Clemson ranks #5 in the Midwest region and kicks off their season against Will Wade’s #12 McNeese State. Notably, Wade is a Clemson alumnus who almost returned as head coach for the university a couple of years back.
Louisville ranks #8 in the South region. Should they defeat #9 Creighton, they will likely face off against #1 Auburn next. Notably, Clemson has previously performed well against Auburn with an impressive score of 84-53 back in 2018. Additionally, the SEC’s Tigers have experienced some difficulties recently as they've lost three out of their last four games.
We'll examine things in greater detail later, but for now here are some brief points:
- Michigan faced off against UC San Diego. As far as we've gathered, the Tritons pose a significant threat.
- The matchup between Yale and Texas A&M ought to be quite a grueling contest.
- New Mexico and Marquette deserve serious consideration, largely due to the fact that Shaka Smart has yet to prove himself as a strong tournament coach.
- We might witness an unexpected 12/5 upset with Colorado State overcoming Memphis.
- We'd choose #11 Drake over #6 Mizzou, especially if Mark Mitchell remains sidelined or restricted due to his knee injury.
- The game between BYU and VCU might just turn out to be one of the most entertaining matches in the opening round.
- It’s possible we might witness Clemson advancing to the Elite Eight.
- San Diego State has fallen from its recent peaks, yet Brian Dutcher excels as a defensive strategist and UNC’s forward lineup has shown some weaknesses. Do the calculations yourself.
