Heat Triumphs Over Mountaineers, Knicks Struggle in Thrilling Contest

Duke , Michigan, Arizona and Florida topped the bracket on Selection Sunday , while the SEC flexed with an NCAA-best 10 tournament teams and the Big 12 had three of the top eight seeds. Treading water about midway through the regular season, the Gators began to round into form deeper into SEC play and seem very capable of repeating as national champions . UF did get blown out by Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament semifinals, though.

The Blue Devils are the tournament’s top seed after beating Virginia to repeat as ACC champs. Michigan would’ve had a case for being the No. 1 team in the bracket but lost to Purdue in the Big Ten title game.

March Madness printable bracket Fill out for predictions, picks in NCAA Tournament March Madness snubs: Oklahoma leads teams left out of NCAA tournament But it was bad news for teams such as Auburn and Oklahoma, who were among the first left out of the field. At 17-16 overall against a brutal schedule, the Tigers would’ve set a record for most losses by an at-large pick. Also left out of the tournament were San Diego State, New Mexico and Belmont.

One notable contender that made the cut was No. 11 Miami (Ohio) , which was 31-0 against a weaker schedule before losing to UMass in the MAC tournament. These teams lead the biggest winners and losers from Selection Sunday: Selection Sunday winners The SEC While not to the level of last year’s record-setting 14 selections, the SEC led every conference with 10 teams in this year’s field, just ahead of the Big Ten with nine picks.