Duke breaks up SEC party as NCAA reveals early peek at top 16 seeds for March Madness
The SEC dominates the top seeds for next month’s NCAA Tournament with Duke the lone exception.
The Blue Devils (21-3) are the No. 3 seed in the NCAA men’s basketball selection committee’s early peek at its top 16 teams, which was released Saturday, one month until the full bracket is revealed on March 16.
The committee named Auburn (22-2) and Alabama (21-3) as the top two national seeds, with Florida (21-3) at No. 4, giving the SEC three teams on that top line.
With No. 5 Tennessee (20-5) and No. 6 Texas A&M (20-5) the top two teams on the No. 2 regional seed line, plus No. 10 Kentucky (17-7) slotted as a No. 3 national seed, the SEC led the way with six teams among the 16.
“The narrative since the season began was how strong Southeastern Conference teams are, and that’s reflective in this Top 16 reveal,” said Bubba Cunningham, North Carolina’s athletic director who chairs the committee this season. “While each team is evaluated independent of their conference affiliation, there’s no escaping the fact that the league is on course for a historic season in terms of representation in the tournament, specifically the highly sought-after top 16 seeds. Having five of the top six teams being from one conference is equally impressive as it is unusual.”
Duke is the lone ACC team among the top 16. The committee’s in-season exercise awarded the Blue Devils the No. 1 seed in the East Region, where Newark, New Jersey, is host site for the regional semifinals and finals.
Tennessee is the No. 2 seed in the East, followed by Arizona (No. 12 national seed) and St. John’s (No. 16 national seed).
If Auburn is the No. 1 overall seed in the final bracket, the Tigers would get to pick their region. Saturday’s reveal placed Auburn close to home in the South Region, where the regional semifinals and finals will be played in Atlanta.
Alabama is in the Midwest Region, where Indianapolis is the regional host, while Florida would fill the No. 1 slot in the West Region with the second weekend tournament games in San Francisco.
“With five first-year committee members,” Cunningham said, “this was an important meeting, not only for the purpose of today’s unveiling but also to educate them about how selecting, seeding and bracketing works. Going through this process will be valuable experience for them when we do it for real next month.”
The Big 12 landed four teams among the top 16: No. 8 Houston, No. 9 Iowa State, No. 12 Arizona and No. 13 Texas Tech. The Big Ten had three teams included: No 7 Purdue, No. 11 Wisconsin and No. 14 Michigan.
Seed list
1. Auburn, 2. Alabama, 3. Duke. 4. Florida, 5. Tennessee, 6. Texas A&M, 7. Purdue, 8. Houston, 9. Iowa State, 10. Kentucky, 11. Wisconsin, 12. Arizona, 13. Texas Tech, 14. Michigan, 15. Kansas, 16. St. John’s
South: 1. Auburn (1), 2. Texas A&M (6), 3. Wisconsin (11), 4. Texas Tech (13)
Midwest 1. Alabama (2), 2. Purdue (7), 3. Iowa St. (9), 4. Kansas (15)
West 1. Florida (4), 2. Houston (8), 3. Kentucky (10), 4. Michigan (14)
East 1. Duke (3), 2. Tennessee (5), 3. Arizona (12), 4. St. John’s (16).
This story was originally published February 15, 2025 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Duke breaks up SEC party as NCAA reveals early peek at top 16 seeds for March Madness."