THE COUNTDOWN
132 Days until Selection Sunday
362 Division 1 NCAA Basketball Programs play their first games this week and 351* teams hope to make the NCAA Field of 68 in March.
Monday tip-off starts as early as 1030 AM ET - Women’s BB - Stephen F. Austin vs NAIA member Oklahoma Panhandle State and 11 AMET - Men’s BB IUPUI faces D3 Spalding University.
NCAA Women’s Hoops begins Monday with 6 Top 25 teams playing each other including four in the Hall of Fame Las Vegas Series on TruTV. The big name on the docket is returning NCAA Champ and #1 LSU with returning All-American Angel Reese and top transfer (and USA 3x3 World Cup Gold Medalist) Hailey Van Lith vs Colorado. In addition two Top 10 teams face off in Paris, France with Notre Dame playing South Carolina and Caitlin Clark and Iowa play their home regular season opener vs FDU.
NCAA Men’s Hoops schedule feature home openers for defending champ UCONN, Final Four teams Miami and San Diego State, plus #1 Kansas, #2 Duke, #3 Purdue, #4 Michigan State, and #5 Marquette and some of the best games could be out of Las Vegas where USC faces Kansas State and Oregon faces Georgia.
Two teams who start the season on Wednesday and not on Monday Last year’s Final Four darling Florida Atlantic men’s team and #2 ranked UCONN Women Huskies returning Paige Bueckers
Note: 11 teams like new D1 member LeMoyne (member of NEC) are in a 5 year transition period to NCAA Division 1 so therefore ineligble for the NCAA Tournament
This year I will making my picks again for BracketMatrix.com . They start with a preseason picks which are way too early and I plan to update in January as we hit the home stretch.
MIDWEST (Detroit)
Indianapolis, Indiana
1 Purdue vs 16 Howard vs Sacred Heart*
8 Iowa State vs 9 Memphis
Brooklyn, New York
5 Texas vs 12 Dayton
4 North Carolina vs 13 Yale
Brooklyn, New York
6 Villanova vs 11 Northwestern
3 Tennessee vs 14 Iona
Memphis, Tennessee
7 UCLA vs 10 Ohio State
2 Baylor vs 15 Vermont
*Never made Men’s NCAA Tournament
SOUTH (Dallas)
Memphis, Tennessee
Indianapolis, Indiana
1 Kansas vs 16 Morehead State vs Texas Southern
8 Florida Atlantic vs 9 Miami
Spokane, Washington
5 Illinois vs 12 Liberty
4 Auburn vs 13 UNC Greensboro
Indianapolis, Indiana
6 Texas A&M vs 11 Oregon
3 Marquette vs 14 Colgate
Salt Lake City, Utah
7 Kansas State vs 10 New Mexico
2 Arizona vs 15 Weber State
WEST (Los Angeles)
Omaha, Nebraska
1 Houston vs 16 McNeese State
8 Colorado vs 9 Saint Mary’s
Salt Lake City, Utah
5 Kentucky vs 12 Drake
4 Creighton vs 13 Akron
Charlotte, NC
6 San Diego State vs 11 Stanford vs Clemson
3 Alabama vs 14 Stephen F. Austin
Spokane, Washington
7 Wisconsin vs 10 Xavier
2 Gonzaga vs 15 Eastern Kentucky
EAST (Boston)
Brooklyn, NY
1 UCONN vs 16 Wright State
8 TCU vs 9 Virginia
Pittsburgh, PA
5 USC vs 12 Charleston
4 Arkansas vs 13 UC Irvine
Pittsburgh, PA
6 Maryland vs 11 LSU vs NC State
3 Michigan State vs 14 South Dakota State
Charlotte, NC
7 Mississippi State vs 10 BYU
2 Duke vs 15 UNC Asheville
Women’s NCAA Tournament
#1 seeds - LSU, UConn, Iowa, Utah
#2 seeds- South Carolina, UCLA, Va Tech, Ohio State
#3 seeds- Indiana, Tennessee, Maryland, Texas
#4 seeds- Notre Dame, Stanford, Ole Miss, North Carolina
Here is Charlie Creme’s preview for the Field of 68 - but I do think Syracuse gets in Felisha Legette-Jack’s 2nd year coaching