1. Houston – You can have your doubts about their style winning in March, but this squad is 4 points better than last year, and 8 points better than the 2023 squad, according to KenPom.
2. Tennessee – The best opportunity in a long time to snap that Final Four drought.
3. Gonzaga – One of the biggest mis-seedings in recent memory. The Zags check a lot of boxes — guard play, bigs, depth, rebounding, shooting, coaching.
4. Kentucky – Will be playing this tournament without Jaxson Robinson, and maybe Lamont Butler as well, so the length of their run will be determined by how much others will step up to fill the void.
5. Clemson – I love how the round of 32 matches up for the Tigers, as long as they get there.
6. Purdue – Have one of the most entertaining first round matchups against High Point.
7. Illinois – one of the most “Jekyll and Hyde” teams in the country, and we simply don’t know which one we will get on Friday night (and beyond).
8. UCLA – Aday Mara could be a major difference maker in this NCAA Tournament if Mick Cronin will simply play him more minutes.
9. Georgia – Not many 9-seeds have a future first round NBA draft pick, and Asa Newell certainly is one.
10. Texas – If the team that showed up to the SEC tournament shows up for this NCAA Tournament, they could find themselves in the Sweet Sixteen.
11. Xavier – Ryan Conwell is the type of player that can take over a game and carry his team on a run.
12. Utah State – limping into the NCAA Tournament as losers of 3 of their last 5.
13. High Point – 25th in the nation in offensive efficiency and can score with anyone. Can they get enough stops to turn their first trip to the NCAA Tournament into a Cinderella run?
14. McNeese – Have plenty of high-major talent, but you have to wonder if Will Wade being linked to every job opening has a little bit of a distracting effect.
15. Troy – This team wins at math. They have a high “rim and 3” rate as well as grab a lot of offensive rebounds and force a lot of turnovers. This makes every opponent fight an uphill battle against them.
16. Wofford – If Wofford were to win their round of 64 game, Kyler Filewich and his free throw style will be remembered forever.
17. SIU-Edwardsville – Good luck scoring more than 50 points against Houston
