The glory of March Madness: Will Duke bump the Tar Heels out of a No. 1 seed? Will the ACC be shut out of No. 1?



... What about Gonzaga? 

If you love basketball, especially college basketball, this is your time of year. Tonight, the NCAA will unveil its bracket, one of the most highly-anticipated events of the college sports season.

However, the big question right now is who the number 1 seeds are going to be? Villanova (31-3) and Kansas (28-4) appear to be consensus picks, despite Kansas having been upset by TCU in the Big 12 tournament.

Villanova, the defending national champs, appears to be the overall number 1 pick. However, what about the other two?

Many now appear to be going back to Gonzaga (32-1) as one of the four. It had been a number 1 until being upset late in the season.

If those are the three, what about the fourth? That is the enigmatic part of this. Should North Carolina, the number 1 seed in the ACC but upset by Duke in a 10-point loss, still retain its number 1 seed? After all, they have lost seven games (27-7).

What about Duke, which captured the title of the ACC tournament? They were very impressive -- but they lost eight games, their detractors say.

What about Arizona (30-4), which defeated the number 1 seed in the Pac-12, Oregon (29-5), in the title game? Oregon had been mentioned by many as the fourth No. 1, but now will also fall out.

ESPN's Joe Lunardi is sticking with North Carolina as the fourth No. 1 to go along with what seems to be consensus Villanova, Kansas, and Gonzaga.

The argument for North Carolina is that they were arguably the toughest conference in the country top to bottom. Having no ACC team as a No. 1 would be an insult.

Should that matter?

Another bracket has the notoriously unpopular Kentucky Wildcats (28-5) as a No. 1. That could happen, but it is unlikely.

An interesting point came out this weekend in a story that noted that RPIs may not be the final determining factor in seeing who makes the tournament. If so, Syracuse, which is in the 80s, is definitely out -- which is good.

My bet is that the Tar Heels will hold onto that No. 1 seed. They always have more pull than many teams on the selection committee, something like Ohio State in football -- except that UNC is usually very good, unlike the sleazy Buckeyes.

So, a few hours to go. The excitement builds.

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