ESPN’s college basketball analyst Joe Lunardi dropped his bracketology update ahead of Selection Sunday. The anticipation around the field of 68 for the March Madness showdown is at an all-time high.
Most bracket predictions have the same four teams as their No. 1 seeds. The Duke Blue Devils, the Michigan Wolverines, the Arizona Wildcats, and the Florida Gators have seemingly cemented their places.
In Joe Lunardi’s recent bracketology update, these four teams occupy the No. 1 seeds across East, South, Midwest, and West. Duke won the ACC title, Arizona won the Big 12 championship, and Michigan made it to the Big 10 title game.
The Michigan Wolverines will play the Purdue Boilermakers in the final game of the Big 10 Tournament. The field of 68 will be released shortly after the Big Ten title game.
Iowa State, Houston, UConn, and Michigan State are the No. 2 seeds in Joe Lunardi’s bracketology. Virginia is projected to be a No. 3 seed, along with Illinois, Purdue, and Nebraska.
Lunardi listed Texas A&M, N.C. State, Santa Clara, and UCF as ‘last four byes,’ Missouri, Miami OH, SMU, and Texas as ‘last four in,’ Oklahoma, Auburn, San Diego St, and New Mexico as ‘first four out,’ and Indiana, Stanford, Cincinnati, and Seton Hall as ‘next four out.’
Joe Lunardi on Florida’s No. 1 Seed
The Florida Gators are the only projected No. 1 seed coming off a loss. They lost 91-74 against the Vanderbilt Commodores. Despite the loss, Lunardi has kept them at No. 1 alongside Duke, Michigan, and Arizona.
Lunardi explained his reasoning on Sunday morning’s SportsCenter.
“Even when you lose, if everyone else you’re competing with loses, we end up in the same place,” he said. “It’s like a race where everybody is going backwards. Florida is the winner of that race. They had a pretty good, healthy lead for that fourth No. 1 seed. They are going to be the fourth No. 1 seed, and they’ll be in the South. They’ll see their name come up fourth on the Selection Show tonight.”
“If there’s a negative for the Gators, it’s that their No. 2 is very likely to be the same Houston Cougars team lose the Big 12 Final to Arizona.”
Lunardi stated that we could potentially have a rematch of last year’s National Championship Game between the Florida Gators and the Houston Cougars.
Read More:
Selection Sunday Bracket Update: Predicting Top Four No. 1 Seeds Ahead Of March Madness Showdown
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