Duke is the top overall seed in the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament, with Arizona, Michigan, and Florida also landing on the No. 1 line. Miami (Ohio), which opened the season 31-0 before a loss early its conference tournament, got in as an 11 seed despite a weak schedule. They play a First Four game on Wednesday against SMU.
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Here's how to do itAfter an Iranian drone strike, a photographer captures this quiet human momentOffshore wind project targeted by Trump administration starts sending power to the New England gridFlu vaccines didn't work that well in the US, officials findSome people tape their mouths shut at night. Doctors wish they wouldn'tRage, suspicion, fear: Why Laurel’s residents want to stop a new state psychiatric facilityYoung people are turning to old-school hobbies to get off their phonesPope escalates call for ceasefire in Iran by addressing those responsible for the warTeherán dice que EEUU lo atacó desde los Emiratos Árabes Unidos Here's how to do itAfter an Iranian drone strike, a photographer captures this quiet human momentOffshore wind project targeted by Trump administration starts sending power to the New England gridFlu vaccines didn't work that well in the US, officials findSome people tape their mouths shut at night. Doctors wish they wouldn'tRage, suspicion, fear: Why Laurel’s residents want to stop a new state psychiatric facilityYoung people are turning to old-school hobbies to get off their phonesPope escalates call for ceasefire in Iran by addressing those responsible for the warTeherán dice que EEUU lo atacó desde los Emiratos Árabes UnidosDuke’s Cameron Boozer handles the ball as Syracuse’s William Kyle III, left, defends during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Durham, N.C., Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Arizona’s Jaden Bradley celebrates after making the game-winning shot at the buzzer to defeat Iowa State during an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament Friday, March 13, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg hangs from the rim after dunking during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Big 10 Conference tournament, Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Chicago. Kentucky guard Collin Chandler falls onto Florida forward Alex Condon during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinal round of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. Miami forward Antwone Woolfolk was off the court after Miami was defeated by Massachusetts in a basketball game in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament, Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Cleveland. Duke’s Cameron Boozer handles the ball as Syracuse’s William Kyle III, left, defends during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Durham, N.C., Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Duke’s Cameron Boozer handles the ball as Syracuse’s William Kyle III, left, defends during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Durham, N.C., Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Arizona’s Jaden Bradley celebrates after making the game-winning shot at the buzzer to defeat Iowa State during an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament Friday, March 13, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. Arizona’s Jaden Bradley celebrates after making the game-winning shot at the buzzer to defeat Iowa State during an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament Friday, March 13, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg hangs from the rim after dunking during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Big 10 Conference tournament, Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Chicago. Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg hangs from the rim after dunking during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Big 10 Conference tournament, Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Chicago. Kentucky guard Collin Chandler falls onto Florida forward Alex Condon during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinal round of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. Kentucky guard Collin Chandler falls onto Florida forward Alex Condon during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinal round of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. Miami forward Antwone Woolfolk was off the court after Miami was defeated by Massachusetts in a basketball game in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament, Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Cleveland. Miami forward Antwone Woolfolk was off the court after Miami was defeated by Massachusetts in a basketball game in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament, Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Cleveland. The team that went undefeated in the regular season, racked up more victories than anyone but Duke and Arizona — and fewer losses than any team at all — is anything but your run-of-the-mill basketball behemoth. In fact, Miami , despite that 31-1 record and maybe because of a little chip that’s been placed on its shoulder, is one of those plucky underdogs that makes, with Arizona , Michigan and defending champion Florida also on the top line, the RedHawks barely scratched their way into the bracket. They are an 11 seed and have to play a First Four game against SMU on Wednesday. But after all the debate and hand-wringing that came with theirlast week, which immediately turned them from sure thing into bubble team, they now enjoy the same privilege as the other 67 teams in the field. They will have a chance to win and advance, with no selection committee, bracketologists or former coaches-turned-TV experts deciding their fate. “I was very confident,” Miami forward Eian Elmer said. “I think it’s hard to leave a team that’s 31-0 in a regular season out. It just wouldn’t look right for the sport, diminishing something like that, something that’s very rarely done.”The chair of the selection committee, Keith Gill, tried to explain how Miami of the lightly regarded Mid-American Conference ended up where it did. The RedHawks, he said, were not the last of the 37 at-large teams slotted into the field. But, he said, they were ranked last of those 37 teams because once they got in, they were compared against other teams close to them, and things like their 339th-ranked strength of schedule and zero wins against top-caliber, or Quadrant 1, opponents worked against them. Other factors worked for them, including having the nation’s second-ranked scoring offense, along with a “strength of record” in the top 30 and “wins above bubble” in the top 40 .For what it’s worth, Miami is an 8 1/2-point underdog against SMU and a 2000-1 longshot to win it all, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Unlikely, indeed, but still better odds than the much-cited 9.2 quintillion-1 odds a person has of filling out a perfect bracket.The favorite to win the national championship, according to BetMGM, is Michigan, which was listed at 13-4 shortly after the bracket came out, just a tad ahead of Duke, which was 10-3.to Purdue in the Big Ten title game. The Boilermakers are a 2 seed instead of a 3 with the win, heading to St. Louis to play tournament first-timer Queens. The conference title did not do as much for St. John’s , which stayed where it’s been predicted most of the season — as a No. 5 — even after a 20-point win over UConn for the Big East title. “Their results in the nonconference did not have kind of the same depth and quality of some of the folks that are ahead of them,” Gill said of the Red Storm’s less-than-stellar non-conference showing this season. Last year, St. John’s became the sixth team coach Rick Pitino had led to the tournament. This year, the Johnnies go again but they must travel to San Diego to face Northern Iowa in the first round. “I said, ‘Don’t take it as a negative,’” Pitino said. “I’ve had teams go to a Final Four that first had to go to Portland and then Arizona from Louisville.”The Tigers had 16 losses but the nation’s third-best strength of schedule. The snub drew predictable blowback from Bruce Pearl, their former coach and father of their current coach, who was working for CBS and said “they played the toughest schedule in the country and I don’t know if they were rewarded for it.” Even with Oklahoma and Auburn left out, the Southeastern Conference led the way by placing 10 teams in the field of 68, four short of its record from last year. The Big Ten followed with nine, the ACC and Big 12 with eight apiece -- an unsurprising result in an era of massive conference expansion and NIL compensation drawing top players to the biggest spenders. The Gators are the defending champion, trying to repeat their back-to-back titles from 2006-07. Last season, Florida was part of an all-No. 1 Final Four -- the first time that had happened in 17 seasons.No. 2 Houston got placed in the South Regional, with its potential Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games scheduled for Houston. In the mix is a possible rematch of last year’s national final against Florida, which would essentially be a road team with a better seed. “If we have to run into that issue, there’s worse problems in the world,” Gators coach Todd Golden said earlier this week. But “I would enjoy somebody else in Houston than Houston.” Giving teams home games in regionals is something the NCAA tries to avoid. Gill said it wasn’t possible in this case, and pointed out that last year, Houston was a No. 1 seed that beat Purdue in Indianapolis, which is located an hour away from the Boilermakers campus. “What I would say is, it’s the NCAA Tournament,” Gill said. “You’re going to have to win games away from home against really tough opponents, and that’s why this is the best postseason in sports.”
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