It was more entertaining and definitely more exciting than expected.
For the first time, the NCAA Tournament selection committee announced its top 16 seeds before Selection Sunday.
As expected Saturday, it was stressed several times that no one expects the seeds to stand, not with more than a month of basketball to be played.
There really weren't any shocks; maybe it was a little surprising that no Big Ten team was in this Sweet 16. Wisconsin is 10-1 in conference play and 21-3 overall, but the Badgers didn't have any high-quality wins, just good losses, in the nonconference schedule. Besides, the Big Ten appears to be down this season.
The Big Ten apparently still will get five spots in the NCAA Tournament, and it is becoming more clear that unless there is a tornado at the SEC Tournament and a surprising run by someone other than Kentucky, Florida or South Carolina, those will be the only three teams in the main March Madness. It is always difficult to get excited about the NIT.
Florida was named as the third No. 3 seed, or the 11th team, and Kentucky was the fourth No. 3 seed, or the 12th team.
Gonzaga is No. 1 in The Associated Press poll, but playing in the West Coast Conference knocked the Bulldogs down to the fourth No. 1 seed.
If you go to a Gonzaga game, you could see three fans sitting together wearing T-shirts that claim: "Don't Call Us Cinderella"; "Don't Call Us Zags. We're Bulldogs"; and "ZAGS."
The other No. 1 seeds in order were Villanova, Kansas and Baylor.
Yes, the Big 12 had two of the No. 1 seeds. When streaky West Virginia was named a No. 4 seed, that gave the Big 12 a tie with the Pac-12 with three of the top 16 picks.
The Mountaineers are a great case in point of why RPI rankings today are not as important as a dozen years ago. West Virginia's RPI was 33, the highest of any of the top 16 seeds, but the Mountainers were ranked No. 4 in KenPom.com, No. 3 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index and No. 2 by Jeff Sagarin.
The ACC, as expected, led the way with five teams despite no No. 1 seed. North Carolina led the way as the top No. 2 seed, Florida State was the second No. 2 seed and Louisville the third No. 2 seed. Virginia, a No. 3 seed, and Duke joined the Sweet 16.
Duke was the final team named, but now that Coach Mike Krzyzewski has returned from a month's absence after back surgery and the Blue Devils just stormed from behind to beat North Carolina on Thursday, don't count them out. Referees always seem to love the Dukies in March.
Butler has found its way back into the spotlight -- it went to back-to-back championship games in 2010 (61-59 loss to Duke) and in 2011 (53-41 loss to UConn) -- and was named as a No. 4 seed. That gave the Big East two teams in the top 16, along with overall No. 1 Villanova. Xavier and Creighton will join those two when the field of 68 is announced.
During the broadcast on CBS, Kentucky Coach John Calipari was asked about announcing the top 16 seeds this early, and he said he liked the transparency in the process.
Which was really obvious in the fact that selection committee Chairman Mark Hollis is the athletic director at Michigan State, but the Big Ten was shut out of the top 16 spots.
It is also glaring that while the SEC continues to be a great football conference, basketball has struggled since Nolan Richardson and Rick Pitino were prowling the sidelines.
Sports on 02/12/2017