The NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee has revealed their Top 16 teams as of February 17, exactly one month ahead of Selection Sunday on March 17. While we’re still a long ways away from the full field being finalized, this is a good exercise to gauge where the top teams stand if the season ended at this very moment.
Here are the Top 16 teams according to the NCAA selection committee as of today:
Purdue, UConn, and Houston are the three teams that have stood above the rest of the pack throughout the year and the committee has prioritized the Boilermakers as the top team in the entire country. Zach Edey and company are barreling right through Big Ten competition and have put together the most impressive resume with a nation-leading nine Quad 1 victories. Even with the ghosts of last year’s 16-1 debacle still lurking, the committee has still prioritized them over the defending national champion Huskies as the top seed.
Because of seeding and selection principles, sometimes teams are moved from one region to another to protect the integrity of the top 16 seeds. That’s why you’ll see Auburn in the West Region below, despite them being the best of the No. 4 seeds.
Here are the regions as of today: