The NCAA released the bracket for the 2023 men’s Division I basketball tournament Sunday evening. It shows the 68 teams who made the “big dance.”
The tournament begins Tuesday with the first four, while the first full round begins Thursday. Here is a look at some of the headlines leading into the tournament.
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The No. 1 seeds
The No. 1 seeds for each region are Alabama (South), Houston (Midwest), Kansas (West), and Purdue (East).
Alabama is the overall No. 1 in the tournament and will play their first game Thursday against the winner of the first four match between Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Southeastern Missouri State.
Houston is the second overall seed and is the betting favorite to win the tournament. The Cougars had a 31-3 record in the regular season but fell in the American Athletic Conference championship game against Memphis. They will play Northern Kentucky in the opening round Thursday.
Kansas, the reigning national champions, begin their title defense by playing Howard on Thursday, and Purdue will open on Friday against the winner of the first four match between Fairleigh Dickinson and Texas Southern.
Potential ‘Cinderella’ teams
Cinderella teams, or a team that has unlikely success in the tournament, are unpredictable. Notably, there are some underdog teams with compelling matchups in the opening rounds.
The College of Charleston, a 12 seed in the South region, is primed to be a Cinderella team. They face off against San Diego State in the first round on Thursday. The team is “deep and balanced,” per NBC Sports Chicago, and it matches well against SDSU.
Furman, a 13 seed in the South region, is another potential Cinderella team. They’ll face off against the University of Virginia in the first round on Thursday. The school is making its first NCAA appearance since 1980 and comes in with a 27-7 record. UVA is also a school that is prone to upsets. They infamously lost to 16 seed University of Maryland, Baltimore Country in 2018.
Last year’s Final Four teams
North Carolina and Villanova both failed to make the men’s tournament a year after they made appearances in the Final Four in 2022.
North Carolina was ranked No. 1 in the country before the season began after a national title game appearance. Second-year coach Hubert Davis had four of the five starters return from the 2022 squad but finished unranked with a disappointing 20-13 record. The team declined an invitation to the National Invitational Tournament.
Villanova lost key starters and Hall of Fame head coach Jay Wright after the 2022 season. They struggled to adjust under new head coach Kyle Neptune. The team finished the season 17-16 and will compete in the NIT.
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The first four games begin Tuesday night with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi against Southeastern Missouri State on TruTV at 6:40 p.m., and the first round begins Thursday at 12:15 p.m. Games will be on CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV.
The Final Four is scheduled for April 1, and the National Championship will be played April 3 at NRG Stadium in Houston, with those games being televised by CBS.
