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ESPN College GameDay crew predicts NCAA Tournament Committee's top 16 teams

275133747_4796292347117549_592518599057046758_nby:Jonathan Wagner•02/19/22•

Jonathan Wagner

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Lance King/Getty Images.

The NCAA Tournament Committee will reveal its initial top 16 rankings on Saturday. Ahead of that reveal, the ESPN College GameDay crew took a stab at how the top 16 rankings should look. GameDay projected the top four seeds in each region, making up the top 16.

GameDay’s top 16 prediction

  1. Gonzaga
  2. Auburn
  3. Arizona
  4. Duke
  5. Kentucky
  6. Kansas
  7. Purdue
  8. Baylor
  9. Villanova
  10. Texas Tech
  11. Wisconsin
  12. Illinois
  13. Providence
  14. Tennessee
  15. UCLA
  16. Ohio State

The top 16 will change over the final weeks of the regular season

Gonzaga, Baylor, Villanova, and Ohio State make up the West region in GameDay’s projected top 16. Auburn, Purdue, Texas Tech, and UCLA make up the South region. Arizona, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Tennessee make up the Midwest region, and Duke, Kentucky, Illinois, and Providence make up the East region.

There are just a few weeks remaining in the regular season, with conference tournaments set to take place in less than a month. Between now and Selection Sunday, there will undoubtedly be plenty of changes in the rankings. Now, the attention shifts to how these teams finish out the year.

In addition to GameDay predicting how the NCAA Tournament Committee’s top 16 should look, Seth Greenberg also pointed out two teams that are in big need of a win on Saturday. UNC and Virginia Tech face off on Saturday, and the game has huge implications for the two tournament hopeful teams.

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“I think both teams — Virginia Tech and North Carolina,” stated Greenberg. “Both of those teams, they’e void of a Quad 1 win. There has never been an at-large team from a Power 5 conference that’s gotten into the NCAA Tournament without a Quad 1 win. North Carolina, they get a win on the road at Cassell Coliseum, and you don’t just stroll into Cassell Coliseum and get an easy win — they get that win, that’ll be a Quad 1 win.

“On the other hand, Virginia Tech — they’ve won six in a row, and they’re just trying to continue to build their resume. This time of the year, you just need to win games and stay alive. 

“I call it Bee Gees games — staying alive. Look it up, kids.”