Joe Lunardi reveals tiebreaker criteria between Kansas, Alabama in latest ESPN Bracketology

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi revealed Kansas as his current top overall seed in his latest Bracketology prediction, and why he chose them over Alabama. According to Lunardi the top five teams in the field are nearly indistinguishable, with Kansas taking a slight edge over the rest due to their quality of record.

Joe Lunardi weighs in on Kansas-Alabama debate

Although the latest AP Poll rankings list Houston and UCLA as number one and two in the nation, Lunardi believes that they are behind the Jayhawks and Crimson Tide in the one-seed category. The very top of the list is an honor that goes to Kansas however, with Alabama coming in as Lunardi’s second-overall team in the upcoming NCAA Tournament bracket.

“On our current board, there are two virtual ties among the top five teams on the seed list. One is between Kansas and Alabama for the No. 1 overall seed,” explained Lunardi.

“At the very top, we broke the KU-Alabama tie on the basis of quality wins (advantage Kansas) and strength of conference won (also advantage Kansas).”

Both teams had a chance to distinguish themselves even more coming into the final game of the regular season, although losses for both squads kept the bracket seeding tightly contested. Kansas fell to Texas on Saturday, with Alabama falling to Texas A&M — leading to Lunardi shifting their positions at the top of the standings.

Rounding out Lunardi’s top seed predictions are Houston and UCLA as one-seeds, with his fifth “tied” team in Purdue falling to a 2-seed. The remaining two-seed positions go to Arizona, Texas and Baylor in Lunardi’s final Bracketology before the conference championships.

Although deciding which one-seed is above the rest may not have much bearing on the way March Madness will shake out, Jayhawks fans get a little bit more bragging rights coming into the Big Dance this year if Lunardi’s rankings are to be believed.