The NBA is the league of the best players in the world, with teams like the Lakers and the Celtics and figures of the caliber of LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Stephen Curry, and Luka Doncic. But the main basketball tournament in the United States is the NCAA Men’s National Championship, known as “March Madness,” which generates a passion and media interest that the professionals lost a long time ago.
The top 68 teams in the country qualify for the tournament, it is a single-elimination format, lasting just over two weeks, and the United States comes to a standstill to watch dramatic games and big surprises.
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This Sunday, the 68 teams of the NCAA Tournament were announced, which include the champions of the 31 conferences plus 37 teams that are selected-at-larg by a special committee in a process known as “Selection Sunday”.
Auburn was seeded as No. 1 and the other three regional top seeds will be Duke, Florida, and Houston.
The news is that the SEC Conference set a record with 14 of its 16 teams selected for the “big dance”, including Auburn and Florida.
The SEC, the most important conference in college football, began to invest heavily in basketball a few years ago, where the ACC, Big East, and Big 12 usually reign.
The tournament starts this Tuesday, March 18th with the “First Four”, where eight teams are paired up to compete for the final four spots in the main bracket of 64 universities. One of those matchups will be San Diego State against North Carolina, one of the most traditional teams that was champion in the early 80s led by Michael Jordan.
What will happen to Duke and Cooper Flagg?
Although Auburn was seeded No. 1 nationally and has Johni Broome, all eyes are focused on the recovery of Cooper Flagg.
Duke’s star player, the best player of the season and the candidate to be the first pick in the upcoming NBA Draft got injured last Thursday in the final ACC tournament against Georgia Tech and had to be taken off in a wheelchair.
However, “Blue Devils” coach Jon Scheyer said that Flagg was evolving “in a great way” and believed he would be ready for the first-round game next Friday, March 20th.
Duke’s opponent will come from the game between Mount St. Mary’s and American University.
The Final Four will take place from April 5th to 7th in San Antonio, Texas.