Source: collegebasketball.nbcsports.com / The bracket is set, now all that's left is to just fill it out- which is always easier said than done!

Initial Takeaways From the 2019 NCAA Tournament Bracket

Happy Monday everyone! Selection Sunday is in the books and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised as the bracket was unveiled yesterday. The selection committee usually does an outstanding job of drawing my ire. Whether it be putting a team in that nobody had in the field, or leaving out a more-than-deserving mid-major, to making a mess of the seedings, this year's bracket actually seemed to minimize those normally prevalent issues. Overall, I believe that the committee put together an outstanding field, and I don't really have any majors qualms. That being said, I have plenty of initial takeaways from the bracket reveal. So let's jump right into it -

I'm going to start with the ever-popular 5 vs 12 matchups. These are the seeding pairings with the most upset potential, and it is well-documented every year how you need to pick a 12-seed or two because they always pull off an upset. In fact, over the past 11 years, #12-seeds are an impressive 20-24 overall. Last year, was an exception however as all four #5-seeds won. In 2017 it was one of the 12-seeds (Middle Tennessee State) and in 2016 there were two - Yale & Little Rock.

* 12's vs 5's

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This year's batch of 12 vs 5 matchups offer plenty of intrigue as well. Liberty is already a popular pick out there to upset Mississippi State. The Flames were an impressive 28-6 this season, and certainly have the shooters and skill to be able to pull off an upset. The Bulldogs have length in their frontcourt, force a high amount of steals, and surround their high-scoring point guard with a bunch of shooters.

Source: courier-journal.com / Watch out for Ja Morant & Murray State, the Racers have an intriguing matchup with 5-seed Marquette.

The Marquette vs Murray State 5/12 matchup is intriguing as well. The Golden Eagles literally let the Big East regular season championship slip from their grasp after finishing the regular season on a four-game losing streak, including a pair of losses at home to teams who did not make the field. They bounced-back a bit by getting a win in the Big East tournament, and then fell in a physical semifinals matchup with Seton Hall. Marquette's quiet close to the season (1-5), should leave them on upset alert. Murray State is quick, and they have a terrific guard in Ja Morant, who averaged over 24 points and led the nation in assists at over 10 per game. The Racers raced through the Ohio Valley Conference and come in having won 11 straight, including a 12-point win over Belmont in the OVC title game. Watch out for the Racers.

Auburn and New Mexico State offers plenty of interest as well. At first glance, one might want to easily dismiss the Aggies since they play in the WAC, which is not known for quality opposition. That being said, their demolition of a solid Grand Canyon squad (coach by "Thunder" Dan Majerle) in the WAC Title game (30+ point blowout) was impressive and has the Aggies playing really good ball at the right time of year.

Source: cbssports.com / Auburn had an impressive run through the SEC tournament - will they have enough left in the tank for a 30-win New Mexico State team come Thursday?

Of course the same can be said about the Tigers after their impressive run through the SEC tournament. Auburn absolutely demolished Tennessee yesterday, and Bruce Pearl has his squad playing excellent basketball as well. One factor to take into account ahead of this matchup is the fact that Auburn was the 5-seed in the SEC tournament, and therefore, played four consecutive games to win the conference tournament, including yesterday. After playing four intense conference tournament games in four days, the Tigers don't get an extra day off during the week as well as this is actually a Thursday matchup. After playing games on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, will Auburn be rested and ready after just three days off? Keep an eye on that. New Mexico State had the luxury of breezing through their game on Saturday, and basically will have had an extra day and half's worth of rest. They only played three games in their conference tournament - winning two of those games by 37 & 32 points, respectively. What does it mean? Well, the Aggies come into the tournament confident & rested. That makes this matchup another toss-up in my opinion.

Finally, Oregon vs Wisconsin is the last of the 5 vs 12 matchups. The Ducks just went on a tear to sneak-in the tournament. They've won 8 straight, including a run through the Pac-12 tournament, where they crushed a lackluster Washington on Saturday. Dana Altman's team is playing terrific defense at the moment and forcing turnovers - which makes their matchup with Wisconsin all-the-more interesting. The Badgers are one of the best in the country when it comes to taking care of the ball, but they do struggle with longer-than-expected scoring droughts at times. Ethan Happ will be a matchup problem down low, but has his own issues from the free-throw line, which is something to keep an eye on as well. Expect a lower-scoring, defensive game in this one.

Let's Talk Seeding:

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My next takeaway from the bracket has to do with the overall seeding. For the most part, I believe the committee actually did a better job than they normally do when it came to seeding of the entire field. There were a couple of exceptions, but nothing too egregious this year:

Source: clarionledger.com / Mississippi State probably should have been a 6/7 seed. They are slightly over-seeded as a 5.
  • Mississippi State as a 5-seed. The Bulldogs were certainly a quality opponent in the SEC, and lost some close games this year as well. However, to seed the 10-loss Bulldogs ahead of regular season & conference tournament Champion Villanova, out of the Big East just doesn't make much sense. MSU wasn't close to sniffing a piece of a regular season or conference tournament championship in the SEC. Furthermore, the Wildcats' overall resume is more impressive than MSU's
  •  Virginia Tech as a 4-seed. Not a huge issue with this, although I was a bit surprised to see the Hokies land in the top 16. VT certainly had a good season, highlighted by a home victory over Duke (the Blue Devils' were without Zion Williamson). They finished with a sparkling "NET" rating (11), and I believe that was a big factor in them landing on the 4-line. Personally, I thought the Hokies should have been a 5 or a 6.
  • Oklahoma & Ole Miss slightly over-seeded. The Sooners were shocked in the opening round of the Big XII tournament by last-place West Virginia (who went on to defeat Texas Tech as well), which was a quiet way to head into the tournament. At just 19-13 overall after that loss, and 8-12 in the Big XII, Oklahoma probably should have been a 10-seed at best. I have less issue with Ole Miss as an 8-seed, I felt that a couple of other teams (Minnesota & Seton Hall in particular), did an excellent job of boosting their resumes this past week by picking up some big "quality" wins within conference tournament play. The Rebels, meanwhile, lost to Alabama in the opening round of the SEC tourney. 
Source: si.com / A 6-seed for the defending National Champs, after completing a Big East regular season & tournament titles sweep, seems a bit off. That kind of resume seems more like a 4/5...

Villanova & Nevada both underseeded. I've already touched on Villanova a bit, the Wildcats had a little losing streak in mid-February, but have put that well in the rearview mirror. A run through the Big East tournament was impressive, and gave them both the regular season & tournament crowns. That is top-5 seed material for sure. Nevada suffered a surprising loss in the Mountain West tournament, losing in the semifinals to a San Diego State team they beat by 28 to close out the regular season on March 9th. The Wolfpack finished up 29-4 with a NET in the low 20s. That seems more like a 5-seed profile than a 7-seed. This team will be dangerous, as they have the experience & size to make another deep run, just like last year where they went all the way to the Elite 8. An opening matchup with Florida won't be easy, but if they can get past the Gators, this is actually a team that matches up very well with potential second-round opponent Michigan.

Wofford vs Seton Hall

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What a 7/10 matchup we have here. Wofford has been one of the most solid mid-majors out there all season long, and all four of their losses came to "power" conference teams that are in the field. That is as impressive a resume as you will ever see out of a mid-major. The committee rewarded the Terriers accordingly, by giving them a 7-seed.

The Pirates of Seton Hall, meanwhile, just went on one heck of a run to closeout the season. They knocked off Marquette & Villanova during the last week of the regular season, then beat-up Georgetown in the Big East Quarterfinals, snuck-past Marquette again, and then fell 74-72 in a riveting Big East Title game on Saturday. Seton Hall is playing their best basketball of the season, and Wofford hasn't lost since falling to Mississippi State way back on December 19th. This should be one heck of a ball-game.

Source: 247sports.com / Michigan State could have easily been slated as the final #1 seed after completing a Big TEN regular season & conference tournament Championships.

The #1 Seeds

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My final initial takeaway from the bracket, deals with the four #1-seeds. Overall, I don't really have an issue with how the committee arrived at the 1-seeds. Duke is clearly deserving of the top overall seed now that Zion Williamson has returned, Virginia was ACC regular season co-champion with UNC, and finished the season with just 3 losses. Two to Duke during the regular season, and the loss to FSU in the ACC semifinals. Gonzaga was the only team in the country to defeat Duke while they were at full-strength, and they finished with a "NET" rating of 2, so the Zags are definitely deserving of their #1-seed as well.

North Carolina certainly had a fine season, highlighted by numerous quality wins, including a pair over a Zion Williamson-less Duke team. Williamson returned for the ACC tournament, and UNC could not get past the Dukies for a third time.

Meanwhile, Michigan State split the Big TEN regular season title with Purdue, then went on to defeat the likes of Wisconsin and Michigan (a 5-seed & 2-seed in the bracket respectively) to win the Big TEN conference tournament as well. For a conference that was rated as the best in overall quality depth from top to bottom, you can certainly make a case for the Spartans as the final 1-seed. At the very least, MSU did not deserve being slated as the lowest of the 2-seeds, drawing Duke in their region. That little wrinkle doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Well, there you have it boys & girls, my initial takeaways from the bracket. I will have plenty more coverage over the next couple of days, including potential "upset" picks to keep an eye on! As always, thank you all for your support, and if you haven't already checkout my boy @thesportsguru and his awesome sportscast breaking down the bracket! Happy Monday everyone, its almost NCAA tournament time, as always, happy reading & writing!!