Arizona not among NCAA selection committee’s top 16 overall seeds

Despite ranking No. 8 in NET and No. 11 in KenPom, the Arizona Wildcats are not among the NCAA selection committee’s top 16 overall seeds, which were revealed Saturday morning for the first time this season.

Arizona isn’t among the top 19 either, according to committee chair Kevin White:

The top 16 seeds are as follows:

1-seeds

1. Baylor (South)
2. Kansas (Midwest)
3. Gonzaga (West)
4. San Diego State (East)

2-seeds

1. Duke (East)
2. Dayton (Midwest)
3. Louisville (South)
4. West Virginia (West)

3-seeds

1. Maryland (East)
2. Florida State (Midwest)
3. Seton Hall (South)
4. Villanova (West)

4-seeds

1. Auburn (South)
2. Oregon (West)
3. Butler (East)
4. Michigan State (Midwest)

While Arizona impresses in NET and KenPom, the biggest blemish on its resume is its record against top-tier competition.

The Wildcats are 2-4 in Quadrant 1 games, those victories coming against Colorado and Washington, who rank 18th and 55th in NET, respectively. (The Illinois victory now qualifies as a Quadrant 2 win after they dropped two straight games.)

Bracketmatrix.com, which compiles all the major bracket projections, says the Wildcats average out to a 5.62 seed.