Auburn, Alabama, Florida headline SEC’s haul in the NCAA selection committee’s early top-16 seeds

Auburn was the No. 1 overall seed while the Southeastern Conference tallied five of the top six seeds in the preliminary rankings unveiled Saturday by the committee that will select the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers, ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for five consecutive weeks, held the top line in the unveiling of the top 16 seeds on CBS. That would earmark Auburn for a close-to-home regional in Atlanta as the top seed in the projected South Region bracket.

Alabama, Duke and Florida held the other top seeds, giving the SEC three No. 1 seeds while league members Tennessee and Texas A&M were the top 2-seeds.

Overall, the SEC had six teams among the top 16, with Kentucky checking in at No. 10 overall and as a regional 3-seed to continue what has been a huge year on the hardwood for the league best known for its football prowess.

Purdue and Houston were the next 2-seeds, while Iowa State, Wisconsin and Arizona joined Kentucky as 3-seeds. Texas Tech, Michigan, preseason AP No. 1 Kansas and St. John’s were 4-seeds to round out the top 16.

Saturday’s reveal is a snapshot of where things stand with a month left until Selection Sunday. Generally the teams listed above the cutline for a top-four regional seed stay there, albeit with minor fluctuations when it comes to eventual seeding.

Since the first seed-reveal show in 2017, 94 of 112 teams (83.9%) have remained as top-16 seeds; that data from the NCAA excludes 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the cancellation of that year’s tournament.

Meanwhile, at least 11 teams that appeared in the preliminary reveal have ended up as top-16 seeds every year, including 14 of 16 last year and 15 of 16 in 2017, 2022 and 2023.

As for the headliners, 22 of 28 teams that had a 1-seed in the preliminary rankings ultimately remained on the top line by Selection Sunday, including at least three of four every year and all four in 2023. And only one team listed as high as a 2-seed failed to remain inside the top 16 (Villanova in 2021).

Selection Sunday is March 16, with First Four games beginning two days later and the first round following March 20. The regionals are set for Atlanta, Indianapolis, San Francisco and Newark, New Jersey, from March 27-30.

The Final Four will be held in San Antonio, with the semifinals set for April 5 and the championship two days later at the Alamodome.