News Brief: March Madness picks open

The+Kansas+Jayhawks+practice+before+the+first+game+of+the+tournament+in+2016.+This+year%2C+the+Jayhawks+earned+the+No.+4+seed+in+the+Midwest+division.+Duke%2C+Virginia%2C+North+Carolina+and+Gonzaga+collected+No.+1+honors+in+their+respective+divisions.

Credit: Phil Roeder from Des Moines, IA, USA [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

The Kansas Jayhawks practice before the first game of the tournament in 2016. This year, the Jayhawks earned the No. 4 seed in the Midwest division. Duke, Virginia, North Carolina and Gonzaga collected No. 1 honors in their respective divisions.

Aiden Chitkara

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Committee picked and seeded the 68-team field on Sunday, March 17. The Duke Blue Devils were selected as the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. The Blue Devils have coasted through the regular season due to their trio of freshman – according to ESPN Top 100, Duke landed the top three recruits in Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish. These players are also all expected to be top-ten draft picks in the 2019 NBA Draft.

Aside from Duke, the Virginia Cavaliers, North Carolina Tar Heels and Gonzaga Bulldogs were also awarded No. 1 seeds in their respective regions. The tournament is set to kick off with the first four games on Tuesday and Wednesday before the heart of the tournament begins to beat on Thursday with 16 games in action. The tournament will wrap up with the national championship game slated to take place in Minneapolis on April 8.