UConn’s national title defense begins Friday in Brooklyn.
The powerhouse Huskies, who rolled to a national championship last year and a 31-3 record this season, are the top overall seed in the 2024 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, which revealed its bracket Sunday evening.
UConn is joined by Houston (30-4), Purdue (29-4) and North Carolina (27-7) as the tournament’s No. 1 seeds. The Huskies just won the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden, making them the only No. 1 seed to win their conference tournament.
The East Region’s first round pits UConn against No. 16 Stetson at Barclays Center, where, if they avoid an epic upset, the Huskies would then face the winner of Friday’s game between eighth-seeded Florida Atlantic and ninth-seeded Northwestern.
Like UConn, Florida Atlantic made the Final Four last season, as did San Diego State, which is also in this year’s East Region as a No. 5 seed. San Diego State is set to play Alabama-Birmingham on Friday in Spokane, Wash.
Also set to play in Brooklyn in round one is No. 4 Duke, which faces No. 13 Vermont, and No. 5 Wisconsin, which gets No. 12 James Madison. Both games are scheduled for Friday as part of the South Region, which is headlined by Houston and No. 2 Marquette.
Fresh off of its Big 12 Tournament win, Iowa State is a No. 2 seed, where it joins UConn in the East Region. North Carolina and No. 2 seed Arizona lead the West Region, while Purdue and No. 2 seed Tennessee occupy the Midwest Region.
The Big 12 leads all conferences with eight teams in the tournament in Houston, Iowa State, No. 3 Baylor, No. 4 Kansas, No. 6 Texas Tech, No. 6 BYU, No. 7 Texas and No. 9 TCU. The Big East got only three teams in, with No. 3 Creighton joining UConn and Marquette.
The Selection Committee named Boise State, Colorado, Virginia and Colorado State as its last four teams in. Boise State will face Colorado, while Virginia will meet Colorado State in the play-in round to see which teams advance to the main tournament as No. 10 seeds.
Oklahoma, Seton Hall, Pittsburgh and Indiana State — where high-scoring center Robbie Avila became a national revelation — were the first four teams out.
