Arizona Duke and Michigan lead the race for top seed in March Madness
Arizona State, Duke State and Michigan State are the favorites to be the No. 1 seed in men’s March Madness, with UW and Houston vying for the final spot.
As the regular season winds down and the top men’s basketball teams enter conference tournament week, the top spots in USA TODAY’s Sports Coaches Survey largely reflect expectations as Selection Sunday approaches.
Duke enters the ACC Tournament as the top-ranked team in the nation and has a chance to earn the No. 1 overall seed. The Blue Devils once again received 28 of 31 first-place votes. The remaining three wins will once again go to No. 2 Arizona. Arizona is also the top seed in the Big 12 Tournament and is well-positioned to lead the regionals in the Big Dance. Big Ten regular-season champion Michigan State remains No. 3 in the polls, while Surging Florida State continues its upward trajectory, rising to No. 4. Houston returned to the top five while Connecticut, which lost to Marquette, dropped two spots to sixth place.
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The rest of the top 10 has changed slightly, with No. 7 Iowa State and No. 2 Iowa State swapping slightly. 8 Michigan State is solid. Texas Tech drops four spots to No. 14, while Illinois moves up to No. 9, just ahead of Nebraska.
With St. Louis and Tennessee eliminated, No. 23 Wisconsin and No. 24 Louisville will return to the voting.
