NCAA Tournament 2014: Bracket reactions, instant analysis

Original by Ryan Fagan (Slight changes by +Marleigh Crews) 
+Sporting News 

East Region

Yes, +University of Virginia, there is a No. 1 seed. The committee clearly rewarded the accomplishment of winning the ACC in the regular season and the tournament. And it seems the loss to Seton Hall was very damaging to Villanova.

But, of course, the big news here was the reveal of the final at-large teams. +SMU Mustangs, +Florida State Seminoles, +UWGB (Green Bay at Wisconsin) and +Georgetown University, were the first four teams out. 

The lowest at-large team in this region is, in fact, ninth-seeded +George Washington University Colonials, which seems odd. You have auto bids at 10 (St. Joe's) , 11 (+Providence Friars), 12 (+Harvard University) and 13 (+University of Delaware).

Big East member, Villanova, their Head Coach, Jay Wright on readying up for +NCAA Men's Basketball March Madness 

MORE: Interactive bracket | Printable | Should you bet against the top seeds?

Seed-wise, I thought +North Carolina Tar Heels would get a 5 and +University of Cincinnati Bearcats, +UConn, and +Michigan State Athletics might be a line up, but that’s not a big deal.

Midwest Region

The stunner in most folks’ minds will be +Louisville Cardinals Athletics as a No. 4 seed. I had them as a No. 3 seed because of their awful, awful non-conference schedule, but there’s no way I thought they would be down as far as a fourth seed, not with the way they blew through the AAC Tournament. That’s surprising. Very surprising, Sports CR3W felt along with Michigan State as a 4. No #1 seed should face those two teams who look to be at full strength currently in the sweet 16 / Regional Finals. Both won their perspective conference tournaments as evidenced.

Speaking of surprisingly low seeds … +Kentucky Wildcats Athletics as an 8 seed? That’s unexpected. It’s a brutal bracket for No. 1 seed +Wichita State, with those two on the top half of the bracket, not to mention +Duke Basketball as a No. 3 seed and +Michigan Wolverines as a 2.

Final Four Seeds (Paul Nisely/SN Illustration)(AP Photos)

PHOTOS: Biggest NCAA Tournament first-round upsets

The crushing reveal in this bracket was when +North Carolina State University got a surprising bid over other potential at-large candidates. The Wolfpack clearly punched their ticket with their ACC Tournament victory against +Syracuse Orange.

West Region

Where to start? A handful of surprising seeds handed out in this region. +BYU, whom +SPORTS CR3W had as "out" to surely +SMU Mustangs, even Green Bay or the Seminoles. The WCC is a one bid conference this year. Very surprising that they got in, let alone as a 10 seed. They had one good win versus the +Texas Longhorns (a 7 seed). Win you look at good wins and then bad losses. BYU played 5 games, all losses, but one, against teams with an RPI of 135 or worse. +San Diego State Athletics was given a No. 4 seed, which is almost stunning considering +UNM (New Mexico) — which beat the Aztecs twice this year — was a 7 seed in the South. Befuddling.

And we have a couple of thoroughly entertaining potential matchups with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line. +Oklahoma State Athletics winds up as a No. 9 seed, and if the Cowboys get past the overseeded +Gonzaga Bulldogs — hint, they will — they’ll face top seed Arizona. That will be a fantastic matchup, or at least a very entertaining matchup.

Then, maybe 11th-seeded +Nebraska Cornhuskers  against third-seeded +Creighton University? Of course, the Cornhuskers — the most out-of-nowhere success story this year — first have to play Baylor in the opener. And nobody wants to play the red-hot Bears right about now.

Here Nebraska's Head Coach Tim Miles Touching on the match up versus the +Baylor Athletics Basketball Team

South Region

Honestly, I was a little surprised +Virginia Commonwealth University was as high as a No. 5 seed, but I was a lot surprised that New Mexico wound up as a No. 7 seed. The Lobos beat San Diego State twice — once during the regular season and then again in the Mountain West championship game. Add in a win against Cincinnati — the top seed in the American tournament — and solid computer numbers — the Lobos were 13th in the RPI and 28th in the Pomeroy ratings, and I thought they deserved a seed as high as five.

Also, love the fact that +Ohio State Buckeyes has to play in-state foe +University of Dayton Flyers Flyers. That’ll be intense. Zero surprise about Florida as the top overall seed, or Kansas as a No. 2. The +Kansas Jayhawks struggled, at times, without Joel Embiid, but their resume is beyond reproach, despite the nine losses. Have noticed that Kansas has been able to play in the states of Kansas or Missouri in their last three NCAA Tournaments of the top of our heads'. It might even be more. We understand that they're a locale ideal for the Midwest area of the country but it is a trend we've noticed as the Tar Heels have fallen victim to it the last couple match ups vs the Jayhawks.


+Brought to you by +CBS Sports, Kansas Head Coach Bill Self