Purdue, UConn Among 1 Seeds in 2024 NCAA Men's Tournament Bracket Preview

The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee provided a first look at its current top 16 seeds for the 2024 NCAA tournament on Saturday, and the Purdue Boilermakers are somewhat surprisingly the No. 1 overall seed over the reigning national champion UConn Huskies.

Joining Purdue as No. 1 seeds are UConn, the Houston Cougars and the Arizona Wildcats.

Per ESPN's Jeff Borzello, NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee chair Charles McClelland said Saturday on CBS that all 12 members of the committee had the same exact top four seeds in the same exact order.

With Selection Sunday exactly one month away on March 17, here is a full rundown of the current top 16 seeds:

1. Purdue

2. UConn

3. Houston

4. Arizona

5. North Carolina

6. Tennessee

7. Marquette

8. Kansas

9. Alabama

10. Baylor

11. Iowa State

12. Duke

13. Auburn

14. San Diego State

15. Illinois

16. Wisconsin

Although plenty could change between now and the start of the NCAA tourney, Purdue is in a great position to maintain its spot at the No. 1 overall seed.

The Boilermakers are 23-2 this season, and they find themselves on a nine-game winning streak entering Sunday's game against struggling Ohio State.

Once again, superstar center Zach Edey is the driving force behind the Boilermakers' success, as he is averaging 23.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game and has a chance to go back-to-back as National College Player of the Year.

If he does so, Edey will be the first player to accomplish the feat since Virginia's Ralph Sampson won three in a row from 1981 through 1983.

Purdue won 29 games in both 2021-22 and 2022-23, but it failed to get past the Sweet 16 in either of those seasons, including losing in the first round to 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson last season, so it remains to be seen if regular-season success will translate to a deep NCAA tournament run.

After unexpectedly going the distance and winning their fifth national title since 1999 last season, the Huskies have firmly established themselves as the team to beat during the 2023-24 season despite being the No. 2 overall seed behind Purdue.

Like Purdue, UConn is 23-2 on the season and has won 13 games in a row since a 75-60 road loss to Seton Hall back in December.

Head coach Dan Hurley has a deep and talented roster that features four players averaging at least 11 points per game, including leading scorer Cam Spencer with 15.2 points per game, and Tristen Newman, who is averaging 15.0 points per game, as well as a team-leading 6.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists.

The Huskies have some tough games scheduled down the stretch, including two clashes with the No. 4 team in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll in Marquette, and a road clash with No. 17 Creighton, but they are still in a good spot to potentially take over the No. 1 overall seed before the NCAA tourney starts.

Despite making the move to a major conference this season in the Big 12, Houston has maintained its status as a top-flight team.

The Cougars won 32 games in 2021-22 and 33 games last season, and reached the Elite Eight and Sweet 16, respectively.

Houston is 21-3 this season, and it is led by the sensational guard trio of L.J. Cryer, Jamal Shead and Emanuel Sharp, who are the Cougars' only double-digit scorers this season and will be the biggest keys to their success come tournament time.

Rounding out the group of No. 1 seeds is Arizona, which is No. 5 in the AP Top 25 and leapfrogged No. 4 Marquette for that spot.

The Pac-12-leading Wildcats are 19-5 overall and 10-3 in conference play, and they have arguably been playing their best basketball of the season lately, winning five in a row and seven of their past eight.

As a No. 2 seed last season, Arizona was shocked by No. 15 Princeton in the first round of the NCAA tournament, but the Wildcats may have the firepower to vie for a national title this season.

Five Arizona players are averaging at least 10 points per game, and Caleb Love is the team's clear go-to guy, averaging 18.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists.

Although the current rankings provide a good idea of how the committee is thinking, the results of the next few weeks of regular-season games and the conference tournaments could shake things up significantly before Selection Sunday on March 17.