Columbia:
2. South Carolina
15. High Point (Big South)
7. Marquette
10. South Dakota State (Summit)
The defending champs fell at Missouri on Sunday. If they had won, they would have had a great argument for a 1 seed (heck, they still might). The problem: With such little separation on the top few lines, the Gamecocks just don’t have the big-time wins. Yet. Meanwhile the Golden Eagles have won four in a row and six out of seven. That lone loss? By six at Notre Dame. The Big East is another one of those conferences that’s better than you realize.
Tallahassee:
3. Florida State
14. Drake (Missouri Valley)
6. Michigan
11. Quinnipiac (MAAC)
Quinnipiac, made its Cinderella run through Florida last year and is projected to go back to the Sunshine State in 2018. There, the Bobcats would face Michigan — a good team, desperate to find a couple more quality wins. In the top half of the pod, Florida State owns a win at Iowa and at home over Arizona State. The loss at Syracuse stings, but it’s hard to knock the Seminoles too much for that.