UConn, Houston, Purdue, UNC secure No. 1 seeds

Defending national champion UConn, a day removed from winning the Big East tournament and improving to 31-3, was chosen as the men’s No. 1 overall seed Sunday during the NCAA tournament selection show.

The Huskies, who have won seven in a row and finished 7-2 this season against teams in the Associated Press Top 25, are joined on the 1 line by Houston, Purdue and North Carolina, three teams that have been consistently in the top 10 during 2023-24 but lost in their respective conference tournaments last week.

UConn will open its title defense at Barclays Center in Brooklyn against Stetson on Friday. Should the Huskies advance, they will play either Florida Atlantic or Northwestern.

“It’s tough no matter where you are,” UConn coach Dan Hurley told ESPN’s Bracketology panel after the selection show. “There’s so much depth in college basketball these days. This time of year comes down to who plays the best to their identity.”

For the Cougars and Boilermakers, Sunday’s selections mark the second time in as many years they landed at No. 1. They were joined last season by Alabama and Kansas, which both heard their names called this season but not on the top line.

Houston will have to navigate the likes of Duke, Kentucky and Marquette in the South Region if the Cougars are able to make their first Final Four since 2021. The Cougars were rewarded for being the Big 12 regular-season champions and reaching the conference tournament title game before losing to Iowa State. They will face No. 16 seed Longwood, the Big South champion, in Memphis, Tennessee, in the first round Thursday. Houston will be a No. 1 seed for the third time in school history.

“Longwood is a champion — that’s what I know about them,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said in his media availability after the selection show when asked about the Cougars’ first opponent. “They just won a championship.”

For North Carolina, its No. 1 seed is the fourth and final, and came after much debate amid the committee. The Tar Heels will open Thursday in Spokane, Washington, against a winner from Tuesday’s First Four.

“There was a lot of discussion, obviously, North Carolina got it,” Charles McClelland, the chair of this year’s committee, said on CBS’ selection show. “We looked at some head to heads, but overall, North Carolina had a magnificent season. They did what they were supposed to do in the regular season.”

Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis, speaking to reporters in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, after the show, concurred with McClelland.

“We’re a No. 1 seed because of the work this team has done this season,” he said. “I’m proud of how they’ve worked all season, how they’ve played, how they’ve prepared and how — from the start of the season — they’ve wanted to be a team.”

Purdue will also play a First Four advancer. The 29-4 Boilermakers will begin their run Friday in Indianapolis. Purdue, which lost in the first round last season to Fairleigh Dickinson, has won six of its past seven games.

“Our goal was to get right back where we were last year, and obviously, play better and win games,” Purdue coach Matt Painter told reporters in West Lafayette, Indiana, following the selection show. “But this is a real tribute to our guys. … You don’t start as a No. 1 seed the next year. You have to earn it, and our guys have earned it.”

Purdue’s road could include a matchup with No. 4 seed Kansas or No. 5 seed Gonzaga, two teams accustomed to much better seeds this time of year, just to reach the Sweet 16. And to reach the Final Four, the road could go through No. 2 seed Tennessee or No. 3 seed Creighton, which are both coming off disappointing appearances in their conference tournaments.

Hurley’s team has been the most dominant for much of the season, and the Huskies kept that rolling last week at Madison Square Garden. Purdue had the best collection of wins and Houston was No. 1 in most metrics, but their upsets in the Big Ten and Big 12 tournaments, respectively, loomed large in the committee room Sunday.

With several upsets in the conference tournaments this weekend, and several automatic bid teams stealing spots from bubble teams, McClelland called this year’s decisions among “the most difficult” in years.

The Big East was among the conferences that were well represented on the outside portion of the cut line. And Hurley, in speaking with reporters in Storrs, Connecticut, after the selection show, disagreed with St. John’s and Seton Hall, two conference rivals of the Huskies, not making the tournament.

“I’m probably just a little embarrassed for the league, for such a proud league,” Hurley said of the Big East, which ended up with three tournament teams, including Marquette and Creighton. “The whole thing is just kind of a shell game. And it just really comes down to what the committee values.”

Both the SEC and Big 12 placed eight teams in the field, while the Big Ten and Mountain West each had six.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.