NCAA Tournament 2017: Selection Sunday Schedule, Latest Bracketology

If you're like me and are so excited about Selection Sunday every year that you irrationally fill out an empty bracket as the show goes on even though the tournament field will be on every sports website immediately afterward, then here's the pertinent information you need to know about the bracket reveal.

The CBS Selection Sunday Show schedule is via Kyle Boone of CBSSports.com:

Date and Time: Sunday, March 12, from 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. ET

TV: CBS

Live Stream: March Madness Live

Hosts and Commentators: Greg Gumbel (host), Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis (analysts) on the primary set in New York City; Ernie Johnson (host), Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith (analysts) on the secondary set in Atlanta.

Here's a look at the latest bracketology picks from three experts: Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report, Joe Lunardi of ESPN and Jerry Palm of CBS.

Bracketology

Kerry Miller (Bleacher Report)

No. 1 Seeds	Villanova	North Carolina	Gonzaga	Kansas
First Four In	USC	Providence	Rhode Island	Kansas State
Last Four Out	Illinois State	TCU	Monmouth	Iowa

Joe Lunardi (ESPN)

No. 1 Seeds	Villanova	North Carolina	Kansas	Gonzaga
First Four In	Syracuse	Wake Forest	USC	Kansas State
Last Four Out	Rhode Island	Illinois State	Houston	Cal

 

Jerry Palm (CBS)

No. 1 Seeds	Villanova	Kansas	North Carolina	Gonzaga
First Four In	Kansas State	Wake Forest	Cal	Rhode Island
Last Four Out	Vanderbilt	Illinois State	Georgia	Iowa

 

No. 1 Seeds

Each expert has Villanova, North Carolina, Kansas and Gonzaga on the No. 1 seed line. Gonzaga (which went 32-1 and won the WCC title) and Villanova (which is 30-3 and plays in the Big East title game tomorrow night against Creighton) figure to be stone-cold locks for No. 1 seeds at this point, with North Carolina just a small notch below even though it lost a tough semifinal matchup against Duke in the ACC tournament. Expect the Tar Heels to hang onto that No. 1 spot.

Kansas is the trickiest case. Although freshman star Josh Jackson did not play due to a suspension, the Jayhawks should have beaten a TCU team that finished eighth in the Big 12 and isn't going to make the NCAA tournament field after losing by 21 to Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.

The Jayhawks' biggest problem might be that Kentucky (if it wins the SEC) and the winner of the Pac-12 title game (either Arizona or Oregon) will present a good case to the committee for a No. 1 seed.

The guess here is that Kansas falls to the No. 2 seed line while Oregon wins the Pac-12 and moves up to No. 1.

 

First Four In

Kansas State should feel safe even though it is considered a "First Four In" team by all three bracketologists. While the Wildcats don't have a lot of breathing room between making the NCAA tournament field and heading to the NIT, K-State certainly passed the eye test this week by beating No. 9 Baylor, 70-64 and nearly beating No. 11 West Virginia, losing just 51-50.

Wake Forest is in the same boat as Kansas State, as it beat No. 10 Louisville and Virginia Tech (on Senior Day in Blacksburg, Virginia) to close the regular season.

Lastly, USC should make the field. The Trojans finished the season 24-9 overall and fifth in the tough Pac-12. The Trojans do not have any signature non-conference wins, but they did beat UCLA and played more than half of the season without sophomore forward Bennie Boatwright, who led the team with 14.6 points a game.

Ultimately, we can write the Demon Deacons', Wildcats' and Trojans' names on the at-large list in pen.

 

Last Four Out

Illinois State looks to be headed for the NIT despite a fantastic season that saw the Redbirds finish 27-6 overall and 17-1 in Missouri Valley Conference play. ISU lost in the MVC title game to Wichita State, 71-51, though, which has the Redbirds sitting on the fence at this time. Unfortunately, ISU doesn't have a signature win on its resume aside from one victory over Wichita State this season, and that will lead to an NIT appearance.

Rhode Island seems to be a source of debate among the three experts, as Palm and Miller have the Rams in the field while Lunardi has them sitting on the outside looking in. The Rams control their own NCAA tournament destiny, however, as they are alive in the Atlantic-10 tournament and face Davidson in the semifinals on Saturday. Rhode Island got a huge break and will avoid playing No. 1 seed Dayton, who Davidson ousted in the quarterfinals.

If the Rams lose to Davidson, their NCAA tournament hopes will be dashed. But if URI beats Davidson and loses in the final, then the guess here is that URI makes it as one of the last at-large teams.

Of course, the Rams can make all this talk moot with two wins and an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.