Michigan, Duke, Arizona top NCAA's early bracket seeding preview - ESPN

Michigan was the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament men's basketball selection committee's bracket preview, revealed on Saturday, followed by Duke and Arizona in what the committee chair called a consensus top three.

The Wolverines rank No. 1 in six of the seven metrics on the NCAA teamsheets, also leading the country in combined Quadrant 1 and 2 wins. Each of the top three teams have 10 Quadrant 1 wins, and the Wildcats remained in the top three despite losing two games last week.

Committee chair Keith Gill said there was much more debate surrounding the fourth 1-seed, as UConn's loss to Creighton on Wednesday night dropped the Huskies to the 1-line. Iowa State ultimately took UConn's spot, with Gill saying that Iowa State, UConn and Houston were all strong options in the 1-seed discussion.

Iowa State's win over Houston on Monday «was one of the determining factors,» Gill said.

UConn didn't drop far, earning the first 2-seed, edging out Houston.

«UConn's three best wins are better than Houston's three best wins,» Gill said. "[The committee] weighted those wins a little higher."

The top six teams are likely to change dramatically in the next 24 hours, as Houston hosts Arizona (3 p.m., ABC) and Michigan faces Duke in Washington D.C. (6:30 p.m., ESPN) on Saturday.

Illinois and Purdue rounded out the 2-seeds.

The four 3-seeds were reigning champion Florida, Kansas, Nebraska and Gonzaga, while Texas Tech, Michigan State, Vanderbilt and Virginia were the 4-seeds.

Gill said Texas Tech was originally on the 3-line when they made the top 16 on Wednesday, but after All-American forward JT Toppin was diagnosed with a torn ACL and ruled out of the season, the committee had to reconsider.

«When we scrubbed on Thursday