Looks like most people who project locations have us in Wichita, and most sites have us as a 9 seed. But I wanted to dive a little deeper.
If I'm reading the schedule right, 9 seeds can end up in one of three places: Lexington (1 game featuring a 9 seed), Wichita (1 game featuring a 9 seed), and Raleigh (2 games featuring a 9 seed).
For 10 seeds, the slots are: Lexington (x1), Providence (x1), or Cleveland (x2).
I think the other major consideration here is where Auburn and Florida end up. I believe the rule is that we can't play Auburn or Florida until at least the Sweet 16 because we played them twice during the regular season, so I don't think we can be in the same pod as Auburn or Florida (in other words, we can't be the 9 seed to their 1 seed) in any circumstances. Assuming Auburn and Florida end up as 1 seeds in Lexington and Raleigh (presumably Duke would take the other Raleigh 1 and Houston would take Wichita), looks like us ending up as the 9South in Lex or one of 9East/9West in Raleigh is not possible.
In sum, assuming I'm correct in my many assumptions above, these are the likely potential locations for our first round game:
Now, if Tennessee blows out Florida today, all bets are off because we technically can play Tennessee in the second round since we only played them once in the regular season, so if Tennessee gets a 1 we could be their 9 seed. But I think that's unlikely and Lundardi seems to agree.
If I'm reading the schedule right, 9 seeds can end up in one of three places: Lexington (1 game featuring a 9 seed), Wichita (1 game featuring a 9 seed), and Raleigh (2 games featuring a 9 seed).
For 10 seeds, the slots are: Lexington (x1), Providence (x1), or Cleveland (x2).
I think the other major consideration here is where Auburn and Florida end up. I believe the rule is that we can't play Auburn or Florida until at least the Sweet 16 because we played them twice during the regular season, so I don't think we can be in the same pod as Auburn or Florida (in other words, we can't be the 9 seed to their 1 seed) in any circumstances. Assuming Auburn and Florida end up as 1 seeds in Lexington and Raleigh (presumably Duke would take the other Raleigh 1 and Houston would take Wichita), looks like us ending up as the 9South in Lex or one of 9East/9West in Raleigh is not possible.
In sum, assuming I'm correct in my many assumptions above, these are the likely potential locations for our first round game:
- Raleigh (as a 9 in whichever pod Florida/Auburn is not)
- Wichita (as a 9)
- Lexington (as a 10)
- Cleveland (as either of the two 10 slots)
- Providence (as a 10)
Now, if Tennessee blows out Florida today, all bets are off because we technically can play Tennessee in the second round since we only played them once in the regular season, so if Tennessee gets a 1 we could be their 9 seed. But I think that's unlikely and Lundardi seems to agree.
