The Tigers are seeded based on their entire body of work, but the team that's taking the floor this week is much better than what those early-season numbers suggest. Memphis is 12-2 in its last 14 games with two wins in that stretch over regular season and conference tournament champion Houston. Top team - Memphis, West Region: After a 9-8 start to the season and sub-.500 start to conference play, Penny Hardaway made some midseason adjustments that helped spark a turnaround that sealed his first NCAA Tournament appearance as a head coach. 9 seeds Marquette | Creighton | TCU | Memphis I see those two as a 1A and 1B among the 10-seeds, but San Francisco beat Davidson 65-60 on Nov. Top team - San Francisco, East Region: While my personal preference would be to side with the outstanding offensive team (Davidson) over the outstanding defensive team (San Francisco) to break a tie, the results from the season reigned supreme. 10 seeds San Francisco | Miami | Loyola | Davidson No other team on this seed line has that kind of recent form, so while Michigan's ceiling is arguably higher, I'm taking the consistency with Virginia Tech. But that wasn't as much of a one-off for Mike Young's squad as it was the continued growth of a group that turned the corner in early February and has been playing its best basketball down the stretch. Top team - Virginia Tech, East Region: The Hokies beat three NCAA Tournament teams - first Notre Dame, then North Carolina and Duke - on the way to winning the ACC Tournament title and claiming the league's automatic bid. 11 seeds Virginia Tech | Iowa State | Michigan | Notre Dame/Rutgers Walker is the engine of an offense that grades out in the top 30 in terms of efficiency, and his 31.0 points per game average in the Conference USA Tournament points to prolific potential in the Big Dance. Top team - UAB, South Region: Junior guard Jordan "Jelly" Walker has a chance to be a first-weekend star if Andy Kennedy and the Blazers can take down Houston for a March Madness 12-over-5 classic. 12 seeds Wyoming/Indiana | Richmond | UAB | New Mexico State They're a sweet-shooting team with good ball movement and limited turnovers, likely a result of being one of the most experienced teams in the country with seven seniors in the rotation. The Catamounts won the America East regular season crown by six games in the standings before winning all three conference tournament games by 30-plus points. Top team - Vermont, West Region: Like Colgate, Vermont was in a class of its own in league play. 13 seeds Akron | South Dakota State | Chattanooga | Vermont The Raiders are the second-best 3-point shooting team in the country (40.2%), and dominated its league competition in March with three conference tournament wins by 15 or more points. 4 and only lost once, by four, the rest of the season on the way to sweeping both the regular season and conference tournament championships in the Patriot League. Top team - Colgate, Midwest Region: This team was 4-10 on Jan. 14 seeds Yale | Colgate | Longwood | Montana State
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