Today at 12:30 p.m. EST (11:30 a.m. CST), the selection committee will reveal the top 16 seeds for the upcoming NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. This will be the first time the selection committee has ever released any rankings before Selection Sunday in March. The seedings will represent where the committee believes teams stack up against one another at this point in the season.

These rankings will not be final, seeing that there is still a whole month of basketball to be played before Selection Sunday on March 12. The reveal is a new attempt to spark debates and stir up conversations between fans and basketball analysts alike.

“We are excited about giving the fans a glimpse to what the men’s basketball committee is thinking at this point of the season and creating a buzz as we look toward Selection Sunday,” NCAA Tournament Chairman Mark Hollis told CBS Sports.

Starting at 11:30, CBS will air a 30-minute program revealing the top 16 seeds and where they are placed, followed by an in-depth analysis of the selection committee’s reasoning. The show will also include a review of the rest of the field of 68 and a glance at potential bubble teams who could find their way into the tournament by season’s end.

The show will feature Hollis, as well as host Greg Gumbel, analysts Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis, and CBS Braketologist Jerry Palm.

Most fans that have watched college basketball for the majority of the season can probably guess who the top 11 or 12 teams will be, but there may be some surprises when the four-seeds are announced. Someone will get snubbed, but that’s the joy of this whole process. It’s only February, and if you’re even being considered for one of the top four seeds, you’re probably in good shape.

Picking the top 16 teams in the country isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially with all of the parity in college basketball this season. Just last Saturday, six of the top nine teams in the AP poll lost, which caused quite a shakeup in the rankings just seven days before the sneak peak.

Here are my projections for who will be the #1 seeds at 11:30 a.m. CST:

EAST REGION: VILLANOVA

23-2 overall, 10-2 Big East

Week 14 rankings – AP: 2 RPI: 2

Jay Wright’s squad is one of the more experienced teams in the league this season, after returning nearly the whole starting lineup from last years National Championship team. With just two loses on the season, both on the road to Big East Conference opponents, it’s not crazy to think that this team could be the number one overall seed come Selection Sunday. The Wildcats are lead by senior Josh Hart, who averages 19.2 points per game (PPG) and 6.6 rebounds per game (RPG), both team highs. The John R. Wooden Award Top-20 finalist, senior Kris Jenkins, and sophomore Jalen Brunson make up one the most dynamic ‘”big threes” in college basketball, and based on what they showed us last March, the Wildcats are poised to make another deep run in the big dance.

SOUTH REGION: KANSAS

21-3 overall, 9-2 Big 12

Week 14 rankings– AP: 3 RPI: 3

Per the usual, the Jayhawks are on top of the Big 12 conference yet again, and their top five players are as good as any five players any other team fields. Led by Wooden Award Top-20 finalist Frank Mason III, Kansas has as much talent as anybody in the college game. Four players – Mason, Josh Jackson, Devonte’ Graham, and Svi Mykhailiuk – average double figures, and all four can get their shots off whenever they please. Bill Self’s guys are 3-2 this season when facing teams in the AP Top-25, including a 79-73 road win at Kentucky’s Rupp Arena during the Big 12-SEC Challenge. Lack of depth could prove to be the downfall of the Jayhawks come tournament time, but in February, Kansas’ starters are doing enough to elicit them getting a #1 seed.

WEST REGION: ARIZONA

22-3 overall, 11-1 PAC-12

Week 14 rankings – AP: 9 RPI: 9

Yes, I know Oregon just blew them out in Eugene. Yes, I know Gonzaga is unbeaten and took them down in December. No, I don’t care. This was probably the hardest region to decide on, but I still think the Wildcats are more prepared for the tournament than are the Ducks and Bulldogs. In the loss to Oregon last week, the Ducks made 65.2% of their field goals and 64% (16-of-25) of their threes. No one beats Oregon in that game. At the moment, Arizona owns a one-game lead over Oregon in the PAC-12 standings, and a slight edge in my February top 16 predictions. However, if Gonzaga runs the table and enters Selection Sunday without a loss, Mark Few’s Bulldogs will likely get the #1 seed. Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen averages 15.6 PPG, and the 7’0 freshman from Finland can score in the paint and from behind the arc. He is the x-factor for Sean Miller’s first place Wildcats, and if sophomore Allonzo Trier starts getting back into a rhythm after returning from suspension, the Wildcats will be a team no one wants to see in March.

MIDWEST REGION: WISCONSIN

21-3 overall, 10-1 Big Ten

Week 14 rankings – AP: 7 RPI: 16

Again, not an easy region to pick a top seed, but Wisconsin quietly fits the bill. The Badgers have established themselves as the team to beat in the Big Ten Conference, and they have slowly but surely climbed the rankings this season to where they have a legitimate chance to crack the top five next week in the AP if they can handle Northwestern on Sunday at the Kohl Center. Greg Gard’s team has only lost three times on the year, all three times to AP Top-25 teams, and twice on the road. The 59.8 PPG they allow is good enough for 4^th in all of Division I basketball, and they themselves boast one of the best individual talents in the game. Ethan Happ, another Wooden Award Top-20 finalist, averages 14.7 PPG and 9.1 RPG, and seniors Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes are playing some of the best basketball of their stellar careers. This Badgers team hasn’t made a ton of noise nationally, but something tells me everyone will know about this team next month.

REST OF THE FIELD

2-seeds: Gonzaga, North Carolina, Oregon

3-seeds: UCLA, West Virginia, Kentucky

4-seeds: Florida State, Louisville, Baylor

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This year, it was the Big 12 co-champions Baylor and TCU that got snubbed big time. Both arguably deserved to make the field of four more than Ohio State. With only four spots, one major conference will have its champion not in the playoffs and that doesn’t take into fact if conference independent Notre Dame is great or if two teams from a single conference are in the top four. During the 2011 season, Southeastern Conference rivals LSU and Alabama finished the regular season #1 and #2, so it is possible that two teams from one conference could make the playoffs with only four spots.

The eight team field this past season would have been #1 Alabama vs. #8 Michigan State, #2 Oregon vs. #7 Mississippi State, #3 Florida State vs. #6 TCU, and #4 Ohio State vs. #5 Baylor. This eight-team field would have been incredible to watch, and who’s to say Ohio State would have actually won the championship if it were eight teams.

The problem with the BCS was the two “best” teams in the country were determined by a combination of human polls and computer rankings. Many years, it was thought the two “best” teams playing in the BCS championship were not actually the two “best” teams. Despite the CFP (College Football Playoff) Selection committee – comprised of Athletic Directors, former coaches, and former players – is a better alternative to the BCS, there is still the possibility for major error.

By the playoff only having four teams, there is still a high probability that the best team won’t be selected into the playoff. That may be the case since not every power conference champion makes the field and teams in smaller conferences such as Boise State or Marshall have virtually no shot at being at least fourth in the rankings.

My idea for increasing competiveness and a better overall playoff is to increase the field to eight teams. The champions from the power 5 conferences (SEC, ACC, Big 10, Big 12, and Pac 12) would have each of their champions clinch a berth in the playoffs. Regarding the remaining three spots, one would go to the top ranked non-power 5 conference team (Mountain West, Sun Belt, Conference USA, American Athletic, and MAC) and the final two spots would be for at large teams.

This system would give teams with one or even two losses the opportunity to compete for a chance to play in the playoffs. Basically, it will eliminate the TCU and Baylor controversy for future years. When determining the playoff field, there shouldn’t be that much controversy of who gets in and who doesn’t.

Increase Competitiveness

The competitiveness in my opinion would increase with a larger playoff field. The reason for this is because with more playoff slots, there are opportunities for more teams to compete for a spot in the playoffs. Whereas with the four team field, teams are eliminated from the playoff hunt when they have as few as 1-2 losses. In the case of Michigan State, they had two losses, but they were at the hands of two very good teams that ultimately played in the college football championship. With regard to smaller schools such as Boise State, it is pretty much one loss and they’re out of contention. Boise State loss a road game week one against Ole Miss and lost at Air Force in their fifth game. Ole Miss finished the season 9-4 and Air Force had an even better record at 10-3. After losing their second game, they won nine straight games to close out the season including beating Pac 12 South champion Arizona.

For the people who think a two loss smaller school shouldn’t make it, that’s fine. However, what about an 11-0 Marshall team. Marshall went into week 14 11-0, but their ranking was 24^th. Even though Marshall didn’t finish undefeated, it’s safe to say they wouldn’t have climbed twenty spots to make the playoffs. Having an increased playoff with a berth for conference champions in the major conferences, the best smaller school would clinch, and two additional at large spots, would leave the doors open for many teams after losing a game or two. The chance to make the playoffs shouldn’t be over after one loss for any team.

Rivalries Will Still Be Competitive

If there are any Alabama or Auburn fans that saw this article, gave it a chance, and then read it until this point, continuing to read will bear good news. Do not worry; rivalry games will not be affected by an eight-team playoff. Most notably, the Alabama vs. Auburn rivalry. There is speculation that this year if there was an eight team playoff, Alabama wouldn’t have tried to win that rivalry game. This would have been the case since Alabama was ranked so high, win or lose it would have still made the playoffs. However, a solution to that problem is that the four higher seeds (#1-4) could host the first round on their campuses. Having that plan in place would have teams playing competitively the entire regular season. Similar to how one loss could remove a team from making the four team playoff, one loss would remove a team from hosting the first round on their campus’.

Season Wouldn’t Be Extended 

The college football bowl season as we know it is about three weeks long. It began this past year on December 20^th, and finished January 4^th (The actual football championship was January 12^th, but I’m referring to the final actual bowl game). Within that period of time, there were three Saturdays. My idea is that the three rounds of the eight team playoff would be played during those three Saturdays. The round of eight would take place the first Saturday, the final four the second Saturday, and the first Saturday of January would be the national championship.

Health Of Players

To ensure the health of the players, I think there are two solutions. One of them is to increase the amount of scholarship players a team can have. When asked about the possibility of an eight team playoff on the Dan Patrick Show, Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer responded, “”You can’t. You better give us 110 scholarships then, because you’re down. I can’t speak for Oregon, I can speak for Ohio State. That when they added — When they had 85 scholarships there were 12 games. Now there’s 15. And the last three they added aren’t against smaller — they’re heavyweight prizefights. You just can’t do it.” Increasing the number of scholarship players to 110 is a great idea; so collegiate athletes don’t have to play as many as 16 games in a single season.

Another solution on top of increasing scholarships is to lessen the regular season by one game. I think having the regular season be 11 games instead of 12 would not only ensure the health of players, but also, increase competitiveness. Each team would have eight conference games and three non-conference games.

Bowl Games Will Still Be Relevant

It’s only eight teams making the playoffs, not the entire top 25. There will still be plenty of great teams that don’t make the playoffs, take for instance this year. Despite eight teams making the playoffs, teams like Kansas State, Missouri, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, and Arizona would all be eligible for big bowl games. Not only will the level of bowl games remain high, but with an increased playoff field, there will be more exciting and thrilling games for college football fans.

Conclusion 

All in all, the eight-team playoff will make college football better and give the fans what they deserve. With regards to TCU and Baylor, there shouldn’t be that much controversy about who was more deserving of making the playoffs. Limiting the playoffs to four teams creates a reality that the best team in college football may not be selected into the playoffs.

Having only four spots doesn’t guarantee every major conference champion a spot, makes it virtually impossible for a smaller school like Boise State or Marshall to make it, and eliminates teams with as little as 1-2 losses from competing to make the playoffs. The current four team playoff system had a lot of controversy this past year, and it’s not going away. The eight team playoff would be perfect for college football.

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