Memphis returned to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years, earning a 5-seed after going 29-4, winning the AAC regular season title, and winning the AAC Tournament 84-72 over UAB minutes before the bracket was released.
The Tigers will open up play against the Mountain West Tournament Champion, 12-seed Colorado St., on Friday at 1 p.m. in Seattle.
Memphis was one of the biggest surprises of the bracket reveal, as only one of the 111 bracketologists on bracketmatrix.com projected Memphis as a 5-seed, and the consensus projection was an 8-seed. This is Memphis’ highest seed since 2009, the year of their last Sweet 16 appearance, when they earned a 2-seed in John Calipari’s final season as the coach.
Colorado St. is one of the hottest teams in the country and have won 10 straight games by a comfortable margin, as no game has been within 8 points.
This game will feature two of the top scorers in the nation, with Memphis being led by PJ Haggerty, who is 3rd in the nation in scoring at 21.8 points per game, and Colorado St. being led by Nique Clifford at 19.0 points per game.
Memphis’ third leading scorer and starting point guard Tyrese Hunter’s status is in doubt for this game, after missing the AAC Championship Game due to a foot injury he suffered in the semifinals against Tulane. He was wearing a boot and using crutches on Saturday and Sunday due to this injury.
The winner of this matchup will play the winner of 4-seed Maryland against 13-seed Grand Canyon.
The SEC tournament champion Florida Gators is the 1-seed in this region, and the 2-seed in the region is the Big East Regular Season and Tournament Champion St. John’s Red Storm.
