Purdue is the overall 1-seed in the NCAA tournament men's basketball selection committee's bracket preview, revealed Saturday afternoon, with reigning champion UConn given the overall 2-seed.
It would be the Boilermakers' second straight tournament with a 1-seed. Last season, they lost to Fairleigh Dickinson, becoming only the second 1-seed team in NCAA tournament history to lose to a 16-seed.
UConn is ranked No. 1 in this week's AP poll, but Purdue received the nod over the Huskies because of its superior metrics across the board, as well as the Boilermakers' nine Quadrant 1 wins and 15 Quadrant 1 and 2 wins, both of which are the most in the country.
The bracket preview was released before Saturday's games.
"Getting the No. 1 seed is significant," committee chair Charles McClelland said. "You have the opportunity to choose which region you go in. Good for the teams, also good for the fans."
Houston -- "Different league, same results," McClelland said -- and Arizona, which is ranked in the top five of every selection metric, rounded out the 1-seeds, with McClelland adding that all 12 committee members had the same exact 1-4 order.
"It's not unprecedented for the committee to be unanimous on which four teams deserve to be the top seeds but to have just about everyone agree on the sequence of those teams in terms of how they were voted in on the seed list is highly unusual," McClelland said.
All four 1-seeds in last year's mock-bracket reveal ended up as 1-seeds in the bracket on Selection Sunday.
North Carolina, Tennessee, Marquette and Kansas were the 2-seeds, with Alabama, Baylor, Iowa State and Duke as the 3-seeds.
Auburn, San Diego State, Illinois and Wisconsin rounded out the top 16 as 4-seeds.
McClelland said Dayton, Creighton and Clemson -- not in that exact order -- were also in the conversation for the final spots in the top 16.
"This was a good process to go through, whether you have been on the committee for a number of years or if it was your first time," McClelland said. "Parity is a word that gets thrown around a lot, but I believe we have seen much more of it than in most years, which makes me think we are in for a wild ride down the stretch of the season and as we get to March Madness. As is the case with millions of college basketball fans around the world, the committee is excited and ready."
This is the lone mock bracket reveal of the season. Selection Sunday is March 17.