March Madness Preview Shows 2019 Complications With Geography, Competitive Balance

On Saturday afternoon, the NCAA tournament selection committee continued its tradition (born way back in 2017) of offering the world an early glimpse at the top 16 seeds in the NCAA tournament if the season ended that day. Of course, the season didn’t end that day—there were roughly a dozen games being played within the hour of the reveal—but that doesn’t mean the exercise is pure exhibition. With five weeks and a day to go before the actual bracket is set, here are five thoughts on this season’s bracket preview.

1. No alarms and no surprises. The top four seeds were the same quartet everyone should have expected, with the only real question being how they would be ranked within the top seed…