The 2023 men’s basketball NCAA Tournament has proven this season’s conventional wisdom right in one major regard.
When not a single No. 1 seed even reached the Elite Eight for the first time in tourney history, it confirmed what had been widely thought throughout this season: that the competitive gap between the perceived top teams in men’s college hoops in 2022-23 and everybody else was not nearly as wide as in a normal year.
That’s how you get a Final Four of Connecticut vs. Miami (Florida) and San Diego State vs. Florida Atlantic. That’s a No. 4 seed (Connecticut), two No. 5 seeds (Miami and San Diego State) and a No. 9 (Florida Atlantic) seed.
