AP Top 25 teams get last shot to sway NCAA seeds in tourneys

Selection Sunday looms as AP Top 25 teams in major conferencesget their final chances to impact where and why they play in theNCAA Tournament.

In the nation’s top leagues, there could be significant swingsbased on early exits or title runs. Here’s a look at what’s aheadleading up to the biggest day on the sport’s calendar onSunday:

AAC

The American Athletic Conference Tournament begins Thursday inFort Worth, Texas, and it gives top-ranked Houston the chance tomake a final case potentially for the No. 1 overall seed in theNCAAs.

The Cougars (29-2) are the only team in the country to rank inthe top 10 of KenPom’s adjusted efficiency metrics in both offenseand defense.

Houston opens against the East Carolina-South Florida winner onFriday, and the tournament is one of five to end on Sunday shortlybefore the NCAA field is revealed.

ACC

The Atlantic Coast Conference opens its five-day tournamentTuesday in Greensboro, North Carolina. It’s an event lacking a truefavorite or team poised to claim a top-tier postseason seed.

Virginia and No. 14 Miami shared the regular-season title,though the Hurricanes are the top seed for the first time sincewinning the tournament in 2013. But 21st-ranked Duke is theleague’s hottest team with six straight wins.

All three open play in Thursday’s quarterfinals, with theCavaliers on course for a 4-seed, Miami for a 5 and Duke for a 7,according to BracketMatrix.com’s average of 100 mock fields onMonday evening.

BIG 12

Third-ranked Kansas won a national title, overhauled its rosterand still finds itself in the chase for the No. 1 overall NCAA seedentering the Big 12 Tournament.

That tournament opens Wednesday in Kansas City, Missouri, withthe Jayhawks and other top seeds starting play on Day 2.

Kansas (25-6) has a national-best 15 wins in Quadrant 1 gamesthat top the postseason resume, which had them as the top overallseed in ESPN’s Bracketology projection on Monday evening.

Winning a title this week won’t come easy in a league regardedas the nation’s deepest all year. The field includes No. 7 Texas,No. 10 Baylor, No. 12 Kansas State and No. 22 TCU.

BIG EAST

The Big East opens play Wednesday in New York’s Madison SquareGarden with four ranked teams: No. 6 Marquette, No. 11 Connecticut,No. 15 Xavier and No. 24 Creighton.

The top-seeded Golden Eagles, who open play Thursday, have thehighest projected NCAA Tournament seed at No. 3 on both ESPN andBracketMatrix, while BracketMatrix has the Huskies and Musketeersas potential 4-seeds.

The Bluejays, who re-entered the poll for a third time thisseason on Monday, are projected as a No. 6 seed in the NCAAs.

The tournament wraps up Saturday night.

BIG TEN

The Big Ten opens it tournament Wednesday in Chicago with No. 5Purdue and No. 19 Indiana as the only ranked teams, though theBoilermakers are in the mix for a No. 1 regional seed in theNCAAs.

The Boilermakers are the top seed for Chicago and BracketMatrixlisted them as the fourth of the top seeds.

The Boilermakers and Hoosiers both begin play in Friday’squarterfinals with the title game coming Sunday.

PAC-12

The Pac-12 has two ranked teams in contention for lofty NCAAseeds as the league tournament opens Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Second-ranked UCLA is surging down the stretch and has itshighest ranking of the season, putting it in position to contendfor a No. 1 regional seed as the top No. 2 seed in BracketMatrix’sprojections. Eighth-ranked Arizona is also looking likely for a2-seed.

The Bruins and Wildcats split their regular-season meetings,with UCLA winning Saturday’s regular-season finale while holdingthe top seed for Las Vegas. Both teams open play Thursday.

SEC

Fourth-ranked Alabama is the top seed for the SoutheasternConference Tournament beginning Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee.And the Crimson Tide could be in contention for the top overallNCAA seed with a title run.

Alabama (26-5) owns the top seed in the SEC and opens play inFriday’s quarterfinals, finishing a game ahead of No. 18 TexasA&M in the regular-season race.

The tournament also features No. 17 Tennessee, No. 23 Kentuckyand No. 25 Missouri, with the title game set for Sunday.