NCAA March Madness Selection to release Top 16 seeds in February

The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Selection Committee announced Tuesday morning that, for the first time ever, the committee will give teams and fans an in-season preview of what the Committee views to be the top 16 seeds at the time.

NCAA Men’s Basketball Chairman Mark Hollis, the athletic director at Michigan State, will be in studio to reveal the top four seeds of each region on February 11, 2017. The “March Madness Bracket Preview” will air at 12:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

“We are excited about giving the fans a glimpse to what the men’s basketball committee is thinking at this point of the season, and creating a buzz as we look towards Selection Sunday,” Hollis said in a released statement.

“It’s important to recognize after this list has been released, there is still a significant portion of the regular season to be played and every league must stage its conference tournament. There’s potential for quite a bit of movement until we do it for real March 12, but this early peek will give everyone insight as to where the committee stands as we hit the stretch run of the regular season.”

Virginia’s schedule between now and then will be a gauntlet, and unfortunately for the Hoos, it won’t get any easier after that either, as Virginia boasts one of the strongest remaining schedules in the country. The No. 12 Cavaliers play at No. 14 Notre Dame tonight and at No. 1 Villanova Sunday before returning to Charlottesville to host in-state rivals Virginia Tech (RV) on February 1. The Hoos hit the road again to play Syracuse on February 4 and will host No. 13 Louisville on February 6.

The full field will be released on CBS on Sunday, March 12.