Houston Cougars a 3-seed, 11th overall in NCAA Committee's first Top 16 Reveal

POSTED: February 9, 2019 -- 1:01 p.m. CST

The Houston Cougars (22-1 overall, 9-1 in the American Athletic Conference) are ranked 11th overall and the 3rd-seed in the Midwest Regional of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY. (And, of course the season does not end today. Five more weeks remain.)

The other 3-seeds are Purdue (9th overall), Kansas (10th), and Marquette (12th). The difference between Kansas at 10 and Houston at 11 is the number of Quadrant 1 wins. Kansas has 8 Quadrant 1 wins (8-4) while Houston has 3 Quadrant 1 wins (3-1). Houston has 8 Quadrant 2 wins (8-0) while the Jayhawks have 5 Q2 wins (5-2).

"The abundance of quality wins kept Kansas in front of Houston," said Bernard Muir Committee Chair of the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee.

The men's basketball committee divides all 350 plus Division 1 men's basketball teams into 4 quadrants: Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4. Each quadrant consists of rankings which also depend on whether the game is at home, on the road, or at a neutral site.

Quadrant 1 (Q1) rankings:

• Home: 1 to 30 (Q1a: 1-15, Q1b: 16-30)
• Neutral: 1 to 50 (Q1a: 1-25, Q1b: 26-50)
• Away: 1 to 75 (Q1a: 1-40; Q1b: 41-75)

Quadrant 2 (Q2) rankings:

• Home: 31 to 75 (Q2a: 31-55, Q2b: 56-75)
• Neutral: 51 to 100 (Q2a: 51-75, Q2b: 76-100)
• Away: 76 to 135 (Q2a: 76-100, Q2b: 101-135)

Quadrant 3 (Q3) rankings:

• Home: 76 to 160
• Neutral: 101 to 200
• Away: 136 to 240

Quadrant 4 (Q4) rankings:

• Home: 161+
• Neutral: 201+
• Away: 241+

For the third consecutive year, the meeting included the selection, seeding and full vetting of the top 16 teams, which were unveiled today on CBS. Duke, Tennessee, Virginia and Gonzaga would be the top seeds if the season ended today, according to the Division I Men's Basketball Committee, which conducted its annual selection orientation meeting at NCAA headquarters this week.

With 5 weeks remaining in the season, all 16 teams have plenty of games and opportunities to move up or down the seed list. Currently, Houston has two more chances to earn Q1 wins: both against the Cincinnati Bearcats (20-3 overall, 9-1 in the AAC). Cincinnatis ranked 24th in the NCAA's NET rankings. Houston hosts the Bearcats Sunday, February 10, 3 p.m., on ESPN; and, goes to Cincinnati for a March 10th match-up.

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