Five delicious NCAA Tournament matchups that are too good to be a coincidence

Pete Grathoff
·3 min read
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By one estimate, more than 50 million people filled out a men’s NCAA Tournament bracket a year ago, and people will be glued to their televisions when the games begin.

The selection committee always finds a way to spice things up with some interesting matchups that pit teams that have a connection that fans may not realize. Or some that are just too obvious to be a coincidence.

Here are five from this year’s tournament bracket which was announced Sunday afternoon.

Texas A&M vs. Nebraska

Hoo-boy, the committee knew exactly what it was doing here.

Just last week, A&M hired Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts for the same role with the Aggies. Now those schools will face off in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Nebraska is seeded eighth in the South Region and Texas A&M is the ninth seed.

Oh, and those schools are also playing in the first round of the NCAA women’s tournament.

Iowa State vs. South Dakota State

The last we saw of Cyclones coach T.J. Otzelberger, he was hoisting the Big 12 tournament championship trophy at the T-Mobile Center.

Otzelberger is in his third season at Iowa State, which hired him from UNLV. Otzelberger’s first head-coaching gig came with ... South Dakota State. He led the Jackrabbits to the NCAA Tournament twice in his three seasons with the school (2016-19).

Oh, and if the Cyclones win, they could face 10th-seeded Drake, which is in Des Moines. That’s just a short drive down I-35 from Ames.

Texas vs. Tennessee

The Volunteers had a shot at being a No. 1 seed, but instead are second in the Midwest Region.

If Tennessee wins its first game, it could meet seventh-seeded Texas. Vols coach Rick Barnes has the most victories in Longhorns’ history. Barnes coached 17 seasons in Austin and had a 402-180 record with Texas.

That would be a fun reunion game.

Oregon vs. Creighton

Staying in the Midwest bracket, let’s look at who third-seeded Creighton could be playing if the Bluejays win their first game: Oregon.

The Ducks are seeded 11th and would need to upset South Carolina to advance. But if they do, Oregon coach Dana Altman will face his former school.

Altman, the former K-State coach, was at Creighton from 1994-2010 and the Bluejays had a 327-176 record in that time. He was inducted in the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame on Aug. 25, 2018.

North Carolina vs. Arizona

This isn’t a first-round matchup, but could be the biggest talking point in the second weekend of the tournament.

North Carolina got the No. 1 seed in the West Region and Arizona is the second seed. If the teams meet in the Elite Eight, Wildcats star Caleb Love would play against his former team.

Before transferring to Arizona, Love helped North Carolina reach the 2022 national championship game ... which it lost to KU.