Arizona men’s basketball’s March Madness has officially begun as the Wildcats have been placed as a six seed in the South bracket to begin the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats will play the winner of Vanderbilt and Wichita State on Thursday in Providence, Rhode Island.
Kansas earned the No. 1 seed in the South, which is also represented by three Pac-12 Conference teams.
California was assigned a four seed while Colorado will be the eight. Villanova is the second seed, Miami is three and Maryland is the fifth seed.
Wichita State (23-8, 14-2) has been a force in the NCAA Tournament since they burst into the Final Four three years ago.
The Shockers have played a weaker schedule this season, with ESPN giving them a strength of schedule ranking of 119. With an RPI of 51, their biggest win of the season came over Utah on Dec. 12. The Shockers have gone 1-3 against top-50 RPI teams including a loss to USC.
Vanderbilt (19-13, 11-7) was a first four out team, according to Joe Lunardi, coming into Selection Sunday. The Commodores swept the Florida Gators this season and also beat Kentucky on Feb. 27. As a team that has proven it can win big games, Vanderbilt could give Arizona a headache if they end up meeting in the round of 32.
Vanderbilt and Wichita State will play Tuesday, March 15 for a chance to face Arizona on Thursday. Time and broadcast for Arizona’s second-round game is to be determined.
