The NCAA Gave Wichita State A Ridiculously Hard Path To The Final Four

Wichita State, the first team to enter the NCAA Tournament undefeated since 1991, has the hardest road to the Final Four of any 1-seed.

Here are their likely opponents for each round:

• Round of 32: Kentucky (ranked 17th in Pomeroy ratings)
• Sweet 16: Louisville (2nd in Pomeroy ratings)
• Elite 8: Michigan (14th in Pomeroy ratings) or Duke (7th in Pomeroy ratings)

When the brackets were announced everyone thought Kentucky and Louisville were grossly under-seeded. Kentucky is the best 8-seed in the tournament. Louisville could have been a 1-seed, but ended up as the scariest 4-seed in recent tournament history because of a lackluster schedule.

Wichita State played the 129th-hardest schedule in the country during the regular season. To make the Final Four, they'll have to survive a brutal gauntlet of college basketball's blue-blood teams. The NCAA selection committee basically gave them the most difficult road they could have possibly given a 1-seed.

For comparison, here are the potential opponents for the other #1 seeds (with KenPom ratings in parenthesis).

Florida: Colorado (64), UCLA (16), Kansas (9)

Arizona: Gonzaga (20), San Diego State (21), Wisconsin (11)

Virginia: Memphis (45), Michigan State (10), Villanova (6)

Wichita State: Kentucky (17), Louisville (2), Michigan (14)