Alabama, Houston, Kansas and Purdue earned No. 1 seeds in a tournament where top teams seem more beatable than usual, and others that usually might be considered upstarts have viable paths to the championship.
A former Crimson Tide player, Darius Miles, and Miles’s friend Michael Davis were indicted by a grand jury. At the Southeastern Conference tournament, Brandon Miller starred for Alabama after being interviewed as a witness in the case.
Black quarterbacks will lead both teams in Sunday’s Super Bowl. But for much of pro football history, Black players were steered away from the position because of racist assumptions.
Alabama, despite lobbying by its coach, Nick Saban, was left out for the second time under the four-team playoff format. Instead, Georgia will play Ohio State and Michigan will play Texas Christian in the semifinals.