Who Are the Potential Top Seeds in This Year's NCAA Basketball Tournament?

Virginia Cavaliers

While some may think Virginia's slow style of play is bad for the game, the Cavaliers could care less. They may have the third-slowest pace in all the country, but with a record of 23-1, the Hoos are just flat out great at what they do -- and they do it with great efficiency.

According to our metrics, Virginia's defense is better than 99.4% of the defenses in the country (second only to Kentucky) and gives up the least points per game to its opponents at 50.8 points per game. Tony Bennett's pack-line defense frustrates its opposing offenses by keeping opponents out of the paint, preventing them from breaking down the Hoos from the inside out.

As for the Cavalier offense -- it's one of the most efficient in the nation. In fact, Virginia's offense is more efficient than 95.8% of the country's offenses. On the other hand, they do average a mediocre 66.4 points per game. But they really take care of the ball. The Wahoos have just 216 turnovers on the year, which is third among all college offenses.

Virginia's elite play on both ends of the floor, despite their lack of pace, has them among the best teams in college basketball. The Cavaliers are second in the AP Poll and fourth in numberFire's rankings. That's what makes them the second 1 seed in the NCAA tournament at this point in time, and therefore headed for the Charlotte regional.