Every year in the NCAA Tournament, we get high seeds that get knocked out early. This doesn’t necessarily mean these teams are first round exits, but they are knocked out earlier than a lot of people expect. A lot of high seeds generally have glaring flaws and are knocked out once they get a bad matchup. Here are some teams that will fall short of a national championship because of those flaws.

Purdue

AP Poll: 4

NET: 9

Kenpom: 4

Personal: 8

Purdue had one of the best starts to the season of any team in college basketball this year. The Boilermakers beat North Carolina and Villanova to win the Hall of Fame Tip Off Tournament at Mohegan Sun and were cruising up until Big Ten play underway. Purdue’s loss at Jersey Mike’s Arena (AKA the RAC) might have been labeled a fluke, but it was not noteworthy that Purdue’s defense was a problem.

Rutgers in that game shot over 52% from the field and 50% from three. Ron Harper Jr. finished the game with 30 points on 10/15 shooting with three of those points coming on his half court shot to win it. Purdue followed that game up by nearly losing to North Carolina State. The Boilermakers remain 14-2 and 3-2 in the Big Ten, but 72nd in adjusted defensive efficiency by Kenpom is not going to cut it in March.

Kansas

AP Poll: 7

NET: 8

Kenpom: 7

Personal: 6

I’m not going to lie; I had Kansas pegged as a national championship contender to start the season. Coming off of a disappointing second round exit, Kansas returned a lot of a really good roster and also added some key pieces through the transfer portal. However, what cost them last year in the tournament looks like it could cost them again.

David McCormack has been a decent big for Bill Self for 3.5 years now. However, his play on both ends still remains inconsistent. Evan Mobley was a problem for him in the tournament, and I fear that another dominant big will do the same this year. If McCormack plays like he did against West Virginia last Saturday we have a different conversation around Kansas, but for now, they come up short.

UCLA

AP Poll: 9

NET: 21

Kenpom: 13

Personal: Not in top 10

UCLA was an interesting case at the start of the year. They were ranked second in the first AP Poll of the year and a lot of people thought they would pick up right where they left off. Of course, UCLA had an insane run as an 11 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament and lost to Gonzaga on the Jalen Suggs half court shot. However, UCLA’s performance against Gonzaga wasn’t sustainable. They took a lot of tough, contested two’s and made a lot of them to stay in the game.

This year, UCLA’s shot selection is much of the same. They have a lot of talent and Mick Cronin is an excellent coach. But if they continue to take bad shots, they’ll fizzle out in the tournament.

Wisconsin

AP Poll: 8

NET: 18

Kenpom: 26

Personal: 7

Wisconsin has fought their way into the top ten with an impressive resume. The Badgers have only loss at full strength and won in West Lafayette recently. They also have one of the best players in the country in sophomore guard Johnny Davis. Even considering all of this, the Badgers are what I believe is far from a complete team. They aren’t elite on either end of the floor so if Johnny Davis is held somewhat in check, Wisconsin could really struggle. They do have a lot of guys that can hit shots on the perimeter, but there is still a feeling around the Badgers that they could run into trouble against a super athletic team.

Villanova

AP Poll: 11

NET: 3

Kenpom: 3

Personal: Not in top 10

I’ve never really understood the hype around Villanova. I was high on them in the preseason, but in reality, they don’t have a signature win at the moment. They beat a Tennessee team early in the season that no longer deserves to be ranked and they beat a Seton Hall team that was missing two key frontcourt pieces. Villanova does have some good players and we know Jay Wright is a top three coach in the sport, but it doesn’t feel like this Villanova team is going anywhere notable in the tournament.