I was not at all surprised by the four No. 1 seeds. I felt that when Tennessee lost to Arkansas in the SEC semifinal that the winner of the Kansas-Texas game would move up to a No. 1 seed.

UCLA is a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1995 when they won one of their many National Championships.

Some of the first-timers in the field got rough treatment in seeding. Texas-Arlington was seeded No. 16 and drew Memphis. American is a No. 15 and head coach Jeff Jones is coaching in the tourney for the first time since leading Virginia in 1997, but they will play the tough No. 2 seeded Tennessee Volunteers.

Portland State's debut is as a No. 16 seed against Kansas, while UMBC gets welcomed to the Big Dance as a No. 15 and faces Georgetown.

My favorite first round matchup is USC vs Kansas State. Wow, what a diaper dandy duel between O.J. Mayo and Michael Beasley.

The big conferences dominated the invitation list again. The Big East got eight teams in followed by the Pac-10, Big 12 and SEC with six.

Finally, I have to put what Georgia did in perspective. The Bulldogs won four SEC games during the regular season, but in four days Dennis Felton's team beat Mississippi, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Arkansas in four days to make the big dance.

Dick Vitale coached the Pistons and the University of Detroit before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in December 1979. Send him a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.