INDIANAPOLIS – Duke and Michigan State are getting used to
this No. 1 thing.
The Blue Devils and Spartans, along with Stanford and Illinois,
took the top spots Sunday for the NCAA Tournament.
|  | | Coach Matt Doherty's Tar Heels lost out on a No. 1 seed after getting manhandled by Duke in the ACC tournament final. |
Duke has been a No. 1 seed in each of the last four years, while
defending national champion Michigan State earned its third
straight.
"This is the time to do it. This is why I came back" to
school, Duke senior Shane Battier said.
The first-ever 65-team field starts play Tuesday night in
Dayton, Ohio, when Northwestern State faces Winthrop in the
opening-round game. The winner between the two lowest-ranked teams
plays Illinois (24-7) in the Midwest's first round in Dayton on
Friday.
The Blue Devils (29-4), who beat North Carolina 79-53 Sunday in
the ACC title game, will play in the East, opening against No. 16
Monmouth on Thursday in Greensboro, N.C.
Stanford (28-2), a unanimous choice last week as the nation's
top team, earned its second straight top spot in the West and plays
No. 16 North Carolina-Greensboro in San Diego on Thursday.
Michigan State (24-4) begins defense of its title Friday in the
South, playing No. 16 Alabama State in Memphis, Tenn.
"We're excited to say the least," Michigan State coach Tom
Izzo said. "I didn't know where we would end up. To have three
straight NCAA seeds is something our program can be proud of. Going
to the South is fine with me."
Even that was not an easy decision for the selection committee.
Illinois and Michigan State shared the regular-season Big Ten
title, and the committee had trouble deciding where the teams
should play. Both teams were knocked out in the conference
tournament.
"Illinois played Michigan State only once, at Illinois,"
committee chairman Mike Tranghese said. "But Illinois won and
Illinois went farther in the Big Ten tournament."
That was only the beginning of the tough choices for the
committee.
Left out of the field were Alabama (21-10), Utah (19-11),
Connecticut (19-11), Villanova (18-12), Richmond (21-6) and
Mississippi State (16-12) – the team with the highest RPI without a
bid. They were replaced by teams such as Xavier (21-7), Missouri
(19-12), Creighton (24-7) and Georgia (16-14).
The Bulldogs became the fifth team, and first since Villanova in
1991, to be chosen as an at-large team with 14 losses. They are the
11th team, and first since Texas in 1997, to be picked with just 16
wins.
The reasoning, Tranghese said, was the non-conference schedule
ratings.
"When we looked at Georgia they were 16-14 and 9-7 in the No. 1
conference in the country," Tranghese said, referring to the SEC.
"They played the toughest non-conference schedule in the country,
and we just thought it would be unfair not to take that into
account."
The No. 2 seeds also are no strangers to the tournament:
Kentucky, North Carolina, Arizona and Iowa State.
Kentucky, North Carolina and Arizona all won national
championships in the 1990s and rank among the top teams with
consecutive appearances. Iowa State reached the Elite Eight last
year before being losing to Michigan State.
Some teams, such as North Carolina, were hurt by the way they
finished.
"It got down to Michigan State and Carolina, and what that came
down to was North Carolina went 4-4 over its last eight games,"
Tranghese said.
Again, the top six conferences dominated the field, receiving 29
of the 34 at-large berths. The Big Ten's seven teams matched the
record for the most in the tournament.
Following the Big Ten were the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12
and Southeastern Conference with six selections each. The Big East
and Pacific-10 each had five teams chosen.
Five schools – Alabama State, Cal State-Northridge, Hampton,
Northwestern State and Southern Utah – are making their first NCAA
tournament appearances. Notre Dame, which hasn't been in the field
since 1990, ended the longest drought.
Oklahoma State (20-9) will be a sentimental choice for many
fans. The 11th-seeded Cowboys had to play the final month of the
season after a plane crash that killed 10 people, including two
players. They open Thursday against No. 6 Southern Cal in
Uniondale, N.Y.
"We know they will be playing with a lot of emotion," Trojans
center Sam Clancy said. "We can't let ourselves get caught up in
those emotions."
With Louisville failing to make the field in Denny Crum's final
season, Arizona's Lute Olson takes over as the active coach with
the most appearances at 23. Olson's run of 17 in a row is also the
longest current streak, with Temple's John Chaney and Kansas' Roy
Williams second, each at 12.
The longest current streak to end was Gene Keady of Purdue, who
had been in the last eight tournaments.
Princeton made the field under first-year coach John Thompson
III, who is now 19 appearances behind his father, John, who
resigned from Georgetown in 1999.
In other games in Greensboro, N.C., on Thursday, it's No. 5 Ohio
State vs. No. 12 Utah State; No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 13 Hofstra; and No.
9 Missouri vs. No. 8 Georgia.
In addition to Illinois' matchup with the winner of the
opening-round game, the games in Dayton on Friday are: No. 8
Tennessee vs. No. 9 Charlotte; No. 5 Syracuse vs. No. 12 Hawaii;
and No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 13 Cal State-Northridge.
The other Midwest first-round games will be in Kansas City, Mo.,
with No. 6 Notre Dame facing No. 11 Xavier; No. 3 Mississippi
against No. 14 Iona; No. 7 Wake Forest playing No. 10 Butler; and
No. 2 Arizona, the other No. 1 seed last season, against No. 15
Eastern Illinois.
In the other games in Memphis on Friday, No. 8 California plays
No. 9 Fresno State; No. 5 Virginia faces No. 12 Gonzaga; and No. 4
Oklahoma plays No. 13 Indiana State.
The other South first-round games will be played Friday in New
Orleans, with No. 6 Texas vs. No. 11 Temple; No. 3 Florida vs. No.
14 Western Kentucky; No. 7 Penn State vs. No. 10 Providence; and
No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 15 Princeton.
In other games Thursday in Uniondale, N.Y., No. 3 Boston College
plays No. 14 Southern Utah; No. 7 Iowa faces No. 10 Creighton; and
No. 2 Kentucky plays No. 15 Holy Cross.
In the other games in San Diego, No. 8 Georgia Tech faces No. 9
St. Joseph's; No. 5 Cincinnati plays No. 12 Brigham Young; and No.
4 Indiana faces No. 13 Kent State.
In Boise, Idaho, on Thursday, it's No. 6 Wisconsin vs. No. 11
Georgia State; No. 3 Maryland vs. No. 14 George Mason; No. 7
Arkansas vs. No. 10 Georgetown; and No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 15
Hampton.
The East Regional will be in Philadelphia on March 22 and 24,
the same days the West Regional will be held in Anaheim, Calif.
The Midwest Regional will be in San Antonio on March 23 and 25,
the same days the South Regional will be held in Atlanta.
The Final Four is March 31 and April 2 at Minneapolis. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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ALSO SEE
NCAA Tournament bracket
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