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THERE were little surprises, if any, in this year’s NCAA tournament
bracket.
Powerhouse team North Carolina, Memphis, Kansas
and UCLA are right there where they are expected to be—on top of
their respective brackets. No snubbed bubble teams with
shout-it-to-the-mountaintop complaints—even if Arizona State and
Virginia Tech do have somewhat compelling arguments.
And no defending champion, either. But not even
that was a surprise. Florida, completely rebuilt after winning two
titles in a row, was written off well before Selection Sunday after
losing its last four games. Last year’s losing finalist, Ohio
State University, also failed to make the cut after losing Greg Oden
to the NBA Draft.
It marks the first time that the finalists of
the previous year are out of the tournament since expanding to 64
teams in 1985.
So, let March Madness begin, and call the Tar
Heels (32-2) favorites if you must. Led by Tyler Hansbrough, North
Carolina earned the overall top seed in the tournament and won’t
have to leave its home state on the road to the Final Four in San
Antonio. Carolina’s first two games are scheduled for Raleigh, its
next two would be in Charlotte.
The top-seeded teams offered no surprises or
outrage.
UCLA has been a top team all season and won the
Pac-10 tournament to get the nod in the West. Kansas beat Texas in
the Big 12 final Sunday, in a game almost everyone agreed would be
for top seeding in the Midwest. Memphis is from the less-prestigious
Conference USA and lost to Tennessee in the regular season, but
the Tigers (33-1) won their conference and the Vols (29-4) helped
smooth things out by losing in the SEC semifinals.
The tournament begins Tuesday when Mid-Eastern
Athletic Conference champion Coppin State, the first team to make
the tournament with 20 losses, plays Mount St. Mary’s in an
opening-round game. The winner gets North Carolina.
With eight teams, the Big East placed the most
schools in the tournament. The Pac-10, Big 12 and SEC followed with
six each, while the ACC and Big Ten had four apiece.
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