Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, Duke earn top seeds as March Madness brackets set

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Kansas earns overall top seed in NCAA tournament

The selection committee made its choices. Now, it’s America’s turn.

The country’s biggest office pool, otherwise known as March Madness, serves up the usual smorgasbord of choices, starting with Kansas, the overall top seed in the 65-team NCAA tournament bracket released Sunday.

Play starts Tuesday with an opening-round game, and the tournament goes into full swing Thursday.

“We’re proud to be a No. 1 seed,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “This team has worked extremely hard, been consistent all year. Obviously, the tournament is always going to be challenging. It’ll be challenging right off the bat.”

The tournament officially begins Tuesday with an opening-round game between Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Winthrop. It reaches full swing Thursday with 16 games, including Kansas’ opener against No. 16 Lehigh in the Midwest — a region that includes No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgetown, defending runner-up Michigan State and is largely considered the toughest of the four.

“After you look at the bracket, you say, ‘Well, I don’t think we had a lot of favors done for us,’” Self said.

Kansas was one of seven teams from the Big 12 to make it — one fewer than the Big East, which sent eight for the third time.

Winning the conference’s regular-season title wasn’t the accomplishment it might have been for Syracuse, though.

The Orange (28-4) lost to Georgetown in the Big East tournament quarterfinals. That pushed Syracuse down, below Duke, which was expected to contend with West Virginia for the final No. 1 spot.

Winning the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament helped Duke vault over Syracuse and the Mountaineers, who are No. 2 in the East.

“Once again, we’re talking about the entire season,” selection chairman Dan Guerrero said. “We place value on that. Obviously, the big center for Syracuse got banged up. That’s an issue to some degree.”

Before the committee even met, there was no question there will be a new national champion.

Defending titlist North Carolina was on a long list of traditional powerhouses that didn’t receive spots in this year’s tournament. That list also included UCLA, Indiana, Connecticut and Arizona, which had its NCAA-leading string of appearances snapped at 25 years.

It will be the first time since 1966 that all five of those big-name schools failed to make the tournament.

“I think it is so frustrating because we showed flashes what we can be and the team we can be, it seems like we’ll play that way for a while, then we’ll just stop,” said Larry Drew II, the guard for North Carolina, which will head to the NIT with a 16-16 record.

Now holding the longest current streak is Kansas (32-2), making its 21st straight appearance.

Leading the Jayhawks are Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, two key pieces in the team’s 2008 title run that was capped with a win over Memphis, then coached by John Calipari, who this season moved to Kentucky.

The Wildcats are the youngest of the top contenders, with three freshmen — John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe — among its top four scorers.

“We do so many dumb things,” Calipari said. “You’re up 18, then you look up and you’re up two. You have to keep your emotions in check, stay together, understand teams are going to come at you and you have to play harder than they play.”

If Kentucky gets past East Tennessee State in the first round, an intriguing matchup against Texas could be next. The Longhorns were undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country in January, but lost nine of their next 16 to slip to No. 8.

Also tumbling was Purdue, which was 24-3 and playing for a top seed as late as Feb. 24. Then, high-scoring forward Robbie Hummel tore up his right knee, and the Boilermakers lost two of their next five, including a 27-point loss to Minnesota. They dropped to the No. 4 seed in the South.

“Without Robbie Hummel in the lineup, they’re a different team, no question about that,” Guerrero said, echoing the same thought the selection committee had about Syracuse and Onuaku.

Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski are seeking their first trip to the Final Four since 2004 and first national title since 2001. Led by Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler, the Blue Devils (29-5) have won 12 of their last 13 and will open Friday against the winner of the opening-round game.

The ACC was considered a bit down this season, but nowhere near as low as the Pac-10. The traditional power conference landed only two teams in the tournament, and regular-season champion Cal was the highest seed, at No. 8 in the South.

Meanwhile, the Mountain West landed four spots, led by regular-season champion New Mexico, which was seeded third in the East and watched the selection show in front of a packed crowd at The Pit.

In all, eight at-large slots went to teams from smaller conferences. That was double the number of last year. Among those left out were Virginia Tech, Mississippi State and Illinois, which lost to Ohio State in double overtime in the Big Ten tournament semifinals.

“It’s a close game, a call, a basket going in and out, and they don’t get the opportunity to be part of a special thing,” Illini coach Bruce Weber said. “I feel bad for them. I reminded them we let some things go early and that put us in a bind.”

Weber refused, however, to play the expansion card: One of this season’s biggest topics has been the potential expansion of the field to 96 teams.

The at-large field has been widely dissed as one of the worst in recent memory.

Among the late entrants:

—Florida, a No. 10 seed in the West after missing the last two years following two straight titles. The Gators still have a 12-game tournament winning streak intact.

—Minnesota, a No. 11 seed despite a 90-61 loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten title game.

Purdue, meanwhile, was 24-3 and in contention for a top seed as late as Feb. 24. Then, high-scoring forward Robbie Hummel tore up his right knee, and the Boilermakers lost two of the last five, including a 27-point loss to Minnesota. They dropped to the No. 4 seed in the South.

“To have integrity in the field, you’ve got to place them in a place that’s appropriate without Robbie Hummel,” Guerrero said. “Without Robbie Hummel in the lineup, they’re a different team, no question about that.”

Led by freshman John Wall, Kentucky (32-2) won its 26th SEC tournament and earned a top seed to try for its eighth national title.

In his first year with the Wildcats, John Calipari became the first coach to post five straight 30-win seasons, and he’ll need six more to bring the first title back to the Bluegrass State since 1998.

Kentucky, winner of 13 of its last 14 games, opens Thursday against East Tennessee State. The winner of that game will play the winner of No. 8 Texas vs. No. 9 Wake Forest.

Other East region games: No. 5 Temple against No. 12 Cornell and No. 4 Wisconsin against No. 13 Wofford. The other side of the bracket has No. 2 West Virginia against No. 15 Morgan State and No. 7 Clemson against No. 10 Missouri, while No. 3 New Mexico plays No. 14 Montana and No. 6 Marquette plays No. 11 Washington, the Pac-10 tournament champion.