NCAA Field: UNC No. 1 in East, Duke No. 2 in West

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NCAA Field: UNC No. 1 in East, Duke No. 2 in West

By Dane Huffman

Mar 17, 2008

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ACC champion North Carolina is the top seed overall in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, and the Tar Heels will be the No. 1 seed in the East Region.

UNC will play in the subregional in Raleigh, where the games will be held Friday and Sunday. Carolina will play the winner of the play-in game between Mount St. Mary's and Coppin State at 7:10 p.m. Friday.

The Tar Heels can reach the Final Four in San Antonio without leaving North Carolina, since the regionals will be at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. However, the East bracket is no pushover. Tennessee, which was briefly ranked No. 1 earlier in the season, is the No. 2 seed in the East, and Louisville, coached by Rick Pitino, is No. 3.

Duke will be the No. 2 seed in the West and will play Thursday in Washington, D.C., against Belmont. That game will be at 7:`10 p.m.

The other games in Raleigh will include a pod from the Midwest. Georgetown, which knocked Carolina out of the tournament last year, is the No. 2 seed in the Midwest and will play Maryland-Baltimore County. Gonzaga is the No. 7 seed and will play No. 10 Davidson, which won the Southern Conference.

Memphis is the No. 1 seed in the South. UCLA is the No. 1 seed in the West. Kansas is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest.

The ACC's Clemson is the No. 5 seed in the Midwest, and Miami is the No. 7 seed in the South.

Virginia Tech, which nearly beat UNC in the ACC semifinals, was not selected, meaning the conference received only four bids.

On Saturday, Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg seemed incredulous when questioned by reporters about his team's NCAA prospects. He said anyone who didn't think Tech deserved to be in was "certifiably insane."

He added, "We're the No. 1 RPI conference in the country. We whoop up on the Big 10 every single year in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge, and they're talking about maybe a fifth team (to the NCAA)? It's absolutely absurd. It's ludicrous."

Most Recent Comments

I agree that the ranking in various conferences is irrelevant now once the the actual games begin. The top seeds have not consistently been the same teams in the Final 4. This is where unheralded teams get to shine and put to shame better-ranked teams. As a Carolina fan, I am excited about the Heels' chances of making it to the Final 4 but until then it will have to be one game at a time. Go Heels!

have they said the times yet?

I am no Duke fan, but Duke slipping???? Give me a break. There are teams that are happy to just be there. Getting a #2 seed would be beyond their wildest dreams.

#2 seed still means a top 10 team. If that's slipping, then your standards are too high. A Duke / UNC final would be cool, but bad for the TV ratings (except here in NC).

GO PACK !!!

To all UNC fans complaining about their bracket; what the heck? So they're in a bracket with Tennessee, so what? Let's see, TN lost to Texas, the #2 seed in the South-so you wouldn't want UNC in THAT bracket; TN lost to Vandy, the #4 seed in the MidWest, so you wouldn't want UNC in THAT bracket; you need to watch out for Arkansas who beat TN in the SEC tourney! Stop complaining and have some faith in your team. I do; I think they're going to the final 4 no matter WHAT bracket they're in.

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