NCAA Tournament Brackets Released

By ESPN

A topsy-turvy season in college basketball delivered a few more twists when the bracket came out Sunday.

Exhibit A: Oregon is a No. 1 seed.

Exhibit B: Monmouth and Valparaiso aren't part of March Madness, but Michigan and Syracuse are.

As usual, the NCAA selection committee released a 68-team bracket with its fair share of surprises. This year, the debate started right away, when the committee named Pac-12 champion Oregon a top seed in the West, ACC runner-up Virginia a top seed in the Midwest and Tom Izzo's Spartans, champs of the Big Ten, a 2-seed.

They'll decide it on the court. The tournament starts Tuesday with a pair of opening-round games. The main draw begins Thursday at eight sites. The Final Four is April 2 and 4 in Houston.

In a season in which six teams held the top spot in The Associated Press poll -- one short of the record -- there was no doubt that there would be some debate about who deserved the four top spots. That Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference champions Kansas and North Carolina earned two of the spots wasn't that surprising. The rest of the field raised eyebrows.

The head of the selection committee, Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, lauded Oregon's third-rated strength of schedule (as of Sunday) and No. 2 ranking in the RPI, along with its regular-season and tournament titles in the Pac-12. He said Michigan State was the fifth overall seed.

"Very close. It was a vigorous debate,'' Castiglione said. "We know how good a team they are. ... It was just a close call, and the committee felt Michigan State was fifth."

There were no easy choices for the committee this season, and the way the big slate of conference tournaments played out only emphasized the way this season has gone. Of the 31 postseason tournaments, top seeds won only 10. That gave automatic spots to bubble teams (or less) such as Fresno State, Gonzaga and Connecticut while squeezing out a few spots on the bubble, even though there were two more available this season because Louisville (and Rick Pitino) and SMU (and Larry Brown) are ineligible.

Among those sitting out include Monmouth, which played a killer nonconference schedule but lost too many games to bad teams; St. Mary's, which won the regular-season title in the West Coast Conference but didn't play a tough enough schedule; and Valpo, which ranked 49 in the RPI but had only four wins against top 100 teams.

NCAA Tournament

(All Times Central)

First Four

Tuesday, March 15

UD Arena (Dayton, Ohio)

(16) Florida Gulf Coast vs. (16) Fairleigh Dickinson, 5:40 p.m.

(11) Vanderbilt vs. (11) Wichita State, 8:10 p.m.

Wednesday, March 16

(16) Holy Cross vs. (16) Southern, 5:40 p.m.

(11) Michigan vs. (11) Tulsa, 8:10 p.m.

First/second rounds

March 17, 19

Dunkin' Donuts Center (Providence, Rhode Island)

(6) Arizona vs. (11) Vanderbilt/Wichita State, 8:20 p.m.

(3) Miami vs. (14) Buffalo, 5:50 p.m.

(5) Baylor vs. (12) Yale, 1:45 p.m.

(4) Duke vs. (13) UNC Wilmington, 11:15 a.m.

Wells Fargo Arena (Des Moines, Iowa)

(1) Kansas vs. (16) Austin Peay, 3 p.m.

(8) Colorado vs. (9) UConn, 12:30 p.m.

(5) Indiana vs. (12) Chattanooga, 6:10 p.m.

(4) Kentucky vs. (13) Stony Brook, 8:40 p.m.

PNC Arena (Raleigh, North Carolina)

(1) North Carolina vs. (16) Florida Gulf Coast/Fairleigh Dickinson, 6:20 p.m.

(8) USC vs. (9) Providence, 8:50 p.m.

(1) Virginia vs. (16) Hampton, 2:10 p.m.

(8) Texas Tech vs. (9) Butler, 11:40 p.m.

Pepsi Center (Denver)

(5) Purdue vs. (12) Arkansas Little Rock, 3:30 p.m.

(4) Iowa State vs. (13) Iona, 1 p.m.

(6) Seton Hall vs. (11) Gonzaga, 8:57 p.m.

(3) Utah vs. (14) Fresno State, 6:27 p.m.

March 18, 20

Barclays Center (Brooklyn, New York)

(7) Iowa vs. (10) Temple, 2:10 p.m.

(2) Villanova vs. (15) UNC Asheville, 11:40 a.m.

(6) Notre Dame vs. (11) Michigan/Tulsa, 8:40 p.m.

(3) West Virginia vs. (14) Stephen F. Austin, 6:10 p.m.

Scottrade Center (St. Louis)

(7) Wisconsin vs. (10) Pittsburgh, 5:50 p.m.

(2) Xavier vs. (15) Weber State, 8:20 p.m.

(7) Dayon vs. (10) Syracuse, 11:15 a.m.

(2) Michigan State vs. (15) Middle Tennessee

Chesapeake Energy Arena (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)

(6) Texas vs. (11) Northern Iowa, 8:50 p.m.

(3) Texas A&M vs. (14) Green Bay, 6:20 p.m.

(7) Oregon State vs. (10) VCU, 12:30 p.m.

(2) Oklahoma vs. (15) Cal State Bakersfield, 3 p.m.

Spokane Arena (Spokane, Washington)

(5) Maryland vs. (12) South Dakota State, 3:30 p.m.

(4) California vs. (13) Hawaii, 1 p.m.

(1) Oregon vs. (16) Holy Cross/Southern, 6:27 p.m.

(8) Saint Joseph's vs. (9) Cincinnati, 8:57 p.m.

West Regional

March 24, 26

Honda Center (Anaheim, California)

South Regional

March 24, 26

KFC Yum! Center (Louisville, Kentucky)

Midwest Regional

March 25, 27

United Center (Chicago)

East Regional

March 25, 27

Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia)

Final Four

April 2, 4

NRG Stadium (Houston)