When CBS’s Selection Show finally revealed all 68 teams in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament after almost 90 minutes, the usual amount of head scratching prevailed, but the usual powerhouses marched into the Big Dance on Sunday.
In particular, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim sat out nine games due to an NCAA suspension this season then sweated out the selection show.
“It was hard,” Boeheim said in an ESPN television interview. “These two-hour shows are not good for coaches.”
The ACC claimed a pair of No. 1 seeds — North Carolina in the East and Virginia in the Midwest — and even snuck in a surprise as Syracuse became the seventh conference team selected for the field.
Boeheim seemed relieved that his team’s resume was good enough.
“We’re happy to be in this tournament,” Boeheim said. “We had a tough season. We had a really tough stretch in the middle. … We dug a hole but this team dug itself out of the hole.”
The Pac 12 and Big 12 will each send seven teams to the tournament, including No. 1 seeds Oregon and Kansas.
Though second-ranked and Big Ten tournament champion Michigan State’s bid for a top seed was turned down, the Big Ten got seven teams in the tournament — minus a No. 1 slot but plus a Michigan squad that ended up on the right side of the bubble.
Syracuse and Michigan, the big name bubble teams, joining the field meant that others had to be left out.
Mountain West regular-season conference champion San Diego State, West Coast champion St. Mary’s, MAAC champion Monmouth and Horizon champion Valparaiso all paid the price for losing in their conference tournaments and were snubbed in favor of power-conference programs.
For the teams now hoping to travel to the Final Four in Houston, there are no easy roads.
Top-ranked Kansas grabbed the No. 1 seed in the South Region, but their bracket includes Villanova, a potential top-seed headed into Sunday. The South has seven teams that were ranked in the top 25 last week, the most of any region.
“In order to make it a special year you know you’ve got to win in March,” Kansas coach Bill Self said in a television interview. “Certainly looking at our bracket you know that’s going to be very, very difficult. But it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
Kansas won the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles. That was an impressive feat in a conference that not only placed seven teams in the tournament but all seven will be higher seeds in the opening round.
Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith became the second coach to take five different programs to the NCAA Tournament, joining Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger. The eighth-seeded Red Raiders will face No. 9 Butler in the first round.
Oregon matched Kansas’ accomplishment of winning the regular season and tournament titles from a Pac-12 that stuffed the brackets. But like Kansas, Oregon will have a difficult path through the West Region to the Final Four. West second-seed Oklahoma was ranked No. 1 at one point this season and the Sooners will play the first two rounds very close to home in Oklahoma City. And the Ducks could see defending national champion Duke in the Sweet 16.
However, perhaps the most intriguing look-ahead in the West Region comes from the Oklahoma City pairings. SEC regular season champion Texas A&M, the third seed, could face former conference archrival and sixth-seeded Texas in the second round.
North Carolina received the top seed in the East, but many eyes were drawn to the possibility of fourth-seeded Kentucky facing fifth-seeded Indiana in the second round.
Virginia’s top seed in the Midwest came at a price as the Cavaliers might have to go through No. 2 seed Michigan State to get to the Final Four. If any region has No. 1-A and No. 1-B seeds, it’s the Midwest.
America East champ Stony Brook (26-6) is headed to is first NCAA Tourney after beating Vermont 80-74 in the league tourney final Saturday behind 43 points from star big man Jameel Warney.
Stony Brook gained the 13th seed in the East Region and will play No. 4 Kentucky (26-8) in a first-round game at 9:40 p.m. Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa.
The Wildcats may not have seven NBA-caliber players like they did last season, but the SEC Player of the Year and Naismith Trophy semifinalist Tyler Ulis (16.8 points, 7.2 assists) and Jamal Murray team up to make for a troublesome backcourt duo.
For Stony Brook, Warney stuffed the stat sheet (19.0 points, 10.7 rebounds, 62.6 field goal percentage) and leads the way for the Seawolves.