68 Team Field Set For 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

By Ray Bennett
Sunday March 13, 2011

The day has finally come. Some found out who they will play in their first game. For others, they wonder why they did not get in.

The new 68 team field for the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament was set on Sunday. The field is set up in four regions. There are sixteen teams per regional section of the bracket. In three of the regional brackets, two or more teams will play for spots in the second round (formerly the first round). There are 32 automatic qualifying teams who get in by winning their conference tournament. The other 36 teams in the field are at-large bids. The winners of the regional brackets will then play in the annual Final Four, held this year at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.

The top seeded teams in this year's tournament include last year's national champion Duke, who won in the ACC tournament on Sunday against North Carolina. The Blue Devils, 30-4 overall record this season, are the number one seed in the West region. They will play their first game of the tournament against the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Hampton Pirates (24-8 overall record). The winner of that game will play the winner of the Michigan(8th seed)/Tennessee(9th seed) game in Charlotte, NC. Other games in the West region includes Mountain West Conference champion and number two seeded San Diego St facing fifteen seeded Big Sky Conference winner Northern Colorado, Big East Tournament winner Connecticut against fourteenth seeded Bucknell, Big XII power Texas versus Summit League champion Oakland, Pac-10 regular season champions Arizona playing Conference USA tournament winner Memphis, Cincinnati playing Missouri and Atlantic-10 at-large team Temple facing fellow Pennsylvania team Penn. State.

Big Ten regular season and tournament champion Ohio State (32-2 record) will be the number one overall seed in this year's tournament out of the East region. They will play their second round game close to home at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH against the winner of the Texas-San Antonio/Alabama State game. The winner of that game will face either George Mason, who is remembered for their deep run in the 2006 tournament, or struggling Villinova, who lost in the first round of the Big East Tournament. Other second round games in the East region include North Carolina (#2 seed) facing Long Island (#15 seed), Syracuse (#3) against 1979 national finalist and Missouri Valley champion Indiana State (#14), SEC Tournament winners Kentucky (#4) versus Ivy League champions Princeton (#13), West Virgina (#5) facing either Alabama-Birmingham or Clemson, A-10 at-large Xavier (#6) playing Big East at-large Marquette (#11) and Pac-10 tournament champions Washington (#7) against bubble team Georgia (#10).

Big XII tournament winner Kansas gets the top seed in the Southwest region. They open tournament play against America East team Boston University. The winner will play in the third round against either UNLV or Illinois. Second-seeded Nortre Dame will play Mid-American Conference champion Akron. Other games include third seeded Purdue facing St. Peter's, No. four Louisville versus Ohio Vally champion Morehead St., No. five Vanderbilt against A-10 tournament winner Richmond, No. five Georgetown playing First Four match-up winner USC or Virgina Commonwealth and Texas A&M going up against ACC team Florida State.

The Southeast region includes top seeded Pittsburgh, who was the regular season champion of the Big East conference. They will play either North Carolina-Ashville or Arkansas-Pine Bluff for their second round game. The winner of that game will play either Horizon League champion and last year's runner-up Butler or Colonial Athletic Conference champion Old Dominion, making their second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Other match-ups in the Southeast include No. 2 Florida playing No. 15 California-Santa Barbara, No. 3 Brigham Young, led by national player of the year candidate Jimmer Freddete, facing Wofford, No. 4 Wisconsin against Belmont, No. 5 Kansas State going up against Western Athletic Conference winners Utah State, upstart No. 6 St. John's playing West Coast Conference winner Gonzaga, and UCLA facing a Michigan State team that had a tough time trying to get into the tournament.

The Big East led all conferences with a record eleven teams in this year's tournament. The Big Ten had the second most with seven teams. Among all of the 36 at-large bids, only seven of them came from the non-power conferences, down from eight last year.

Bubble teams that missed getting into the tournament include Big XII team Colorado, who beat three tournament teams (Texas and Missouri once and Kansas State three times), the ACC's Virginia Tech, who won against Duke two weeks ago, and West Coast Conference runner-up St. Mary's of California. Many consider the placement of UAB and VCU as huge suprises, along with Georgia.

The tournament begins with the newly implemented First Four March 15th and 16th in Dayton, OH, followed by the second and third round games March 17-20. Regional Semi-Final and Final games will be held the week after the second and third rounds in Anaheim, CA (West), New Orleans, LA (Southeast), San Antonio, TX (Southwest) and Newark, NJ (East) on March 24-27. The regional champions then face each other in the Final Four in Houston on April 2nd with the winners of the national Semi-Finals facing each other in the national championship game April 4th.