Top-ranked Gonzaga has earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. The Zags are No. 1 in a West Region that includes Duke in coach Mike Krzyzewski's final NCAA Tournament, No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 4 Arkansas. Gonzaga reached the NCAA title game for the second time in four years last season and has the type of roster that can make another deep run. The Zags open against Georgia State in Portland, Oregon. Duke starts Coach K's final March Madness run against Cal State-Fullerton in Greenville, South Carolina.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas earned a No. 1 seed for the 15th time on Sunday, second only to North Carolina for most in college hoops history, and will open the NCAA Tournament in the Midwest Region against the play-in winner between Texas Southern and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Fort Worth, Texas. The regional finals will occur in Chicago. Auburn earned the No. 2 seed after a late-year slide, while LSU earned the No. 6 seed one day after the firing of coach Will Wade amid allegations of NCAA misconduct that stems from a wide-ranging FBI investigation into college basketball corruption.
Arizona's Lloyd leads Wildcats' rapid rise to a No. 1 seed
First-year Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd has the Wildcats' rapid rise to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats were unranked to start the year and weren't expected to contend for the Pac-12 title. Lloyd took over a program trying to emerge from the shadow of a federal corruption investigation into college basketball. This new-group of Wildcats is working to remove the stain and Arizona will headline the South Region bracket as a Final Four favorite. The bracket includes Villanova as a No. 2 seed and Tennessee as a No. 3 seed. It also includes first-time tournament teams in Bryant and Longwood.
Baylor is No. 1 seed in East as it opens title defense
Baylor is the No. 1 seed in the East Region as the NCAA Tournament begins. The defending national champion Bears open their repeat bid against Norfolk State. The Bears open the tournament Thursday close to home in Fort Worth, Texas. The path out of the region incudes potential games against No. 8 North Carolina, No. 4 UCLA and No. 2 Kentucky. The regional final is in Philadelphia. Kentucky is back in the tournament after missing last season with a nine-win season.
