Z-Bracket XIV: Make College Basketball Great Again!

Once again, I'm back at this quixotic attempt to use sound, objective data and criteria to produce a collee basketball championship. Although I've heard suggestions we should build a wall around the big conferences, that hasn't happened quite yet. And like a candidate on the other side, the NCAA apparently has some problems with its email security. Starting from the final 2016 regular season Z-Ratings based on 5,369 games between Division I teams through March 13, we'll select 36 at-large teams, seed them and the 32 conference champions into the field, and then use the NCAA's own criteria to come up with a bracket for the Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

(Summary of previous brackets | Jump to this year's bracket)

Selecting the field

Step 1: the automatic bids.

As in the last two years, the same 32 teams with automatic berths in the actual tournament are admitted here. For the last time, the Ivy League's regular season winner qualifies; starting next year, the Ancient Eight joins the rest of college hoops by playing a conference tournament.

Team	Conference	Rank	Team	Conference	Rank
Kansas	Big 12	1	Northern Iowa	Missouri Valley	90
Michigan State	Big Ten	5	Stony Brook	America East	100
North Carolina	Atlantic Coast	8	Stephen F. Austin	Southland	107
Oregon	Pacific-12	9	Middle Tennessee State	Conference USA	114
Seton Hall	Big East	12	Iona	Metro Atlantic Athletic	118
Kentucky	Southeastern	24	Buffalo	Mid-American	120
Saint Joseph's	Atlantic 10	30	Green Bay	Horizon League	128
Connecticut	American Athletic	39	Cal State Bakersfield	Western Athletic	140
Gonzaga	West Coast	45	Weber State	Big Sky	149
Hawaii	Big West	60	UNC Asheville	Big South	154
Arkansas - Little Rock	Sun Belt	65	Florida Gulf Coast	Atlantic Sun	203
Chattanooga	Southern	72	Austin Peay	Ohio Valley	208
UNC Wilmington	Colonial Athletic	79	Hampton	Mid-Eastern Athletic	211
Fresno State	Mountain West	81	Southern	Southwestern Athletic	240
South Dakota State	Summit League	84	Fairleigh Dickinson	Northeast	247
Yale	Ivy League	89	Holy Cross	Patriot League	278

Step 2: the at-large bids.

Filling out the field in the Z-Bracket is entirely straightforward - we take the thirty-six highest rated teams who didn't claim automatic berths. This year, there are two exceptions - Louisville and Southern Methodist would both be in, but they both declared themselves ineligible for postseason play; self-imposed in the former case, while the Mustangs were told by the NCAA they'd be sitting out this year.

Team	Rank	Team	Rank	Team	Rank
Villanova	2	Maryland	19	Pittsburgh	34
Xavier	3	California	20	Oregon State	35
Oklahoma	4	Indiana	21	Michigan	36
West Virginia	6	Providence	22	Southern California	37
Virginia	7	Duke	23	Wisconsin	38
Miami (FL)	10	Texas A&M	26	South Carolina	40
Utah	11	Butler	27	Virginia Tech	41
Baylor	13	Texas Tech	28	Georgia Tech	42
Iowa State	14	Iowa	29	Cincinnati	43
Arizona	16	Notre Dame	31	Syracuse	44
Purdue	17	Dayton	32	Kansas State	46
Texas	18	Colorado	33	Marquette	47

31 of the 36 teams in the table above match actual at-large selections; the five that don't are denoted in italics. Temple (52), Virginia Commonwealth (54), Vanderbilt (56), Wichita State (61), and Tulsa (67) are the five teams actually selected that aren't in my bracket. I'm not surprised to see that; generally, looking closely at the those differences reveals that the selection committee took higher-placed teams from conferences ranked not far below the "big six." VCU and Wichita State both reached their respective conference tournament finals, and Temple won the American outright by two games. Because the Z-Ratings don't weight conference and tournament play any differently than the non-conference schedule, they tend to favor middling teams in the bigger conferences.

Seeding the teams

The first round

No changes in the way we set up the four games in Dayton; we use the one change specified by the NCAA last year (listed first below) and the other rules I've been using the since the First Four was introduced five years ago:

The last and next-to-last at-large teams will play in the first round, as will the third-to-last and fourth-to-last at-large teams. The bottom four seeds will be paired 65 v. 66 and 67. v. 68.
The seed that teams in the "First Four" will play for is determined by the field ranking of the higher-ranked team. That ranking will also determine precedence for the placement of the winners of the first-round games into the "main" 64-team bracket.
Teams scheduled to play Wednesday, March 16 MUST be assigned to a Friday/Sunday pod for the second and third rounds. Teams playing on Tuesday, March 15 can be sent to either a Thursday/Saturday or Friday/Sunday pod.

Creating the seed list

Years back,the committee used to develop an opaque "S-Curve" to come up with an ordering of the teams in the field from 1 to 68; now, in the supposed interest of transparency, they use a seemingly interminable series of ballots. Since all the teams are already ranked by our Z-Ratings, that's the basis for developing the seeds for our bracket. When you see two teams shring a cell in the table below, they're facing off in the first round.

Seed Rk FR Team Seed Rk FR Team Seed Rk FR Team Seed Rk FR Team

1 1 1 Kansas 5 18 17 Texas 9 35 33 Oregon State 13 84 51 South Dakota State

2 2 Villanova 19 18 Maryland 36 34 Michigan 89 52 Yale

3 3 Xavier 20 19 California 37 35 Southern California 90 53 Northern Iowa

4 4 Oklahoma 21 20 Indiana 38 36 Wisconsin 100 54 Stony Brook

2 5 5 Michigan State 6 22 21 Providence 10 39 37 Connecticut 14 107 55 Stephen F. Austin

6 6 West Virginia 23 22 Duke 40 38 South Carolina 114 56 Middle Tennessee State

7 7 Virginia 24 23 Kentucky 41 39 Virginia Tech 118 57 Iona

8 8 North Carolina 26 24 Texas A&M 42 40 Georgia Tech 120 58 Buffalo

3 9 9 Oregon 7 27 25 Butler 11 43
44 41
42 Cincinnati
Syracuse 15 128 59 Green Bay

10 10 Miami (FL) 28 26 Texas Tech 45 43 Gonzaga 140 60 Cal State Bakersfield

11 11 Utah 29 27 Iowa 46
47 44
45 Kansas State
Marquette 149 61 Weber State

12 12 Seton Hall 30 28 Saint Joseph's 60 46 Hawaii 154 62 UNC Asheville

4 13 13 Baylor 8 31 29 Notre Dame 12 65 47 Arkansas - Little Rock 16 203 63 Florida Gulf Coast

14 14 Iowa State 32 30 Dayton 72 48 Chattanooga 208 64 Austin Peay

16 15 Arizona 33 31 Colorado 79 49 UNC Wilmington 211
240 65
66 Hampton
Southern

17 16 Purdue 34 32 Pittsburgh 81 50 Fresno State 247
278 67
68 Fairleigh Dickinson
Holy Cross

Key:
Rk = overall ranking by the Z-Ratings.
FR = Field ranking - the ranking of the team among the field of 68.

What I said about conference versus non-conference play in the section on team selection goes doubly so here - particularly as regards the Big East. The committee seeded every representative of that conference lower than the Z-Ratings would - in the cases of Providence and Seton Hall, three spots lower. I wonder to what extent Seton Hall was already locked into its position during the voting process - and conversely, how much weight was given to their victory over the second-ranked team in the country. In the other direction, the SEC co-champions, Kentucky and Texas A&M, were both relatively rewarded by the selection committee. That league isn't without its share of good teams, but doesn't have quite the depth of top-50 ranked clubs that the Big East has; it seems that those administering the eye test discount that factor.

Establishing the bracket

In 2016, the four regionals are in Philadelphia (East); Louisville (South); Chicago (Midwest); and Anaheim (West).

Selection and seeding are by the ratings, and are thus objective. The place for subjectivity comes in this third stage - the actual bracket construction. Going all the way back to the first Z-Bracket in 2003, I've used the same principles and procedures as the NCAA's representatives. We will see one interesting change as we step through the procedure, but the general principles are as they were in 2015, and are as follows:

The point at which intraconference matchups are permissible varies based on the frequency of that matchup thus far in 2015-16:
- Three or more times - regional final (round of 8).
- Twice - regional semifinal (round of 16).
- Once or not at all - third round (round of 32).
The first four teams from a conference go to different regionals, provided they are seeded on the first four lines.
Teams seeded Nos. 1 thru 4 will not be put at a severe "home-court disadvantage" in the second round (the round of 64).
A team cannot play in an arena where it has played more than three regular season games, excluding conference tournaments (i.e. any home court).
A team cannot play at a site where its school is hosting, but can play at a site hosted by its conference. No school is excluded from a regional site by this principle. In the first and second rounds, Providence can't play in its home arena, and Iowa State has to be kept away from Des Moines.
If two teams from the same region are in contention for the same slot, the one with the higher rating remains in its region. (The guidelines say "true seed," formerly "S-Curve"; we instead use our ratings, as they produced our seeds.)
If necessary, a team's seed can be adjusted up or down one spot to meet the principles; I've never been able to get through a bracket without doing this. As was true since 2013, the committee voted itself the ability to move a team two lines from its true seed in "extraordinary circumstances," which I haven't had to use and don't expect to.

We also adhere to the bracketing procedure outlined in the championship handbook (also at the link just above). As always, the three "additional considerations" listed after the procedure (relating to rematches of games from the regular season and last year's championship, and moving teams out of their natural region an inordinate number of times) and are not used in the construction of the Z-Bracket.

Step 1: Place the No. 1 seeds, and pair the regional winners for the national semifinals.

Top overall seed Kansas is almost exactly equidistant (by road) from Chicago and Louisville; I'm going to follow the actual bracket's lead and put the Jayhawks in the South. Villanova only played three games at the Wells Fargo Center, so they are eligible for the East and go there. Xavier to the Midwest and Oklahoma to the West. Since 2004, the regional winners have been set so that if these four teams win the regionals, the overall one plays the four and two versus three. This gives us South v. West and East v. Midwest in the national semifinals - equivalent to the actual tournament, albeit with three different top seeds.

Step 2: Place the No. 2 seeds.

This is where some new language has been inserted into the process, and I'm going to quote it verbatim here:

The committee may relax the principle of keeping teams as close to their area of natural interest for seeding teams on the No. 2 line to avoid, for example, the overall No. 5 seed being sent to the same region as the overall No. 1 seed. The committee will not compromise the principle of keeping teams from the same conference in separate regions.

The first number two seed under consideration is Michigan State; the Spartans go to the Midwest. With Big 12 teams already in the South and West, I then have to put West Virginia in the East. The other two #2 seeds are both out of the ACC; since Virginia has the higher rating, it goes to the South and UNC heads West.

Step 3: Place the No. 3 seeds.

Oregon stays (relatively) close to home in the West; Miami to the East; Utah to the Midwest, which is also forced by not being able to place Seton Hall there, so the Pirates end up in the South.

Step 4: Place the No. 4 seeds.

As much as it would be a more natural fit to put Iowa State in the Midwest, they're behind Baylor, who must therefore get that slot as the fourth Big 12 team. The next closest regional for the Cyclones is the South, but I prefer not to have them possibly matching up with Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen. So I'm sending them East instead, where they might play West Virginia in the Elite Eight. That leaves Arizona in the South and Purdue in the West.

Step 5: Check for conflicts and balance in the Nos. 1 through 4 seeds.

With the exception of the unavoidability of two Big 12 teams in the East, conference separation is maintained. The top of the bracket is checked for balance by adding up the field rankings of the four teams we've places in each region. The East and Midwest sum to 32, the South is 35, and the West is 37. That's right on the edge of unbalance (five points separation between lowest and highest totals), so I'm not going to make any adjustments.

Step 6: Assign first and second round sites.

Each of the eight first/second round sites gets two of these top 16 teams assigned to it, in order of ranking and subject to any restrictions noted above on schools playing where they are hosting. Des Moines, IA: Kansas, Purdue
Brooklyn, NY: Villanova, West Virginia
St. Louis, MO: Xavier, Michigan State
Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma, Baylor
Raleigh, NC: Virginia, North Carolina
Spokane, WA: Oregon, Arizona
Providence, RI: Miami (FL), Seton Hall
Denver, CO: Utah, Iowa State

This year, the hosting-school prohibition did come into play; a Des Moines "pod" was still available when I got to them, but had to instead send the Cyclones to Denver.

Step 7: Place the No. 5 through 16 seeds.

If the seedings hold, the fifty-two teams not yet placed won't reach the regional sites, so the rest of the field is assigned by geographic proximity to the available first and second round sites on their seed line, subject to the constraints of the other principles.

Step 7a: Place the No. 5 seeds. (Denver, Des Moines, Oklahoma City, Spokane)

Last year, I did not have to bump a team off its seed line. This time around, I'm doing it early.

The next four teams are Texas, Maryland, California, and Indiana. Due to conference separation constraints, Cal has to go to the East, and Maryland and Indiana can't be in the Midwest or West. So something has to give. When a team is bumped, it is always to the other side of a regional bracket (in this case, top half to bottom half). So a team would be going down to a no. 6 seed; the fairest and also most helpful move is to drop Indiana a line. In its place, the natural move would be to bring up Providence, but the Friars would be locked into the West - and with Arizona locked into the East, that forces Maryland to the South and would set up a potential round of 32 game between Texas and Baylor, who just met in a Big 12 tournament quarterfinal.

So instead, I'm going to bring up Duke, and since the Blue Devils are the fourth ACC team being placed, they go to the Midwest. As stated before, Cal and Maryland are forced to the East and South respectively. This gives us a possible Texas v. Oklahoma matchup in a West Regional semifinal, which I'm much more comfortable with (and which the rules allow) as they didn't meet in the Big 12 championship.

Step 7b: Place the No. 6 seeds. (Denver, Providence [2], Spokane)

The fourth teams from the Big Ten and Big East are up next; Indiana goes to the East and Providence to the West (fortunately, keeping them away from either of the two pods at the Dunkin' Donuts Center). Hey, I thought there were six big conferences... ah, there's the SEC! Glad you could make it, Kentucky and Texas A&M. Finally back to geographical considerations; the Wildcats head to the South and the Aggies to the Midwest.

Step 7c: Place the No. 7 seeds. (Brooklyn, Raleigh [2], St. Louis)

Butler to the Midwest (fifth Big East team, plus Xavier is on the other side of the bracket); Texas Tech to the South (could have sent them West as well, but the regional site is closer); Iowa to the West; and Saint Joseph's heads East, back to the site of their Atlantic 10 tournament victory.

Step 7d: Place the No. 8 seeds. (Brooklyn, Des Moines, Oklahoma City, St. Louis)

This line actually went very smoothly - Notre Dame to the South; Dayton to the Midwest; Colorado to the West; Pitt to the East.

Step 7e: Place the No. 9 seeds. (Brooklyn, Des Moines, Oklahoma City, St. Louis)

We consider Oregon State first; the Beavers played Cal three times (East is out), but Utah twice and Arizona only once (both okay). I'll delay the intraconference matchup as late as possible and put Oregon State in the Midwest. Michigan goes to the East to avoid Maryland and Purdue. USC only faced off against Arizona twice, so they go to the South, leaving Wisconsin in the West, which is fine because the Badgers and Boilermakers also only saw each other twice.

Step 7f: Place the No. 10 seeds. (Brooklyn, Raleigh [2], St. Louis)

Connecticut is the first team on this line slated to be placed, but leaving them on this line will run me into trouble with the ACC teams coming up later. So I'm bumping the Huskies up to a No. 9 and putting them in Wisconsin's spot, bringing the Badgers down and placing the, in the South. From there, South Carolina goes to the West, and since Miami and Virginia Tech played three times, Georgia Tech gets the East slot while the Hokies go into the Midwest.

Step 7g: Place the No. 11 seeds. (Denver, Providence [2], Spokane)

Now we get to seeding the winners of two of the First Four games. The Cincinnati/Syracuse winner to the South. Gonzaga is next, and since the University of Idaho is hosting the Spokane sub-regional and its opponent isn't a top four seed, the Bulldogs get to stay home by going to the West. The Kansas State v. Marquette victor goes to the East (K-State didn't play West Virginia in the conference tournament)... and with all the at-large teams loaded in, we're done with conference conflicts. Big West champ Hawaii gets the last spot on this line in the Midwest.

Step 7h: Place the No. 12 seeds. (Denver, Des Moines, Oklahoma City, Spokane)

Arkansas - Little Rock to the Midwest; Chattanooga to the West; UNC Wilmington to the East; Fresno State to the South.

Step 7i: Place the No. 13 seeds. (Denver, Des Moines, Oklahoma City, Spokane)

South Dakota State to the West; Yale to the Midwest; Northern Iowa to the East; Stony Brook to the South.

Step 7j: Place the No. 14 seeds. (Denver, Providence [2], Spokane)

Stephen F. Austin to the Midwest; Middle Tennessee State to the South; Iona to the East; Buffalo to the West.

Step 7k: Place the No. 15 seeds. (Brooklyn, Raleigh [2], St. Louis)

Green Bay to the Midwest; Cal State Bakersfield to the West; Weber State to the South; UNC Asheville to the East.

Step 7l: Place the No. 16 seeds. (Brooklyn, Des Moines, Oklahoma City, St. Louis)

Florida Gulf Coast to the Midwest (yes, St. Louis is the closest of the four available cities to Fort Myers); that's unfortunate for Austin Peay, as they're much closer to St. Louis, but they instead get the South and top overall seed Kansas in Des Moines. Since Hampton is ranked higher than Southern, the winner of that matchup goes to Brooklyn and the East, and the Fairleigh Dickinson - Holy Cross winner goes into the West.

Step 8: Re-check the entire bracket for conflicts.

The big thing I do at this stage is look back at what intraconference matchups are possible prior to the regional finals.

Southern Cal / Arizona: January 9, February 14
Oklahoma / Texas: February 8, February 27
Syracuse / Virginia: January 24
Kansas State / West Virginia: January 2, January 26
Miami (FL) / Georgia Tech: February 7

No problems on that front. Here's the 2016 Z-Bracket!

SOUTH (KFC Yum! Center, Louisville) EAST (Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia)

1 Kansas Wells Fargo Arena
Des Moines, IA Barclays Center
Brooklyn, NY Villanova 1

16 Austin Peay 16

8 Notre Dame Pittsburgh 8

9 Southern California Michigan 9

5 Maryland Spokane Vet. Mem. Arena
Spokane, WA Pepsi Center
Denver, CO California 5

12 Fresno State UNC Wilmington 12

4 Arizona Iowa State 4

13 Stony Brook Northern Iowa 13

3 Seton Hall Dunkin' Donuts Center
Providence, RI Dunkin' Donuts Center
Providence, RI Miami (FL) 3

14 Middle Tennessee State Iona 14

6 Kentucky Indiana 6

11 11

7 Texas Tech PNC Arena
Raleigh, NC Barclays Center
Brooklyn, NY Saint Joseph's 7

10 Wisconsin Georgia Tech 10

2 Virginia West Virginia 2

15 Weber State UNC Asheville 15

FINAL FOUR
(NRG Stadium, Houston)
South v. West
East v. Midwest

WEST (Honda Center, Anaheim) MIDWEST (United Center, Chicago)

1 Oklahoma Chesapeake Energy Arena
Oklahoma City, OK Scottrade Center
St. Louis, MO Xavier 1

16 Florida Gulf Coast 16

8 Colorado Dayton 8

9 Connecticut Oregon State 9

5 Texas Wells Fargo Arena
Des Moines, IA Chesapeake Energy Arena
Oklahoma City, OK Duke 5

12 Chattanooga Arkansas - Little Rock 12

4 Purdue Baylor 4

13 South Dakota State Yale 13

3 Oregon Spokane Vet. Mem. Arena
Spokane, WA Pepsi Center
Denver, CO Utah 3

14 Buffalo Stephen F. Austin 14

6 Providence Texas A&M 6

11 Gonzaga Hawaii 11

7 Iowa PNC Arena
Raleigh, NC Scottrade Center
St. Louis, MO Butler 7

10 South Carolina Virginia Tech 10

2 North Carolina Michigan State 2

15 Cal State Bakersfield Green Bay 15

FIRST FOUR (UD Arena, Dayton) - Tuesday FIRST FOUR (UD Arena, Dayton) - Wednesday

Cincinnati (to South #11) (to East #16) Hampton

Syracuse Southern

Kansas State (to East #11) (to West #16) Fairleigh Dickinson

Marquette Holy Cross

Bracket simulation

I'm going to be doing some significant reprogramming work on the bracket simulator to make it easier to load the teams in and account for the shifting around of where the First Four winners end up going. I ended up just using the same oldprogram as I always have. Both the Z-Bracket you see above and the actual NCAA Tournament were run through one million playings. The results of each look pretty similar, with the Jayhawks having about a 30 percent chance of bringing the trophy home (both the real one and my hypothetical one).

Acknowledgements

They're the same as they always are. Although I haven't followed Cornell hockey as closely this year as in years past, that was the original seed for me starting this nearly a decade and a half ago, and credit for that goes to Ken Butler and John Whelan as always. Finding QB64 has been such a boost to keeping the Z-Ratings going - without it, the expansion of Division I might be pushing the memory limits of the old QBasic 4.5. And last but perhaps most important, Ken Pomeroy's advanced analysis generates an important component ofmy more simplistic one - the plain-text file of every Division I played this season. Having that at my disposal makes the task of keeping the ratings up to date a whole lot easier.

One last question... is the selection show over yet?

The Z-Ratings Center | Matt's home page

Seed	Rk	FR	Team	Seed	Rk	FR	Team	Seed	Rk	FR	Team	Seed	Rk	FR	Team
1	1	1	Kansas	5	18	17	Texas	9	35	33	Oregon State	13	84	51	South Dakota State
	2	2	Villanova		19	18	Maryland		36	34	Michigan		89	52	Yale
	3	3	Xavier		20	19	California		37	35	Southern California		90	53	Northern Iowa
	4	4	Oklahoma		21	20	Indiana		38	36	Wisconsin		100	54	Stony Brook
2	5	5	Michigan State	6	22	21	Providence	10	39	37	Connecticut	14	107	55	Stephen F. Austin
	6	6	West Virginia		23	22	Duke		40	38	South Carolina		114	56	Middle Tennessee State
	7	7	Virginia		24	23	Kentucky		41	39	Virginia Tech		118	57	Iona
	8	8	North Carolina		26	24	Texas A&M		42	40	Georgia Tech		120	58	Buffalo
3	9	9	Oregon	7	27	25	Butler	11	43 44	41 42	Cincinnati Syracuse	15	128	59	Green Bay
	10	10	Miami (FL)		28	26	Texas Tech		45	43	Gonzaga		140	60	Cal State Bakersfield
	11	11	Utah		29	27	Iowa		46 47	44 45	Kansas State Marquette		149	61	Weber State
	12	12	Seton Hall		30	28	Saint Joseph's		60	46	Hawaii		154	62	UNC Asheville
4	13	13	Baylor	8	31	29	Notre Dame	12	65	47	Arkansas - Little Rock	16	203	63	Florida Gulf Coast
	14	14	Iowa State		32	30	Dayton		72	48	Chattanooga		208	64	Austin Peay
	16	15	Arizona		33	31	Colorado		79	49	UNC Wilmington		211 240	65 66	Hampton Southern
	17	16	Purdue		34	32	Pittsburgh		81	50	Fresno State		247 278	67 68	Fairleigh Dickinson Holy Cross

SOUTH (KFC Yum! Center, Louisville)				EAST (Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia)
1	Kansas	Wells Fargo Arena Des Moines, IA		Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY	Villanova	1
16	Austin Peay					16

8	Notre Dame				Pittsburgh	8
9	Southern California				Michigan	9
5	Maryland	Spokane Vet. Mem. Arena Spokane, WA		Pepsi Center Denver, CO	California	5
12	Fresno State				UNC Wilmington	12

4	Arizona				Iowa State	4
13	Stony Brook				Northern Iowa	13
3	Seton Hall	Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI		Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI	Miami (FL)	3
14	Middle Tennessee State				Iona	14

6	Kentucky				Indiana	6
11						11
7	Texas Tech	PNC Arena Raleigh, NC		Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY	Saint Joseph's	7
10	Wisconsin				Georgia Tech	10

2	Virginia				West Virginia	2
15	Weber State				UNC Asheville	15
			FINAL FOUR (NRG Stadium, Houston) South v. West East v. Midwest
WEST (Honda Center, Anaheim)				MIDWEST (United Center, Chicago)
1	Oklahoma	Chesapeake Energy Arena Oklahoma City, OK		Scottrade Center St. Louis, MO	Xavier	1
16					Florida Gulf Coast	16

8	Colorado				Dayton	8
9	Connecticut				Oregon State	9
5	Texas	Wells Fargo Arena Des Moines, IA		Chesapeake Energy Arena Oklahoma City, OK	Duke	5
12	Chattanooga				Arkansas - Little Rock	12

4	Purdue				Baylor	4
13	South Dakota State				Yale	13
3	Oregon	Spokane Vet. Mem. Arena Spokane, WA		Pepsi Center Denver, CO	Utah	3
14	Buffalo				Stephen F. Austin	14

6	Providence				Texas A&M	6
11	Gonzaga				Hawaii	11
7	Iowa	PNC Arena Raleigh, NC		Scottrade Center St. Louis, MO	Butler	7
10	South Carolina				Virginia Tech	10

2	North Carolina				Michigan State	2
15	Cal State Bakersfield				Green Bay	15
FIRST FOUR (UD Arena, Dayton) - Tuesday				FIRST FOUR (UD Arena, Dayton) - Wednesday
Cincinnati		(to South #11)		(to East #16)	Hampton
Syracuse		(to South #11)		(to East #16)	Southern
Kansas State		(to East #11)		(to West #16)	Fairleigh Dickinson
Marquette		(to East #11)		(to West #16)	Holy Cross