Latest from NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday (all hours EDT):
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6:55 pm
Louisville was the first off the field of 68, but former Cardinals coach Rick Pitino is back in the NCAA Tournament, this time with Iona.
Pitino was fired by Louisville in 2017 as part of the fallout from the FBI investigation into college basketball. He was hired by Iona College, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference school in New Rochelle, New York, last year.
Pitino is the fifth coach to lead five teams to the NCAA Tournament, joining Lon Kruger and Tuby Smith.
The Gaels are the No. 15 seed and will face Alabama in the first round in the Eastern Region.
Louisville will be the first replacement team if one is needed on the field due to COVID-19 issues.
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6:42 pm
Michigan is the top seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament, giving the Big Ten two No. 1s in the 68-team field along with Illinois.
The region also includes a marquee matchup in the First Four involving two of the biggest names in college basketball: Michigan State and UCLA play Thursday.
Louisville, Colorado State, Saint Louis and Mississippi were the first four teams left out and those teams will be on standby to replace any team from a multi-offer league that must withdraw due to COVID-19 issues.
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6:32 pm
Illinois is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region and could face Loyola-Chicago in the second round. Loyola, who made a memorable Final Four run in 2018, is back in the NCAA for the third tournament in a row.
Syracuse is the No. 11 team in the Midwest Region, one of several bubble teams that got good news during the support reveal. The state of Utah is the No. 11 seed in the south. Drake, who lost the Missouri Valley Conference title game to Loyola, won a general offer, but the Bulldogs will have to play Wichita State in a First Four game on Thursday.
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6:22 pm
Baylor is the South’s top seed in the NCAA Tournament and could face North Carolina or Wisconsin in the second round. The Bears are a No. 1 seed for the first time. Gonzaga is the top seed in the West, a region that includes both Virginia and Kansas, two teams that had to withdraw from their conference tournaments due to COVID-19 issues.
Colgate, which secured its place in the Patriot League title game early Sunday, will face third-seeded Arkansas as an intriguing No. 14 seed. Colgate is one of the highest-scoring teams in the country.
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6:16 pm
Gonzaga is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. After a year without March Madness, support is back. The pandemic forced the NCAA to cancel the tournament last year. This year, the entire field is heading to Indianapolis, which is hosting the entire tournament this year. Starting with the First Four on Thursday, all games will be played in Indiana. The first round will be played on Friday and Saturday.
Virginia is the number 4 seed in the West Regional. The Cavaliers were the champions in 2019 and there was some concern that COVID-19 issues could keep them out of the NCAA after they had to withdraw from the ACC tournament.
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5:40 pm
No. 7 Houston won the American Athletic Conference championship and gave a group of bubble teams a boost in the process.
The Cougars defeated Cincinnati in the AAC final, ending the Bearcats’ hope of entering the field of 68 of the NCAA Tournament as an automatic qualifier.
The Big Ten championship between No. 3 Illinois and No. 9 Ohio State was coming to an end. Full support is scheduled to begin revealing around 6pm.
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3:45 pm
Alabama, St. Bonaventure and Colgate closed automatic bids for the NCAA Tournament by winning conference championships a few hours before the field of 68 was revealed.
Selection Sunday featured five conference tournament title games as the undercard for the main event that begins around 6 pm EDT – the NCAA draw presentation.
There were no possible “bargain thieves” in the early games.
No. 6 Alabama won the Southeastern Conference by beating LSU, but the Tigers are in good shape to win an overall offer. Crimson Tide defended its No. 1 position with an 80-79 victory.
St. Bonaventure beat VCU to win the Atlantic 10 auto bid as the conference’s top seed. The Rams entered the game expecting to be on the right side of the bubble regardless of the outcome, but they will have to wait a few hours to make it official.
Colgate won the Patriot League automatic bid by beating Loyola Maryland.
There was still the Big Ten Conference championship game between No. 3 Illinois and No. 9 Ohio State and the American Athletic Conference championship between No. 7 Houston and Cincinnati to be played, which he needs to win to get into the league. NCAA field. The Bearcats could jeopardize the tournament hopes of bubble teams like Syracuse, Utah State and Mississippi.
There are 38 overall picks available and the NCAA deadline for teams to inform the selection committee that they will not be able to compete in the tournament last Saturday night without dropping out of schools.
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