2 seed in the West, the first time in 26 years the top two teams in the West Region are actually from the Western part of the United States. 7 South Carolina in the East -- no easy task considering the game will be played in Greenville, South Carolina -- the Golden Eagles would likely face the Blue Devils and coach Mike Krzyzewski. The Blue Devils won four games in four nights at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, and have beaten the rival Tar Heels (27-7) twice. Though it was no surprise when that school's name popped into the NCAA Tournament bracket, it was a reminder that, yes, this is March Madness -- that time of year where anything can happen. 1 seed in the East region, but will be challenged by Wisconsin, SMU and Duke. If they advance to the Sweet 16, they’ll be accompanied by a large contingent of their own fans in Kansas City. March 12 (The Sports Xchange) - Defending champion Villanova was the overall top seed and one of four number one seeds in the NCAA basketball tournament field announced on Sunday. The Wildcats, longtime losers in the Big Ten, were officially invited to the tournament for the first time in school history, and the group-hugging, selfie-taking reaction from the players (and others) when their name came up showed how much the accomplishment really meant. Villanova, which won the title last year on a buzzer-beating jump shot by Kris Jenkins, will open its quest for back-to-back titles against the winner of an opening-round game between New Orleans and Mount Saint Mary's. Here is the entire bracket:

[Fill out your NCAA tournament bracket here | Printable version]

Villanova will be the 1-seed in the East regional after capping off a 31-3 season with Big East regular-season and tournament titles. "You put a team at '8' that shouldn't be there, and the '1' looks at it like, 'Why are we playing this team?'" Another set of Wildcats -- the ones from Villanova -- were given the tournament's top overall seed. With the brackets set, the action begins Tuesday and Wednesday with opening-round games that will include matchups between the last at-large teams invited into the draw: No.
The field of 68 teams is announced. The overall top seed is defending national champion Villanova; the remaining #1 seeds are Kansas, North Carolina, and Gonzaga.