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| Arthur Lee and the Cardinal take on Alcorn State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. |  |
Stanford Earns a Two Seed in the West Region
Men's basketball takes on Alcorn State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
March 7, 1999
By DOUG TUCKER
AP Sports Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Top-ranked Duke, Michigan State, Auburn andConnecticut were selected Sunday as the No. 1 seeds for the NCAA tournament.
The Blue Devils (32-1), the first team to go 16-0 in the Atlantic CoastConference, will take their 27-game winning streak into a first-round game inthe East Regional at Charlotte, N.C., on Friday against Florida A&M. At 12-18,the Rattlers, who won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament, are theonly team in this year's field with a sub-.500 record.
Michigan State (29-4), the Big Ten champion, was chosen No. 1 in the MidwestRegional and will play on Friday against Mount St. Mary's, the NortheastConference champions coached by 800-game winner Jim Phelan.
Auburn (27-3), which lost to Kentucky in the Southeastern Conferencetournament semifinals, opens play in the South Regional on Thursday in Seattleagainst Winthrop, the Big South champions and one of five teams in thetournament for the first time.
Connecticut (28-2) was the only top seed moved out of its natural region.The Big East champions will play in Denver on Thursday against Texas-SanAntonio, which won the Southland Conference.
The Southeastern Conference had one-fourth of the top 16 seeds, but the BigTen tied the record with seven teams. The SEC had six teams invited, one morethan the Big East and Big 12.
The other games to be played in Charlotte are: fourth-seeded Tennesseeagainst No. 13 Delaware; fifth-seeded Wisconsin against No. 12 SouthwestMissouri State; and eighth-seeded College of Charleston against No. 9 Tulsa.
At Boston it will be: second-seeded Miami against No. 15 Lafayette, which ismaking its first appearance since 1957; third-seeded Cincinnati against No. 14George Mason; sixth-seeded Temple against No. 11 Kent; and seventh-seeded Texasagainst No. 10 Purdue.
The East Regional semifinals and finals will be held March 19 and 21 in EastRutherford, N.J.
In addition to the Michigan State-Mount St. Mary's game in Milwaukee,fourth-seeded Arizona plays No. 13 Oklahoma; fifth-seeded North CarolinaCharlotte meets No. 12 Rhode Island; and No. 8 Villanova plays No. 9 Missouri.
The games Friday in New Orleans feature second-seeded Utah against No. 15Arkansas State; No. 3 Kentucky against 14th-seeded New Mexico State; No. 6Kansas against 11th-seeded Evansville; and seventh-seeded Washington againstNo. 10 Miami of Ohio.
The Midwest Regional semifinals and finals are March 19 and 21 in St. Louis.
In the other games Thursday in Indianapolis, fourth-seeded Ohio State playsNo. 13 Murray State; No. 5 UCLA meets 12th-seeded Detroit; and Syracuse playsOklahoma State in the 8-9 matchup.
The other South subregional starts Thursday in Orlando, Fla., and featuresNo. 2 Maryland against last year's surprise team, No. 15 Valparaiso; No. 3 St.John's against 14th-seeded Samford; No. 6 Indiana against No. 11 GeorgeWashington; and seventh-seeded Louisville, the school given a second chance atbeing in the tournament, against No. 10 Creighton.
The South Regional semifinals and final will be March 18 and 20 inKnoxville, Tenn.
In addition to Connecticut-Texas-San Antonio, the games Thursday in Denverfeature No. 4 Arkansas against No. 13 Siena; No. 5 Iowa against No. 12 AlabamaBirmingham; and No. 8 Missouri against No. 9 New Mexico.
In Seattle on Thursday second-seeded Stanford plays No. 15 Alcorn State; No.3 North Carolina meets No. 14 Weber State; No. 6 Florida goes up against No. 11Pennsylvania; and No. 7 Minnesota plays No. 10 Gonzaga.
The West Regional semifinals and finals will be March 18 and 20 in Phoenix.
The national semifinals are March 27 in St. Petersburg, Fla., and thematchups are South vs. West and East vs. Midwest. The championship game isMarch 29.
North Carolina extended its own record with its 25th consecutive appearance,10 more than the next best current streak, Arizona's 15.
The other first-time NCAA teams were Arkansas State, Florida A&M, Kent andSamford.
The other multibid conferences were Conference USA and Pac-10 with foureach; the Atlantic Coast Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, and WesternAthletic Conference with three teams each; and the Mid-American Conference withtwo.
NCAA Tournament Seedings
By The Associated Press
SOUTH
1. Auburn
2. Maryland
3. St. John's
4. Ohio State
5. UCLA
6. Indiana
7. Louisville
8. Syracuse
9. Oklahoma State
10. Creighton
11. George Washington
12. Detroit
13. Murray State
14. Samford
15. Valparaiso
16. Winthrop
WEST
1. Connecticut
2. Stanford
3. North Carolina
4. Arkansas
5. Iowa
6. Florida
7. Minnesota
8. Missouri
9. New Mexico
10. Gonzaga
11. Pennsylvania
12. Alabama-Birmingham
13. Siena
14. Weber State
15. Alcorn State
16. Texas-San Antonio
EAST
1. Duke
2. Miami
3. Cincinnati
4. Tennessee
5. Wisconsin
6. Temple
7. Texas
8. College of Charleston
9. Tulsa
10. Purdue
11. Kent
12. Southwest Missouri State
13. Delaware
14. George Mason
15. Lafayette
16. Florida A&M
MIDWEST
1. Michigan State
2. Utah
3. Kentucky
4. Arizona
5. North Carolina Charlotte
6. Kansas
7. Washington
8. Villanova
9. Mississippi
10. Miami, Ohio
11. Evansville
12. Rhode Island
13. Oklahoma
14. New Mexico State
15. Arkansas State
16. Mount St. Mary's