March 7, 1999

Audio Clip of Tigers' reaction to NCAAs (3-7-99)

By DOUG TUCKER
AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Top-ranked Duke, Michigan State, Auburn and Connecticut 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 Coast Conference, will take their 27-game winning streak into a first-round game in the 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 the only 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 Midwest Regional and will play on Friday against Mount St. Mary's, the Northeast Conference champions coached by 800-game winner Jim Phelan.

Auburn (27-3), which lost to Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals, opens play in the South Regional on Thursday in Seattle against Winthrop, the Big South champions and one of five teams in the tournament 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-San Antonio, which won the Southland Conference.

The Southeastern Conference had one-fourth of the top 16 seeds, but the Big Ten tied the record with seven teams. The SEC had six teams invited, one more than the Big East and Big 12.

The other games to be played in Charlotte are: fourth-seeded Tennessee against No. 13 Delaware; fifth-seeded Wisconsin against No. 12 Southwest Missouri State; and eighth-seeded College of Charleston against No. 9 Tulsa.

At Boston it will be: second-seeded Miami against No. 15 Lafayette, which is making its first appearance since 1957; third-seeded Cincinnati against No. 14 George Mason; sixth-seeded Temple against No. 11 Kent; and seventh-seeded Texas against No. 10 Purdue.

The East Regional semifinals and finals will be held March 19 and 21 in East Rutherford, 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 Carolina Charlotte 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. 15 Arkansas State; No. 3 Kentucky against 14th-seeded New Mexico State; No. 6 Kansas against 11th-seeded Evansville; and seventh-seeded Washington against No. 10 Miami of Ohio.

The Midwest Regional semifinals and finals are March 19 and 21 in St. Louis.

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