No harm done: Top teams fall, retain top seeds

The upsets began before the brackets even came out, but they didn’t count for much.

Kentucky, Syracuse and North Carolina all earned top seeding for the NCAA tournament Sunday despite weekend losses.

Michigan State (27-7) earned the other No. 1 seed and was the only one of the four top-billed teams to win its conference tournament. The Spartans defeated Ohio State 68-64 in the Big Ten title game — a contest widely viewed as the game for the last No. 1 seed, even if selection committee chairman Jeff Hathaway wouldn’t say so.

“As it turned out, this game put the No. 1 seed into the field,” he said.

No. 2 seeds Kansas (27-6), Duke (27-6), Missouri (30-4) and Ohio State (27-7) might wonder why they were not rated rated higher, but teams such as Drexel (27-6), Seton Hall (20-12), Mississippi State (21-11) and Pac-12 regular-season champion Washington are not seeded at all. They were left out, while Iona, California (24-9) and South Florida (20-13) made it.

“They weren’t the last team in,” Hathaway said of Iona (25-7). “They had a very good nonconference strength of schedule; they were 44. I know a lot of people are going to try to compare them to Drexel, and Drexel was well over 200. ... We think we got that one right. Obviously, a lot of people will debate it, and that’s what makes it fun.”

The three-week, 67-game tournament starts with firstround games Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio. That’s the first step en route to the Final Four, which begins March 31 in New Orleans.

Kentucky and Syracuse each enter the tournament with two losses.

Syracuse (31-2) fell to Cincinnati in the Big East semifinals on Friday; Kentucky (322) lost to Vanderbilt (24-10) in the SEC title game, and the

Tar Heels (29-5) lost to Florida State (24-9) in the ACC finals Sunday. Combined with Kansas’ loss to Baylor (27-7) in the Big 12 semifinals, this marked only the second time since 2003 that the top four teams in The Associated Press poll all lost in the same week.

Kentucky, placed in the South region, earned the overall No. 1 seed and will open the tournament against the winner of a first-round game between Mississippi Valley State (21-12) and Western Kentucky (15-18). No. 8 seed Iowa State (22-10) will play defending champion Connecticut, a No. 9 at 20-13.

In the West, top-seeded Michigan State will open against No. 16 LIU (25-8).

The bottom of the bracket features No. 2 Missouri against No. 15 Norfolk State (25-9) and No. 7 Florida (23-10) against No. 10 Virginia (22-9). Missouri (30-4) was ranked eighth overall and Hathaway said the Tigers' soft nonconference schedule cost them in the seeding, even though they won the Big 12 tournament and were 113 against teams that made the tournament field.

In the East, No. 1 Syracuse plays No. 16 UNC Asheville (24-9) and No. 8 Kansas State (21-10) plays No. 9 Southern Mississippi (25-8).

In the Midwest, No. 1 North Carolina will play the winner of a first-round game between 16 seeds Lamar (2311) and Vermont (23-11). No. 8 Creighton (28-5) will play No. 9 Alabama (21-11), one of four SEC teams in tournament, along with Kentucky, Florida and Vanderbilt.

Washington (21-10) became the first team to win a regular-season title in a power conference and miss the tournament.