NCAA Tournament 2018 Live: Selection Sunday Bracket Updates

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It’s Selection Sunday, when the N.C.A.A. selection committee sets the field for the men’s tournament. The four No. 1 seeds, in order, are Virginia, Villanova, Kansas and Xavier. Stay here for live updates, predictions and analysis:

CreditChris Morris

East Regional: Villanova on Top

Villanova, fresh off its second consecutive Big East tournament championship, has earned the No. 1 seed in the East region, which means they could get to play in Boston for a trip to go to the Final Four. They will face the winner of LIU Brooklyn/Radford in the First Four game in Dayton.

BETTER WITHOUT BIGGIE: It is hard to believe that a team can lose one of the best players in the nation, and then improve the following season. But that’s exactly what happened to second-seeded Purdue this year, after the power forward Caleb Swanigan, nicknamed “Biggie”, jumped to the pros. Swanigan was the Big Ten’s player of the year, but his absence has allowed the 7-foot-2 center Isaac Haas more freedom to develop. Guards Carsen Edwards and Dakota Matthias are lethal for the second-best 3-point shooting team in the country. The Boilermakers have Final Four ingredients.

ROLLIN’ TIDE: Alabama lost 15 games this season, and there were some ugly ones (Central Florida, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Ole Miss). But they have the potential to make some noise in March. Why? Freshman guard Collin Sexton is arguably the best player in the nation: a Russell Westbrook-type talent who won’t be in college basketball for much longer.

UPSET SPECIAL: Wichita State is normally the team doing the upsetting. But the Shockers are a No. 4 seed this year, and they drew an usual matchup in No. 13 Marshall. Under Coach Dan D’Antoni, the Thundering Herd love to push the pace. Wichita could be left gasping.

South Regional: Virginia Is Tournament’s Top Seed

With two fewer losses than any other team in Division I and the esteemed Atlantic Coast Conference’s regular season and tournament championship’s, Virginia (31-2), with a smothering defense and the pace of a manatee, was named the top overall seed in the N.C.A.A. tournament bracket.

NO EASY ROAD FOR VIRGINIA: Coach Tony Bennett’s team lost only two games all season and capped off a fantastic year with the A.C.C. tournament championship on Saturday. They are favorites to reach the Final Four for the first time since 1984. But the committee did not do them many favors in the South region. Cincinnati, the No. 2 seed, boasts the second-ranked defense in the nation (behind the Cavaliers). And then there is Arizona (No. 4 seed) and Kentucky (No. 5), both explosive and talented groups that seem to be peaking at the right time.

HOT MATCHUP: Two of the nation’s hottest teams face each other in the first round in the South. Kentucky, winner of the SEC tournament, drew Davidson, winner of the Atlantic-10 conference, in what will most certainly be one of the most anticipated matchups of the week, in Boise, Idaho.

UPSET SPECIAL: You could argue that No. 11 Loyola-Chicago had a much easier road to the Missouri Valley Conference title without Wichita State around. But the Ramblers have won 10 in a row. No. 6 Miami, which had been hot before the ACC tournament, better look out.

TEXAS SNEAKS IN: After going 11-22 a year ago, the No. 10 Longhorns found themselves on the bubble this season. But the committee gave Coach Shaka Smart another opportunity to make some March magic. Freshman shot-blocking extraordinaire Mo Bamba will be asked to slow down seventh-seeded Nevada, the ninth-most efficient offense in the country.

Virginia players celebrated after beating North Carolina in the A.C.C. championship game.CreditAbbie Parr/Getty Images

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Which Teams Were Left Out?

If you are looking for snubs, start with the first four teams left out of the field: Baylor, Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s and Southern California. During the broadcast, Bruce Rasmussen, Creighton’s athletic director, who served as the selection committee’s chairman, confirmed that Davidson’s win over Rhode Island on Sunday knocked Notre Dame out of the tournament.

The last four teams to make the tournament were also announced: Arizona State, St. Bonaventure, Syracuse and U.C.L.A.

Georgia Players Say They Won’t Play in N.I.T.

Georgia’s loss to Kentucky in an S.E.C. tournament quarterfinal ended the Bulldogs’ chances of a tournament bid in advance of Sunday’s selection show, but after the school fired Coach Mark Fox he announced in a news conference on Sunday that his players had decided they would not accept a bid to the N.I.T. if one were offered. Georgia’s spokesman, Mike Mobley, confirmed the school would honor the players’ decision and the team, which went 18-15, is now in search of a new coach. Fox earned two N.C.A.A. tournament bids in his nine years with Georgia, losing in the first round both times.

West Regional: Xavier Gets Top Seed

Xavier earned their first No. 1 seed in school history, giving the Big East two of the top seeds in the tournament. They will need to look out for Gonzaga, though, as the No. 4 seed and a possible Round of 16 matchup. North Carolina is the No. 2 seed in the region.

Midwest Regional: Kansas, Duke and Michigan State in “Region of Death”

Kansas has the No. 1 seed in the Midwest, and will get to play their first games in Wichita, Kan. But Michigan State, the No. 3 seed, and Duke, the No. 2, loom. This could be the annual so-called “region of death.”

The First Four

The first four games of the tournament will be held in Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday and Wednesday. The matchups are as follows:

Tuesday: LIU-Brooklyn vs. Radford, 6:40 p.m. Eastern. Followed by St. Bonaventure vs. U.C.L.A., at approximately 9:10 p.m.

Wednesday: N.C. Central vs. Texas Southern, 6:40 p.m. Followed by Arizona State vs. Syracuse, at approximately 9:10 p.m.

Who’s In, Who’s Out?

As expected the 68-team field was announced at the beginning of the TBS broadcast. The 2018 automatic bids are:

AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS:

Arizona (27-7);

Bucknell (25-9);

Buffalo (26-8);

Cal State Fullerton (20-11);

Charleston (26-7);

Cincinnati (30-4);

Davidson (20-11);

Georgia State (23-10);

Gonzaga (30-4);

Iona (20-13);

Kansas (27-7);

Kentucky (24-10);

Lipscomb (23-9);

Long Island University-Brooklyn (18-16);

Loyola-Chicago (28-5);

Marshall (24-10);

Michigan (28-7);

Montana (26-7);

Murray State (26-5);

North Carolina Central (19-15);

New Mexico State (28-5);

Penn (24-8);

Radford (22-12);

San Diego State (22-10);

Stephen F. Austin (28-6);

South Dakota State (28-6);

Texas-Southern (15-19);

Maryland-Baltimore County (24-10);

North Carolina-Greensboro (27-7);

Villanova (30-4);

Virginia (31-2);

Wright State (25-9).

AT-LARGE BIDS:

Alabama (19-15);

Arizona State (20-11);

Arkansas (23-11);

Auburn (25-7);

Butler (20-13);

Clemson (23-9);

Creighton (21-11);

Duke (26-7);

Florida (20-12);

Florida State (20-11);

Houston (26-6);

Kansas State (22-11);

Miami (22-9);

Michigan State (29-4);

Missouri (20-12);

N.C. State (21-11);

Nevada (27-7);

North Carolina (25-10);

Ohio State (24-8);

Oklahoma (18-13);

Providence (21-13);

Purdue (28-6);

Rhode Island (25-6);

Seton Hall (21-11);

St. Bonaventure (25-7);

Syracuse (20-13);

Texas Christian (21-11);

Tennessee (25-8);

Texas (19-14);

Texas A&M (20-12);

Texas Tech (24-9);

U.C.L.A. (21-11);

Virginia Tech (21-11);

West Virginia (24-10);

Wichita State (25-7);

Xavier (28-5)

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