2008 Woodie Awards
UNC, UCLA, Memphis and Kansas earn No. 1 seeds
By: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Issue date: 3/17/08 Section: Sports
North Carolina, Memphis, Kansas and UCLA earned the top seeds in the NCAA tournament Sunday, and the top-ranked Tar Heels got the best deal of all: Their road to the Final Four won't veer more than two hours outside their Chapel Hill campus.
The Tar Heels (32-2) are the top seed in the East, with their first- and second-round games scheduled for Raleigh and the next two rounds in Charlotte.
"It's an advantage if you play well," said North Carolina coach Roy Williams, trying to lead the Tar Heels to their second title in four years. "Just because the crowd's cheering for you, I've never had a crowd win a game. I know it sounds wacko."
Like North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA and Memphis won their conference tournaments to seal their top spots - Memphis in the South, Kansas in the Midwest and UCLA in the West.
The Final Four is set for April 5-7 in San Antonio.
Absent from the tournament are last year's two finalists, Ohio State and two-time defending champion Florida.
The Buckeyes were a bubble team that didn't make it, and the rebuilt Gators saw their chances die with a first-round loss in the Southeastern Conference tournament. They're the first defending champs to miss the tournament since Kansas in 1989, when the Jayhawks were on probation.
March Madness officially begins Tuesday with an opening-round game between Coppin State and Mount St. Mary's, then with first-round games Thursday and Friday. The real festivities, however, have already started, with the brackets out, the pencils sharpened and office pools getting in full swing.
In the East region, North Carolina will open against the winner of the Coppin State-Mount St. Mary's game, while No. 2 seed Tennessee will open against No. 15 American.
Other games in the region are: No. 7 Butler vs. No. 10 South Alabama; No. 3 Louisville vs. No. 14 Boise State; No. 6 Oklahoma vs. No. 11 St. Joseph's; No. 8 Indiana vs. No. 9 Arkansas; No. 4 Washington State vs. No. 13 Winthrop; and No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 12 George Mason, which will try to repeat its surprising trip to the Final Four two years ago.
The Tar Heels (32-2) are the top seed in the East, with their first- and second-round games scheduled for Raleigh and the next two rounds in Charlotte.
"It's an advantage if you play well," said North Carolina coach Roy Williams, trying to lead the Tar Heels to their second title in four years. "Just because the crowd's cheering for you, I've never had a crowd win a game. I know it sounds wacko."
Like North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA and Memphis won their conference tournaments to seal their top spots - Memphis in the South, Kansas in the Midwest and UCLA in the West.
The Final Four is set for April 5-7 in San Antonio.
Absent from the tournament are last year's two finalists, Ohio State and two-time defending champion Florida.
The Buckeyes were a bubble team that didn't make it, and the rebuilt Gators saw their chances die with a first-round loss in the Southeastern Conference tournament. They're the first defending champs to miss the tournament since Kansas in 1989, when the Jayhawks were on probation.
March Madness officially begins Tuesday with an opening-round game between Coppin State and Mount St. Mary's, then with first-round games Thursday and Friday. The real festivities, however, have already started, with the brackets out, the pencils sharpened and office pools getting in full swing.
In the East region, North Carolina will open against the winner of the Coppin State-Mount St. Mary's game, while No. 2 seed Tennessee will open against No. 15 American.
Other games in the region are: No. 7 Butler vs. No. 10 South Alabama; No. 3 Louisville vs. No. 14 Boise State; No. 6 Oklahoma vs. No. 11 St. Joseph's; No. 8 Indiana vs. No. 9 Arkansas; No. 4 Washington State vs. No. 13 Winthrop; and No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 12 George Mason, which will try to repeat its surprising trip to the Final Four two years ago.
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