FINAL FOUR TICKETS, NEWS AND PRINTABLE BRACKET

Until the games begin, late-rising No. 1 seeds Washington and Duke are the big winners of the 2005 NCAA Tournament bracket. The big losers? Syracuse and Wake Forest. No question. Hands down.

Washington and Duke got what they deserved. Syracuse and Wake Forest did not.

Syracuse was rewarded for its Big East Tournament championship by being given a No. 4 seed -- two rungs below second-seeded Connecticut. While the Huskies finished two games ahead of Syracuse and swept the Orange in the regular season, Syracuse beat UConn in the Big East semifinals.

Faced with a similar situation in the ACC, the selection committee went in another direction. Although Wake Forest (26-5) finished two games ahead of Duke -- the two split in the regular season and didn't play in the ACC Tournament -- the Blue Devils (25-5) received the No. 1 seed and the advantageous pod in Charlotte, N.C.

And what did Wake Forest get? Wake Forest got the shaft. The Deacons had a firm grasp on a No. 1 seed until losing in the ACC quarterfinals to North Carolina State, a loss that should have been mitigated by the one-game suspension of All-America point guard Chris Paul. It was not.

The selection committee punished the Deacons again by sending them to the Cleveland pod, where they face a possible second-round game with West Virginia (21-10). Not only are the Mountaineers one of the hottest teams in the country, but their in-state fans can drive -- easily -- to Cleveland. Wake Forest, the first overall No. 2 seed according to the bracket's S-curve, realistically could be playing a road game in the second round.

While the top four seeds in each region are supposed to be given preferential treatment in terms of geography, selection committee chairman Bob Bowlsby said that didn't happen as much as in years past. More>>>

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posted by ADMIN @ Monday, March 14, 2005