March Madness field set

Selection Sunday's play‑in pairings send NC State vs. Texas, Howard vs. UMBC, SMU vs. Miami (OH) and Prairie View A&M vs. Lehigh into the First Four bracket. (sportingnews.com) The NC State–Texas winner is slotted into an 11‑seed line that would draw No. 6 BYU in the West, while the SMU–Miami (OH) winner occupies the Midwest's 11‑seed path facing No. 6 Tennessee. (sportingnews.com) Miami (OH) landed one of the final at‑large spots after a season in which it went unbeaten until its conference tournament, and notable teams left out of the 68 included San Diego State, Auburn and Indiana. (sportingnews.com) The full field comprises 31 automatic qualifiers and 37 at‑large selections. (sportingnews.com) The SEC leads conferences with 10 bids, the Big Ten has nine, and the ACC and Big 12 each placed eight teams into the bracket. (sportingnews.com) First‑ and second‑round games will be played at sites including KeyBank Center (Buffalo), Bon Secours Wellness Arena (Greenville), Paycom Center (Oklahoma City), Moda Center (Portland), Benchmark Arena (Tampa), Xfinity Mobile Arena (Philadelphia), Viejas Arena (San Diego) and Enterprise Center (St. Louis), with regionals in Houston, San Jose, Chicago and Washington, D.C.; the Final Four is scheduled for Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (April 4) with the title game on April 6. (ncaa.com) The overall No. 1 seed enters the tournament at 32–2, carrying the best record in the field into March play. (sportingnews.com)