College basketball: Kansas Jayhawks earn top overall seed in NCAA Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS — Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse and Duke have earned the No. 1 seeds for the NCAA tournament, with the Jayhawks selected as the top seed overall for this year's version of March Madness.

The 65-team bracket was announced Sunday. Play starts Tuesday with an opening-round game, and the tournament goes into full swing Thursday.

Syracuse, the Big East regular-season champ, got a No. 1 seed despite heading into the tournament with its first two-game losing streak of the season.

Kansas (32-2), Kentucky (32-2) and Duke (29-5) all won their conference tournaments. The Blue Devils were deemed more worthy of a top seed than West Virginia (27-6), which won the Big East and had two wins over No. 22 Georgetown and one over No. 10 Villanova this month.

Selection Sunday 2010 NCAA tournament seedings

Midwest region

No. 1. Kansas vs. No. 16. LeHigh

No. 8. UNLV vs. No. 9. Northern Iowa

No. 5. Michigan State vs. No. 12. New Mexico State

No. 4. Maryland vs. No. 13. Houston

No. 3. Georgetown vs. No. 14 Ohio

No. 6. Tennessee vs. No. 11. San Diego State

No. 7. Oklahoma State vs. No. 10 Georgia Tech

No. 2. Ohio State vs. No. 15 U.C. Santa Barbara

West region

No. 1. Syracuse vs. No. 16 Vermont

No. 8. Gonzaga vs. No. 9. Florida State

No. 5. Butler vs. No. 12. UTEP

No. 4. Vanderbilt vs. No. 13. Murray State

No. 7. BYU vs. No. 10. Florida

No. 6. Xavier vs. No. 11. Minnesota

No. 3. Pittsburgh vs. No. 14. Oakland

No. 2. Kansas State vs. No. 15. North Texas

East region

No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 16 Eastern Tennessee State

No. 8 Texas vs. No. 9 Wake Forest

No. 5 Temple vs. No. 12 Cornell

No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 Wofford

No. 6 Marquette vs. No. 10 Washington

No. 3 New Mexico vs. No. 14 Montana

No. 2 West Virginia vs. No. 15 Morgan State

No. 7 Clemson vs. No. 10 Missouri

South region

No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 Arkansas Pine-Bluff/Winthrop winner

No. 8 Cal vs. No. 9 Louisville

No. 5 Texas A&M vs. No. 12 Utah State

No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 13 Siena

No. 2 Villanova vs. No. 15 Robert Morris

No. 7 Richmond vs. No. 10 Saint Mary's

No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 14 Sam Houston State

No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 11 Old Dominion