Notables

Did you miss our post-selection interviews of the NCAA committee chairs? They answered our questions and yours, including about the men's bracket of death, about why Ithaca's women didn't get in, or the Buena Vista men, or the St. Mary's (Md.) men. Listen to the archive.

So yes, there's a bracket of death. And the Final Four in Salem could be a blowout.

But while it seems like that could happen about half of the time when we first see a bracket, only once or twice has it actually turned out that way. Who thought Catholic could win in 2001 or Virginia Wesleyan in 2006?

So while the top seven men's teams are all in one quadrant of the bracket, we can't assume that the national champion will come from it. The NCAA Tournament men's bracket was announced this morning, with 60 teams vying for a chance to hoist Walnut and Bronze on March 21 in Salem, Va.



In women's basketball, some of the great venues for the sport and traditionally strong programs will host games. Hope will host a regional, as will Bowdoin, NYU, Messiah, Rochester, Scranton and UW-Stevens Point. The NCAA Tournament women's bracket was announced this morning, with 63 teams vying for a chance to hoist Walnut and Bronze on March 21 in Holland, Mich. Next year's tourney is slated to be a full 64.

If you're a top-ranked men's team, you may well be in the lower left-hand bracket. That's where the top seven teams from last week's D3hoops.com Top 25 all reside, with No. 8 Ithaca the highest-ranked team in the lower right-hand bracket and No. 10 Richard Stockton in the upper right-hand bracket.

Baruch and Franklin and Marshall got into the men's field, where we had projected St. Mary's (Md.) and Buena Vista. St. Mary's lost to Baruch head-to-head in a non-region game early in the season, while Buena Vista had no games against regionally ranked opponents all season.

The field of 63 teams who will compete for the 2009 Division III women’s basketball championship has been announced with Cortland State and Mississippi College as the surprise Pool C picks. They take the place of Ithaca and Texas-Dallas in our projections. Add another chapter to the Cortaca rivalry as the Red Dragons head to the big dance and the Bombers do not, despite Ithaca beating Cortland head-to-head in November. The Choctaws and Comets split their season series and then both lost in the first round of the ASC tournament.

George Fox (27-0) gets the lone first round bye and then will host the winner of Chapman and Occidental in what has become a traditional Wednesday west coast tournament opener. Fellow undefeated Illinois Wesleyan stays home to host Ohio Wesleyan with UW-Eau Claire and DePauw traveling to the Shirk Center.

Looking for interesting matchups? How about top-sixteen showdown between Simpson and UW-Whitewater at St. Benedict in the first round? Or a regional featuring two schools with more than one title -- Washington U. and Capital -- along with defending champion Howard Payne? Or Christopher Newport's super sophomore Chelsie Schweers heading to York (Pa.) where the Spartans make their tourney debut?

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