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With much fanfare, brackets for the men's NCAA basketball tournament were released on what has come to be known as Selection Sunday. Virginia, Villanova, Kansas and Xavier are the No. 1 seeds.

The tournament begins Tuesday with opening-round games in Dayton, Ohio, and then gets into full swing Thursday and Friday at eight sites across the country. Final Four action is set for March 31 and April 2 in San Antonio, Texas.

Hard core March Madness participants already know when their office pool brackets are due — most likely by Thursday's games. That will give newbies and dilettantes plenty of time to study up.

 for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.


This year's tournament is being played under a cloud. Shortly after the new championship team is crowned, a commission investigating alleged bribes and payoffs is expected to release its recommendations.

That commission's investigation, led by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, started after the FBI charged assistant coaches, agents, employees of apparel companies and others in a federal bribery and fraud probe.


In media interviews, chairman of the NCAA selection committee Bruce Rasmussen said the investigations did not play a role in the bracket-filling process.  Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Sports

Doreen McCallister

Author

Virginia, Villanova, Kansas and Xavier are the tournament's No. 1 seeds. The opening-round games begin on Tuesday with Final Four action set for March 31 and April 2.

Brackets for men's NCAA basketball tournament released

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