SELECTION-DAY PRIMER / MEN

Tournament Selection Show

Today, 3:30 p.m., Channel 2

HOW IT SHOULD SHAPE UP

The 65-team NCAA tournament field will be announced later today. We figured you couldn’t wait, so here are national men’s college basketball writer Chris Dufresne’s best guesses at which teams will dance later this week. But remember, there are no money-back guarantees.

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AUTOMATIC BIDS

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TEAM (RECORD): COMMENT

Hofstra (26-4): America East: Riding 18-game win streak into tournament.

Temple (21-12): Atlantic 10: Needed to win tournament to get in--and did.

Boston College (26-4): Big East: Eagles a top seed somewhere?

Winthrop (18-12): Big South: Eagles have landed in tournament again.

Cal State Northridge (22-9): Big Sky: Hey, UCLA, looking for a rematch?

George Mason (18-11): Colonial: Took advantage of Richmond’s absence.

Charlotte (21-10): Conference USA: Frankly Charlotte, we don’t give a...

Princeton (16-10): Ivy: Bill Walton’s son Nate says this is the smart pick.

Iona (22-10): Metro Atlantic: We don’t care one iota where they send the Gaels.

Kent State (23-9): Mid-American: Big MAC round of applause for Golden Flashes.

Southern Utah (25-5): Mid-Continent: Located in Cedar City. We looked it up.

Hampton (24-6): Mid-Eastern: NCAA lodging for team: Hampton Inn.

Butler (23-7): Mid-Western: Removed at-large guess work by winning automatic bid.

Indiana State (21-11): Missouri Valley: Threw everyone for loop by beating Creighton.

Brigham Young (23-8): Mountain West: Cougars beat New Mexico for the bid.

Monmouth (21-9) Northeast: Hint: located in same state where Sopranos is filmed.

Easter Illinois (21-9): Ohio Valley: Knocked out Austin Peay from tournament.

Stanford (28-2): Pacific 10: Best shot at national title since 1942.

Holy Cross (22-7): Patriot: Star of ’47 team, Bob Cousy, can’t help Crusaders now.

NC Greensboro (19-11): Southern: Spartans make second tournament appearance.

Northwestern State (18-12). Southland: A real school, located in Natchitoches, La.

Alabama State (228-8). Southwestern: Get some rest, you may be playing Tuesday.

Western Kentucky (23-7): Sun Belt: Not sure if the Hilltoppers wear high toppers.

Georgia State (28-4): Trans America: Lefty Driessel pulled all the right strings.

Gonzaga (24-6): West Coast: Getting ready to fall in love all over again.

Hawaii (17-13): Western Athletic: No, you can’t host a first-round NCAA game.

Atlantic Coast: Duke (28-4) or North Carolina (25-5). Loser doesn’t get hurt here.

Big Ten: Iowa (21-11) or Indiana (21-11). Yep, just the way we had it figured.

Big 12: Texas (25-7) or Oklahoma (25-6). Football score was Oklahoma, 63-14.

Big West: Pacific (18-11) or Utah State (26-5). Winner is in. Loser isn’t.

Southeastern: Mississippi (25-6) vs. Kentucky (21-9). Both schools turned out OK.

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AT-LARGE BIDS

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TEAM (RECORD): COMMENT

Cincinnati (23-9): Scored enough late-season jabs to impress at-large judges.

Duke or North Carolina: There is no NCAA loser in this game.

George Tech (17-12): Three wins against Virginia, but not all this week.

Maryland (21-10): Survey says: You do not want to face in second round.

Virginia (20-8): Pete Gillen best leader at school since Jefferson?

Wake Forest (19-10): Uses ACC pull to get past NCAA security.

UCLA (21-8): Plays up and down to level of competition.

Arizona (23-7): Could win six games and title or go out in first round.

California (20-10): Hello tourney, here we come.

USC (21-9): Tidbit: Trojans in tournament for first time since 1997.

St. Joseph’s (25-6): Didn’t need to win tournament to get in. Good thing.

Xavier (21-7): This berth is shaky, shaky, shaky.

Syracuse (24-8): Things looked great until that game against Pittsburgh.

Notre Dame (19-9): Expected more from Irish in Big East tournament.

Providence (21-9): Suggested first-round win headline: “Divine Providence.”

Georgetown (23-7): Don’t you sort of miss John Thompson?

Michigan State (24-4): Could use some Quaker State after loss to Penn State.

Wisconsin (18-10): Capable of scoring dozens of points in tournament.

Ohio State (20-10): Another team you don’t want to face right now.

Indiana or Iowa: Neither school was an NCAA lock last Wednesday.

Penn State (19-11). Wins over Michigan and Michigan State do it for Nittany Lions.

Illinois (24-7): Indiana loss costs Illini possible No. 1 seeding.

Iowa State (25-5): Send out party in search of momentum.

Oklahoma or Texas: Big 12 title game loser still could be NCAA dangerous.

Oklahoma State (20-9): Hoping they make a Loyola Marymount-like run.

Kansas (24-6): Is this finally Roy’s year? Nahhhh.

Missouri (19-12): Things look up with Kareem Rush back in lineup.

Florida (23-6): Wouldn’t mind seeing another first-round matchup against Butler.

Tennessee (22-10): So streaky the Vols should be sponsored by glass cleaner.

Arkansas (20-10): Another late-season rally puts Razorbacks back in tournament.

Alabama (21-10): Rides major-conference bid wave into the tournament.

Fresno State (25-6): We’ll try to forgive two losses to Hawaii this year.

Richmond (21-6): Spiders shouldn’t make travel plans just yet.

Creighton (24-7): Bluejays not the lock they were only days ago.

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TOURNAMENT DATES, SITES

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FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS

EAST: Thursday and Saturday

At Nassau Coliseum (Long Island, N.Y.) and Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum

SOUTH: Friday and Saturday

At the Pyramid (Memphis, Tenn.) and Louisiana Superdome (New Orleans)

MIDWEST: Friday and Saturday

At Dayton (Ohio) Arena and Kemper Arena (Kansas City, Mo.)

WEST: Thursday and Saturday

At Cox Arena (San Diego) and Boise (Idaho) Pavilion

REGIONALS

EAST: March 22 and 24 at First Union Center (Philadelphia)

SOUTH: March 23 and 25 at Georgia Dome (Atlanta)

MIDWEST: March 23 and 25 at Alamodome (San Antonio)

WEST: March 22 and 24 at Arrowhead Pond

FINAL FOUR

SEMIFINALS: March 31

CHAMPIONSHIP: April 2

SITE: Metrodome (Minneapolis). Capacity: 40,000