There were plenty of winners and losers in the bracket selections for the NCAA tournament. Here's a look at both:

THE WINNERS

Duke, No. 1 seed, South
Not only were the Blue Devils given a No. 1 seed, they were given the No. 3 overall seed, ahead of Syracuse. West Virginia, the other top contender for a No. 1 seed, had a better nonconference record than Duke (11-1 to 13-2), a higher-rated nonconference schedule (No. 2 to No. 11) and a vastly superior record against RPI top 25 teams (6-4 to 1-3).

Both teams won their conference tournaments, but Duke beat RPI 127, 99 and 33 teams to win the ACC title; West Virginia beat RPI 65, 49 and 7 to win the Big East.

And, to top it off, the Blue Devils are the No. 1 seed in, as you'll soon see, what looks to be the weakest region.

Notre Dame, No. 6 seed, South
No doubt, that six-game winning streak late in the season was impressive — Notre Dame knocked off tournament teams Pitt, Georgetown and Marquette in that stretch — and the Irish deserved to get into the tournament.

When the streak started, the Irish had a 77 RPI and were barely on the bubble. Their RPI wound up at 49, but their No. 6 seed essentially said the committee believed Notre Dame is one of the top 24 teams in the country.

This, from a team that lost to Loyola Marymount — a West Coast Conference team that finished 18-15 — at home, and lost to Rutgers and Northwestern, two more 100-plus RPI squads.

California, No. 8 seed, South
Noticing a pattern here? The South bracket is full of teams whose seeds belie their accomplishments. Yes, the Bears played the No. 1 rated nonconference schedule — including Kansas, Syracuse, Ohio State and New Mexico — but they didn't beat any of those teams.

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California has one top 50 RPI win all season, against Washington, but the Bears also lost to the Huskies twice. That No. 8 seed is an awfully high reward for a squad with lots of wins over mediocre teams and a 13-5 record in the No. 8 RPI conference.

It seems strange to see the Pac-10 regular-season champ this low, but when you look at the Bears' resume, their seed is actually too high.

Minnesota, No. 11 seed, West
The Golden Gophers rode an opportunistic wave into the NCAA Tournament. They have five top 50 RPI wins, but three of those were against teams at less than full strength. They beat Purdue without Robbie Hummel, Michigan State without Chris Allen and Wisconsin in the first game after John Leuer returned from a nine-game injury absence.

As for the rest of Minnesota's resume, it was just 9-9 in the No. 5 RPI conference, was swept by RPI 131 Michigan in the Big Ten and lost to RPI 222 Indiana.

THE LOSERS
Temple, No. 5 seed, East
It's hard to fathom the lack of respect for Temple, a team that finished as the regular-season co-champs of an improved Atlantic 10, then won the conference tournament. The Owls also scheduled aggressively in nonconference games; they beat Villanova and also knocked off Siena, which finished RPI 31. They also played Kansas and Georgetown, two top 10 RPI schools.

A No. 3 seed seemed like a real possibility for the Owls, with a No. 4 more of a certainty.

Tennessee, No. 6 seed, Midwest
The Volunteers, who have wins over Kansas and Kentucky, the top two seeds in the NCAA Tournament and the Nos. 1 and 2 in the RPI, earned an RPI of 14. They were given a No. 6 seed, the same as a Notre Dame team that finished 49th in the RPI and, as mentioned earlier, lost at home to RPI 175 Loyola Marymount (did the committee just ignore that one?).

It's hard to tell why the committee punished a Tennessee team that should have been closer to a 4 seed than a 6 seed.

Virginia Tech, left out
Don't misconstrue the Hokies' inclusion on this list. They were among the chief losers on Selection Sunday. Virginia Tech finished 10-6 — good enough to tie for third place — in the ACC, the third-rated conference. They beat Georgia Tech on the road in their final regular-season game, which was by far their best win away from home.

But that number that stood out was 339, where the Hokies' nonconference schedule ranked.

From selection committee chairman Dan Guerrero: "One of the things that allows us to distinguish between one team and another, as you know, is strength of schedule, especially nonconference strength of schedule. That was an area that really hurt Virginia Tech as we talked about whether they made the cut or not."

It would behoove the Hokies to fix that for next season.

Mississippi State, left out
The Bulldogs had Kentucky on the ropes twice this season, at home and in the SEC title game, but both times the Wildcats escaped with victories. Had Mississippi State won either of those games, it likely would have made the tournament.

The Bulldogs nabbed the No. 1 seed in the SEC West division but lost five — count 'em, five — games to teams that finished 100th or worse in the RPI. Combined with only two top 50 RPI wins, and it's easy to see why the selection committee left Mississippi State out.

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