The latest news from selection Sunday of the NCAA tournament (always EDT):
6:55 PM
Louisville was the first to be left off the field of 68, but former Cardinals coach Rick Pitino is back in the NCAA tournament – this time with Iona.
Pitino was fired by Louisville in 2017 as part of the fallout from the FBI investigation into college basketball. He was accepted last year by Iona College, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference school in New Rochelle, New York.
Pitino is the fifth coach to lead five teams to the NCAA tournament, alongside Lon Kruger and Tuby Smith.
The Gaels are a No. 15 seed and will face Alabama in the first round in the East Region.
Louisville will be the first substitute team if one is needed in the field due to issues with COVID-19.
6:42 PM
Michigan is the top seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament, giving the Big Ten two No. 1s in 68 teams, along with Illinois.
The region also includes a marquee in the top four with two of the biggest names in college basketball: Michigan State and UCLA play Thursday.
Louisville, Colorado State, Saint Louis and Mississippi were the first four teams to be left out, and those teams will be on standby to replace any team from a multi-bid league that has to withdraw due to COVID-19 issues.
6:32 PM
Illinois is the number 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA tournament and could face Loyola-Chicago in the second round. Loyola, who had a memorable Final Four run in 2018, is back in the NCAAs for a third tournament in a row.
Syracuse is the number 11 team in the Midwest region, one of many bubble teams to get some good news during the unveiling of the bracket. Utah State is the number 11 seed in the South. Drake, which lost the Missouri Valley Conference title game to Loyola, earned an at-large bid, but the Bulldogs will face Wichita State on Thursday in a First Four game.
6:22 PM
Baylor is the best seed in the South in the NCAA tournament and could face North Carolina or Wisconsin in the second round. The bears are for the first time a No. 1 seed. Gonzaga is the best seed in the West, a region that includes both Virginia and Kansas, two teams that had to withdraw from their conference tournaments due to COVID-19 issues.
Colgate, which locked its spot in the Patriot League title game earlier Sunday, will take on third-seeded Arkansas as an intriguing number 14 seed. Colgate is one of the top scoring teams in the country.
6:16 PM
Gonzaga is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. After a year without March Madness, the braces are back. The pandemic caused the tournament to be canceled by the NCAA last year. This year, the entire field will go to Indianapolis, where the entire tournament will be held this year. Starting with the first four on Thursday, every game will be played in Indiana. The first round will be played on Friday and Saturday.
Virginia is the No. 4 seed in the West Regional. The Cavaliers were the champions in 2019 and there was some concern that COVID-19 issues might keep them out of the NCAAs after they had to withdraw from the ACC tournament.
5:40 PM hours
No. 7 Houston won the American Athletic Conference Championship, boosting a number of bubble teams.
The Cougars defeated Cincinnati in the AAC Final, ending Bearcats’ hopes of making it to the 68th NCAA Tournament field as an automatic qualifier.
The Big Ten Championship between No. 3 Illinois and No. 9 Ohio State came to an end. The full bracket will be unveiled around 6pm
3:45 PM
Alabama, St. Bonaventure and Colgate closed automatic bids for the NCAA tournament by winning conference championships a few hours before the 68-entry field was revealed.
Selection Sunday featured five conference tournament title games as an undercard to the main event that kicked off around 6:00 p.m. EDT: the NCAA bracket unveiling.
There were no potential “bidders” in the early games.
No. 6 Alabama won the Southeastern Conference by defeating LSU, but the Tigers are in good shape to earn an at-large bid. The Crimson Tide argued for a No. 1 seed with an 80-79 victory.
St. Bonaventure defeated VCU to win the Atlantic 10’s automatic bid as best seed in the conference. The Rams went into the game expecting to be on the right side of the bubble regardless of the result, but they will have to wait a few hours for it to be official.
Colgate earned the Patriot League automatic bid by beating Loyola Maryland.
Still to be played was the Big Ten Conference championship game between No. 3 Illinois and No. 9 Ohio State and the American Athletic Conference championship between No. 7 Houston and Cincinnati, which must win to get into the NCAA field. The Bearcats could jeopardize the tournament hopes of bubble teams like Syracuse, Utah State and Mississippi.
There are 38 major selections available and the NCAA deadline for teams to inform the selection committee that they would not be able to participate in the tournament passed Saturday night without schools dropping out.
More coverage of AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball