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Bruins slighted in NCAA tourney

By Daily Bruin Staff

March 10, 1996 9:00 p.m.

Bruins slighted in NCAA tourney

By Scott Yamaguchi

Daily Bruin Staff

The much-anticipated pairings for the 1996 NCAA Men’s Basketball
Tournament were released Sunday, and defending national champion
UCLA was given the No. 4 seed in the Southeast, where they are
slated to meet No. 13 seed Princeton in Thursday’s first round in
Indianapolis.

Princeton (21-6) earned an automatic bid to the tournament by
virtue of its regular-season Ivy League championship, which it
clinched Saturday with a 63-56 overtime victory over Penn.

To the Bruins, who are 21-4 since Dec. 2 and successfuly
defended their Pacific 10 Conference championship, their placement
out of the West Regional came as a particular slight.

Arizona, which split a pair of games with UCLA this year and
finished three games behind the Bruins in the conference standings,
received the No. 3 seed in the West.

"Everytime I’ve questioned the committee, their answer to me is
that you play your way into it and you play your way out of it,"
UCLA head coach Jim Harrick said. "If winning your league by three
games isn’t playing your way in it, I don’t know what is."

Should the Bruins beat Princeton, they will face the winner of
the Mississippi State-Virginia Commonwealth game in Saturday’s
second round.

A victory there could lead to a Sweet Sixteen showdown with
top-seeded Connecticut March 22 in Lexington.

Cincinatti was given the No. 2 seed in the Southeast, while
Georgia Tech is at No. 3.

The Pacific 10 received four bids this year, one less than it
earned last season.

Besides UCLA and Arizona, the conference will be represented by
Stanford – the No. 9 seed in the East, and Cal – the No. 12 seed in
the Midwest.

Big Ten Conference champion Purdue was awarded the top seed in
the West, while Massachusetts filled the top spot in the East and
Kentucky in the Midwest.Comments to
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