NCAA Tournament pairings released, NCSU not in the lineup

The NCAA selection committee believes the ACC is the best conference in the country. That's why three conference teams are #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, led by Duke. The Blue Devils are the top overall seed and #1 in the East and start on Friday in Columbia, SC.

Duke could potentially face another squad from the Bull City, but MEAC Champion NC Central must get past North Dakota State first. The Eagles kick things off for the Triangle in Dayton as part of the First Four.

North Carolina may have landed in the Region of Death. The Midwest is loaded with Kansas, Kentucky, and Houston. The Tar Heels face Iona on Friday in Columbus, Ohio. UNC is a #1 seed for the 17th time in program history, a tournament record.

NC State, on the other hand, is on the outside looking in.

"They had so many great opportunities and did not win them. So that was a concern for us," said committee chair Bernard Muir on the CBS selection show.

The Wolfpack can squarely look at the Georgia Tech loss in their final regular season home game as the culprit. The good news is, the Pack could end up hosting Campbell in the NIT.