It's that time of year again!

We're less than three weeks away from "Selection Sunday" (March 16), and here is our projection of how the NCAA Tournament field will look when it is unveiled that day.

Teams are grouped by projected seed and listed from strongest to weakest within that seed.

(NOTES: Teams denoted by asterisks must win their leagues to get into the field. RPI figures are through Sunday's game and are from collegerpi.com.)

Rivals.com Drive for 65
NO. 1 SEEDS
Tennessee
Overall seed: No. 1.
Record: 25-2.
RPI: 1.
Best wins: 82-75 at Xavier on Dec. 22; 66-62 at Memphis on Feb. 23.
Worst loss: 72-66 at Kentucky on Jan. 22.
Behind the choice: The Vols jump not only into our No. 1 seeds but to No. 1 overall with their victory at Memphis. The key is coach Bruce Pearl has gotten his players to believe in the importance of playing defense in the half court. "They score pretty easily, they rebound well, and they defend, in my opinion, very, very well," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. "When you have good guard play, good frontcourt play and great depth, that usually makes you a good team."

Memphis
Overall seed: No. 2.
Record: 26-1.
RPI: 2.
Best wins: 81-70 vs. Connecticut in New York on Nov. 16; 85-71 vs. Georgetown on Dec. 22.
Behind the choice: The Tigers still will be a No. 1 seed provided they run the table, and they should with the Conference USA tournament being staged in Memphis. But the air of invincibility is gone.

UCLA
Overall seed: No. 3.
Record: 24-3.
RPI: 9.
Best wins: 68-63 vs. Michigan State in Kansas City on Nov. 20; 82-60 vs. Arizona on Feb. 2.
Worst loss: 71-61 at Washington on Feb. 10.
Behind the choice: The Bruins swept the Pac-10's Oregon schools last week. The Arizona road swing is this week, and UCLA embarrassed both schools at Pauley Pavilion. A game March 6 against Stanford likely determines whether the Bruins will win the Pac-10 regular-season title or will have to share it.

North Carolina
Overall seed: No. 4.
Record: 26-2.
RPI: 3.
Best wins: 66-55 at Ohio State on Nov. 28; 90-88 at Clemson on Jan. 6.
Worst loss: 82-80 vs. Maryland on Jan. 19.
Behind the choice: The Tar Heels won twice convincingly last week even though they continue without the services of point guard Ty Lawson (sprained ankle). Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that they haven't had to rush him back and are developing quality depth in point guard Quentin Thomas, who's averaging 7.4 points and 6.6 rebounds in seven starts since Lawson went down. The Heels lead Duke by a half-game in the ACC race, and the teams meet March 8 in Durham. The Blue Devils won the earlier meeting in Chapel Hill.

More on the site... http://collegebasketball....CID=773443

Please get well soon Ty Lawson!

Let's go Tar Heels!!!! Woo HOOOOO!!!!! They try to bring my Heels down, but Hansbrough always comes back to beat that ass!!!!

Ree Rees! I'm bringing it back, cause my boys brought it back!

UNC is number one in the country again!

With the return of Ty Lawson, the match up with Duke and UNC on Saturday will be so righteous!

Dude, I know I talk to myself with these threads, but I LOVE NCAA Basketball.

It's before the players get Hollywood and you can watch the heart and promise of the players of the game.
[Edited 3/5/08 6:11am]