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straightyears,is16-seedRob- ertMorris.TheColonialswon the NEC championship. The top four seeds in each region will host the opening two rounds except for No. 4 Michigan State, which has a conflict so fifth-seed Missis- sippi State will take over as the host. Tennessee earned a No. 7 seed,thelowestinschoolhis- tory.TheLadyVols,whohave played in every NCAA Tour- nament, will face Green Bay in the opening round at Ari- zona State. "Is it where we usually are? No, but it's a great spot for us to go to work," Tennes- see coach Holly Warlick said. While Tennessee has to head west, fourth-seeded Stanford could be heading east.TaraVanDerveer'steam hosts former player Jenni- fer Azzi and her San Fran- cisco Bay Area program in the opening round. If they can advance to the Sweet 16, the Cardinal will play in Kentucky. The third-seeded Wildcats won't have to leave the area until the Final Four. They host the opening two rounds and then would play in Rupp Arena for the re- gional. "For our team to work hard enough and be able to earnatop-16seedandhostin MemorialColiseumisgreat," Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchellsaid."Sotheyhadto earn that and I am grateful the committee put us in Lex- ington. We are going to have to really work hard to get a victory inthe first round, but theprospectstogettoplayin Lexington for the Sweet 16 is exciting." Tennessee, Kentucky and South Carolina are three of nine SEC teams to make the field. That ties the Big East (2011)forthemosteverinthe women's tournament. Other notables from the bracket: TWO-BIDIVYLEAGUE Days after announcing the first Ivy League postseason tour- nament, the league earned the first at-large bid for ei- theramen'sorwomen'steam with Princeton earning an 11-seed. The Tigers, who will face West Virginia, lost to Penn twice during the regu- lar season — their only con- ference blemishes. "I'm bursting with pride for my team and for this great University. Princeton just became the first team in IvyLeaguehistorytoearnan at-largebid,"Princetoncoach Courtney Banghart said. "That's something that will mean so much to me for for- ever. As an Ivy League alum, I share in the significance of this day with the many great scholar-athletes and coaches that are a part of this special league." Penn is a 10-seed and will faceWashingtonintheopen- ing round. NEWCOMERS Duquesne headlined five first-time NCAA Tournament teams. The ninth-seeded Dukes are the only at-large team of the group and open up against Seton Hall. Other newcom- ers include Buffalo, Central Arkansas, Iona and Jackson- ville. GOODBYE TOBACCO ROAD For the first time since 1988, Duke, North Carolina and N.C.Stateallmissedthetour- nament.TheBlueDevils,who had been in the tournament thepast21years,wereonthe bubble to get in. LEFTOUT Iowa, N.C. State, Ohio and UTEP were the first four teams left out of the field according to the NCAA. While Princeton, Missouri, Purdue and St. Bonaventure were the final four in. "I think the toughest de- cision with the first four out was that there was a large group of teams looking a lot alike," NCAA women's basketball committee chair Chris Dawson said. "Each team had their own merits. Throughourvettingandvot- ing process we came up with the last four I mentioned." DOUBLE DUTY There are 24 programs that have both their men's and women's teams in the bracket includ- ing top-seeds UConn, Notre Dame and Baylor. UConn FROM PAGE 1 facingopening-roundgames — FDU, Vanderbilt, Wichita State, Michigan, Tulsa, Holy Cross and Southern — likely were either. They play Tues- day or Wednesday, while the rest of the field of 68 starts Thursday or Friday. "Quick, whirlwind here," said Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings, whose Commo- dores play Wichita State in the second game Tuesday night. "That's a quick turn- around time to get your- self ready and get travel ar- rangements and practice and preparation and all the things you need to do. It's the fastest night of the year in college basketball if you make the tournament." It was also going to be a late night for everyone in- volved. There's scouting re- ports to prepare, tickets to deal with, hotel room lists, meals to order, practices to schedule, contingency plans made in case your team wins, contingency plans made in case your team loses, along with arrange- ments for the band, cheer- leaders, fans, managers and administrators. Most of the 68 teams in the tournament knew, or had at least a reason- ably strong sense, that they were getting in before see- ing their names on the CBS bracket (or the ver- sion that leaked on the In- ternet during the selection show broadcast). But with- out the pertinent details — date, site, opponent — not much could be done on a lo- gistical front until Sunday night. "We went through this three years ago," said Ken Kavanagh, FGCU's ath- letic director, referring to when the Eagles became national sweethearts with their "Dunk City" run to the Sweet 16 as a No. 15 seed in 2013. "So most of us under- stand what happens." Some FGCU players knew that they were going to play FDU in the opening round before the actual an- nouncement, thanks to that bracket getting leaked and widely distributed on Twit- ter. But with the realiza- tion that a chance to play North Carolina is now one win away, the excitement was real. So at 6:40 p.m., exactly 48 hours before FGCU will play in the tournament's very first game, the behind- the-scenes work was start- ing in earnest. FGCU coach Joe Dooley and his staff met while a member of the school's video staff loaded tons of FDU clips onto Dooley's laptop. Dooley stayed in his tiny office for hours after- ward, trying to put together a game plan while across the hall administrators fig- ured out their own plan. They ate cold macaroni and cheese and sipped diet soda. In between bites, one small problem kept causing their plans to be ripped up every few minutes. They couldn't get a plane. Seven of the eight teams headed to Dayton had the same issue when they hud- dled for a logistical confer- ence call around 8:30 p.m. — there were no arrange- ments for anyone's charter yet. Michigan was the lone exception, because the Wol- verines are headed to Day- ton by bus. Finally, after five hours of trying, Blood got his plane secured around 11:30 p.m. FGCU was originally going to fly at noon, then 11 a.m., then a departure of 10:30 was finally set. With that, travel plans for 107 people came together. Breakfast plans were changed three times. Lunch plans were changed twice. Practice was originally go- ing to be held early in Fort Myers; the Eagles will prac- tice near Dayton instead in the afternoon. "A plethora of emotions," Blood said as Sunday night turned to Monday morning. "But having success and getting to the tournament make the long hours and the weekends, the nights, the holidays spent working all worth it. I'll go home, shower, pack, feed my new- born daughter, kiss my wife, sleep for a few hours and then back here. Good times." Great times, actually. The tournament awaits. NCAA FROM PAGE 1 Dawson credits weight lifting and high-intensity training for the pep in his step — or the three steps he takes before driving his right foot into a kick. "It's weird — from about 30 years old to about 35, I had some offseasons there I wondered how much lon- ger can I do this," Dawson said. "When I turned 35, I changed the way train in the offseason and really have felt better and bet- ter every year. Right now, I feel great." Dawson trains in the offseason at The HIT Cen- ter in Austin, Texas. He accounted for 92 of the team's league-low 238 points last season, down from his 140 points and 108 points the previ- ous two seasons. He con- verted 24 of 27 field-goal attempts last season, in- cluding all three beyond 50 yards. Which quarterback will get the 49ers into Daw- son's field-goal range this season? What offensive scheme will Kelly deploy? What will this season's team resemble? "It'll be whatever we make it to be," Dawson said. "It's been my experi- ence that when a group of guys come together, they buy in and commit to one another and put the work in, and that's when spe- cial things happen. Know- ing the guys in the locker room, we will come to- gether, work hard and commit to one another." • Trade talks regarding Colin Kaepernick have stalled amid modest bids. The NFL Network re- ported that the Browns are offering a third-round draft pick, while the Den- ver Broncos consider Kae- pernick worthy of only a fourth-round selection. In- cidentally, Denver doesn't own a fourth-round pick in next month's draft. • Less than two months after being named the 49ers inside linebackers coach, Hardy Nickerson was introduced Monday as the University of Illinois' defensive coordinator. Nickerson, a former Cal and NFL star, reunites with Lovie Smith, who was hired last week as Il- linois' coach. Smith previ- ously was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach and had Nickerson as his lineback- ers coach the past two sea- sons. • The 49ers seriously pursued free-agent corner- back Casey Hayward be- fore he left the Green Bay Packers for the San Diego Chargers (three years, $15 million), the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. 49ers FROM PAGE 1 MLBSPRINGTRAINING Washington Nationals vs. Houston Astros:10a.m.,MLB. New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox: 3p.m., MLB. COLLEGE MEN'S BASKETBALL NIT Tournament: 4p.m., ESPN. NIT Tournament: 4p.m., ESPN2 NIT Tournament: 4p.m., ESPNU. NIT Tournament: 6p.m., ESPN. NIT Tournament: 6p.m., ESPN2. NIT Tournament: 6p.m., ESPNU. NIT Tournament: 8p.m., ESPN2. Basketball First Four: 9p.m., TRUTV. NBA Sacramento Kings at Los An- geles Lakers: 7:30p.m., CSN. BOXING Premier Champions Sergey Lipinets vs. Levan Ghvami- chava: 6p.m., FS1. NHL Detroit Red Wings at Philadel- phia Flyers: 4:30p.m., NBCSN. Boston Bruins at San Jose Sharks: 7p.m., NBCSN. SKIING FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup Women's Downhill: 3a.m., NBCSN. SOCCER UEFA, Champions League Dynamo K. vs. Manchester C. Round of 16Leg 2: 12:30p.m., FS1. TENNIS BNP Paribas Open Men's Third Round and Women's Fourth Round: 11a.m., TENNIS. On the air | SPORTS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016 2 B