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Some head-scratching decisions by NCAA Tournament selection committee

The surprises start at the top of the NCAA Tournament bracket: Virginia is a No. 1 seed.

Oh, some things went to form. Florida earned the top overall seed as expected and is joined as a 1-seed by Wichita State and Arizona. But there were head-scratchers nearly everywhere else.

Last year’s national champion, Louisville, was seeded fourth in the Midwest despite playing well enough to be considered a No. 1 by many. And speaking of the Midwest — Wichita State and Michigan are there as well, making it three of last year’s Final Four participants all vying for one spot this year.

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And Michigan State, the team that geared things up in time to win the Big Ten tournament, is only a No. 4 seed.

The tournament begins Tuesday with a pair of First Four games, and things get going in earnest Thursday when 32 of the 64 teams in the main draw take to the floor. The Final Four is set for April 5 and 7 in Arlington, Texas.

In the end, the individual matchups mean much more than the numbers by a team’s name. Still, some of the numbers the selection committee came up with this year were a bit puzzling.

Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman, the chairman of the selection committee, said Virginia’s twin ACC championships — regular-season and tournament — made the Cavaliers (28-6) the choice for a 1-seed over Michigan and Villanova, despite an RPI rating of 11.

‘‘Virginia’s total résumé was very impressive,’’ Wellman said. ‘‘They continued to impress us throughout the year.’’

SMU goes to NIT

One of the bigger snubs from the NCAA Tournament field was Southern Methodist and Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown. The 25th-ranked Mustangs (23-9) didn’t have consecutive losses until ending the regular season with defeats to Louisville and Memphis, before losing to Houston in their AAC tournament opener.

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Most bracket experts had SMU securely in the field, but not the folks on the selection committee, who couldn’t overcome the Mustangs’ strength of schedule: 129.

‘‘When I saw Louisville [was a 4-seed], I kind of figured that they didn’t have a lot of respect for our conference,’’ Brown said. ‘‘But we only can blame ourselves, that’s the way I look at it.’’

The Mustangs are a No. 1 seed in the NIT along with Minnesota, Florida State, and St. John’s. The 32-team field includes 13 teams that won their regular-season conference titles without getting an NCAA bid. That group includes Boston University (which hosts Illinois Wednesday) and Vermont (which plays at Georgia Wednesday).

The 32-team CollegeInsider.com Tournament begins Monday with Brown hosting Holy Cross. Quinnipiac plays at Yale Wednesday.

Women’s field next

The NCAA women’s tournament bracket will be revealed Monday night, with unbeaten Connecticut lined up for the top overall seed with a 34-0 record.

Teams that earned automatic bids Sunday by winning their conference tournament championship games were Florida Gulf Coast (Atlantic Sun), James Madison (Colonial Athletic), Northwestern State (Southland), Robert Morris (Northeast), Wichita State (Missouri Valley), and Wright State (Horizon).