March 16 (Bloomberg) -- The University of North Carolina, UCLA, Memphis and Kansas were selected as top seeds for the National Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball tournament.

North Carolina (32-2) received the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament after winning the Atlantic Coast Conference title today, while Kansas (31-3) claimed the Big 12 championship. Yesterday, UCLA (31-3) won the Pac-10 title and Memphis (33-1) captured the Conference USA championship.

The NCAA tournament starts in two days with a game between Coppin State and Mount St. Mary's to fill the final spot in the 64-team field that begins play on March 20. The championship game is scheduled for April 7 in San Antonio.

North Carolina, the top seed in the East Regional, would play Midwest No. 1 seed Kansas if both teams reach the semifinals. Memphis, the South Regional top seed, would face UCLA, which heads the West Region.

The Tar Heels, who were awarded a No. 1 seed for a record 12th time, beat Clemson 86-81 today to claim the ACC tournament title. They'll play the winner of the Coppin State-Mount St. Mary's matchup in their first game as they try to win the NCAA title for the second time in four years.

Tom O'Connor, chairman of the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee, said the selection panel had five contingency plans for the top seedings based on what happened in the conference championships today.

``It was very complicated, but we're really satisfied with what we have,'' he said in an interview televised on CBS.

Four Titles

North Carolina, ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press media poll, has won the title four times -- 1957, 1982, 1993 and 2005. Last season, Florida beat Ohio State in the championship game for its second consecutive title.

The leading seeds in the Tar Heels' regional are No. 2 Tennessee, which lost a Southeastern Conference semifinal to Arkansas; No. 3 Louisville; and No. 4 Washington State.

Kansas's top competition in the Midwest Regional comes from No. 2 seed Georgetown, which won the Big East regular-season title; third-seeded Wisconsin, which beat Illinois today to win the Big Ten tournament title; and No. 4 Vanderbilt (26-7).

In Memphis's regional is No. 2 Texas, which lost the Big 12 title to Kansas today; No. 3 Stanford, which finished second in the Pac-10 during the regular season; and No. 4 Pittsburgh, which beat Georgetown yesterday to claim the Big East title.

The highest seeds in UCLA's region include No. 2 Duke, which is 27-5 this season; No. 3 Xavier (27-6); and No. 4 Connecticut, making its 19th appearance under coach Jim Calhoun.

Big East

The Big East Conference placed eight teams in the tournament, tying the record it already held, while the Pac-10, Southeastern Conference and Big 12 sent six apiece. The ACC has four teams in the tournament, and the West Coast Conference and Atlantic 10 each have three. No other conference placed more than two teams in the field.

Asked why eight Big East teams received bids despite the conference being rated fifth in the nation, O'Connor said: ``We don't look at conferences at all. It's all about individual teams.''

Thirty-one teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championships, and the remaining 34 teams received at-large bids.

Among the schools left out of the tournament were Dayton (21-10), Massachusetts (21-10), Alabama-Birmingham (22-9), Virginia Tech (19-13), Ohio State (19-13) and Arizona State (19- 12).

At-Large `Best'

``While we think they're all very good teams, they're just not one of the 34 best at-large teams in the country,'' said O'Connor, the athletic director at George Mason.

Villanova (20-12), Baylor (21-10), Kentucky (18-12), Saint Joseph's (21-12) and Kansas State (20-11) were among the last teams to qualify.

The other first-round matchups in the East Regional are Indiana-Arkansas, Notre Dame-George Mason, Washington State- Winthrop, Oklahoma-Saint Joseph's, Louisville-Boise State, Butler-South Alabama and Tennessee-American.

In the Midwest Regional, it's Kansas-Portland State, Nevada Las Vegas-Kent State, Clemson-Villanova, Vanderbilt-Siena, Southern California-Kansas State, Wisconsin-Cal State Fullerton, Gonzaga-Davidson and Georgetown-Maryland Baltimore County.

First-round games in the South Regional are Memphis-Texas Arlington, Mississippi State-Oregon, Michigan State-Temple, Pittsburgh-Oral Roberts, Marquette-Kentucky, Stanford-Cornell, Miami-St. Mary's and Texas-Austin Peay.

In the West Regional, it's UCLA-Mississippi Valley State, Brigham Young-Texas A&M, Drake-Western Kentucky, Connecticut-San Diego, Purdue-Baylor, Xavier-Georgia, West Virginia-Arizona and Duke-Belmont.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mason Levinson in New York at mlevinson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 16, 2008 19:42 EDT