An early look at the NCAA tournament

The most significant change in this season's Rundown involves the new "First Four" round instituted for the 2011 NCAA tournament.

Our inaugural "First Four" projected below pairs the last four at-large entries in the expanded 68-team field (for two games) along with the last four automatic qualifiers (for two more games). The winners of these four contests, to be played Mar. 15-16 in Dayton, Ohio, will advance into the standard 64-team bracket on the seed lines indicated.

The NCAA hasn't specifically addressed how it will handle those games. Instead, these are projections based on the current constraints laid out by the NCAA: teams from the same conference facing each other, home-court advantage, etc. The formula could change, but this is our best educated guess for now.

We have this:

WEST 12: Texas A&M (Big 12) vs. Northwestern (Big Ten)

SOUTHEAST 13: Louisville (Big East) vs. Missouri State (MVC)

EAST 16: Boston University (America East) vs. American University (Patriot)

SOUTHEAST 16: Quinnipiac (NEC) vs. Stephen F. Austin (Southland)

To see Joe Lunardi's initial breakdowns of the 68-team tourney field, you must be an ESPN Insider.

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Joe Lunardi | email

Senior Writer, ESPN.com

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• Resident college basketball bracketologist for ESPN
• Contributor to SportsCenter, ESPN Insider
• Published first public bracket in 1995