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Honor among rivals Michigan State, Illinois share No. 1 seed glory
Updated: Tuesday March 13, 2001 5:27 PM
By Ryan Hunt, CNNSI.com It's one of the recent norms of the NCAA tournament: Either Duke or North Carolina is a No. 1 seed. Entering 2001, it happened in eight of the past 10 years. This season was no different, as the Blue Devils earned a No. 1 seed for the fourth consecutive year. But the bitter rivals failed to earn top seeds in the same year for only the second time (1998). Instead, another conference pair turned the trick. Big Ten rivals Michigan State and Illinois were awarded No. 1 seeds, just the eighth time in NCAA tournament history -- and third time in four years -- that two teams from the same conference earned No. 1 seeds. Last year, Pac-10 powers Stanford and Arizona each were awarded top seeds. However, neither made it out of the second round. In fact, dual success is rare. Only once have both teams advanced to the Final Four -- 1985, when St. John's and Georgetown were two of three Big East teams in the national semifinals. It is the third consecutive year the Spartans earned a top seed, joining a select number (see chart below) to accomplish the feat. Illinois is a No. 1 for the first time since 1989.
The Blue Devils became the first team in NCAA history to earn a No. 1 seed in four consecutive years (seeding did not officially begin until 1979). Already, the Blue Devils are one of five teams to do it in three consecutive years. But of those five teams, only Kentucky (1995-97) and Michigan State (1999-present) made it to the Final Four more than once.
In all, three of those have won the national championship, including North Carolina in '93. And three others have advanced to at least the Final Four.
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