The 10 teams preferred by RPI had an abysmal NCAA record, winning just three games, compared to an expected 9.04. (Including one win by New Mexico, as a five seed last year.) Two of those wins were by Northern Iowa, as a nine seed in 2010.
Miami earned that seed this year based on what they did on the floor this year, despite the lack of basketball tradition.
This is not all that much different from farming practice in developed countries, where growers have long been used to buying new hybrid seed every year.
However, poor farmers frequently cannot afford to buy new seed each season, so they take their chances and replant the best of their seed from year to year in the belief that a new plant that is not quite as good as its parent is better than no plant at all.
The Billikens lost in the round of 32 year to No. 1 seed Michigan State last year after snapping a 12-year NCAA tournament drought.
The winner of that match will play either fifth seed Petrova or last year's losing finalist, 10th seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy.
After their cotton had been ginned, farmers would keep some of the seed for next year's planting, plow some into the ground as fertilizer, and use the rest to feed their cows.
The firm has 70 portfolio companies, and has been very active, intending to do 100 seed deals this year, in addition to more traditional Series A, B or C investments.
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Alford, who had guided New Mexico to three NCAA tournament appearances in his six years there, led the Lobos to a 29-6 record and No. 3 seed in this year's tournament.
While keen to put expectations in perspective, D1 Oils, in partnership with oil company BP, has announced plans to plant 50, 000 hectares of so-called "elite seed" this year, capable of producing 2.7 tonnes of oil per hectare.
Those farmers who planted carefully, kept pests away, weeded and watered, harvested at the right time and kept aside seed for next year were most likely to have enough to feed their families, and maybe even some left over to sell at market.
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Eighth seed Golovin beat fellow 19-year-old and sixth seed Ivanovic of Serbia 6-4 3-6 6-4 in the first of the semi-finals on the green clay.
Although six Blackbirds have played in NCAA games LIU Brooklyn lost as a 15 seed to North Carolina 102-87 in 2011 and last year lost to top-seeded Michigan State 89-67 as a 16 seed in the second round first-year coach Jack Perri is in charge of a team for the first time in such rarified air.
The 23-year-old top seed, who won her first major tournament in Melbourne last year, burst into tears after she successfully defended her claim to the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, becoming one of only eight women, including Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis and Serena Williams, who have done so.
In the flower beds, coneflowers such as echinacea and rudbeckia turn into food as the blooms go to seed this time of year.
That year, 391 startups raised seed capital, according to Dow Jones VentureSource, up more than 50% from the prior year.
Bucknell is the top seed for the third straight year and opens against last-place and eighth-seeded Navy.
For example, seed fundings in 2012, year-to-date, totalled 1, 749 deals, which is up from 472 in 2009.
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For fiscal year 2009 the Seed and Genomics division had a Gross Margin of 61% and an Operating Margin of 22%.
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The Serbian ninth seed cruised past 19-year-old world No. 114 Eugenie Bouchard of Canada 6-2 6-1 for the 500th victory of her career.
The world No. 1 will face fourth seed Novak Djokovic, who reached the last four for the third year in a row after beating Spanish 10th seed Fernando Verdasco in four sets, 7-6 (7-2), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2.
" It also became seed money: "This year we plan to award 15 scholarships.
The 16-year-old eighth seed looked in good form as she earned a hard fought 6-3 7-6 (7-3) victory.
Wheat farmers whose crop was washed away need seed and fertiliser now if next year's crop is not to be lost, too.
Second seed Safina, beaten in last year's final by Serena Williams, suffered a worrying recurrence of an old back injury as she retired trailing 4-5 in the first set to compatriot Maria Kirilenko.
The third seed reached the semifinals here last year, but was sadly out of sorts as his 26-year-old German opponent wrapped up a victory he described "as one of the best in his career".
Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska has started the year in fine fashion, winning two titles and the Pole, who is yet to advance beyond the last eight in Melbourne, had little difficulty in getting pastAustralian wildcard Bojana Bobusic 7-5 6-0.
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