In the Midwest, 12th-seeded Arizona is a one point favorite over fifth-seeded Utah, and 10th-seeded USC is a two point favorite over seventh-seeded Boston College.
Now, the hockey-crazed country is left with only the seventh-seeded Senators going against one of the country's own, Sidney Crosby, and the Penguins, the top-seeded team in the East.
Those back on the ice included the Los Angeles Kings, nine months removed from winning the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship despite being one of the two lowest-seeded squads in the playoffs.
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The Badgers allowed only seven points after the top-seeded Hoosiers pulled within one with 9:45 left.
World number two Nadal cruised to a 6-1 6-3 win over fifth-seeded Serbian Troicki in one hour seven minutes.
Meanwhile, Bridgend - the other Welsh seeded side - will face French side Pau who are one of the most difficult unseeded sides, again with the away match first.
The Greensboro Coliseum was also the site of their one-and-done loss to 15th-seeded Lehigh in their NCAA tournament opener last year.
However, there was disappointment for yet another former world number one, Jelena Jankovic, after the 13th-seeded Serb was crushed 6-0 6-3 by Mona Barthel of Germany.
The ninth-seeded Lions, who posted one win in the first two months of the calendar year, tripled that figure in the WCC tournament with three straight wins to get to the semifinals.
The fifth-seeded Orange (25-8) advanced to the semifinals against top-seeded Georgetown, which is one of the seven Catholic schools that have left their football counterparts behind in an attempt to have a basketball-centric conference.
Sharapova was one set and a break up on her 20th-seeded opponent, but Kirilenko rallied before eventually losing 3-6 7-5 6-2 to the 2006 Indian Wells champion in a match lasting over three hours.
Van Vleet scored 12 points as the Shockers (30-8) followed up last week's win over top-ranked Gonzaga with a nail-biting victory over the second-seeded Buckeyes (29-8), whose 11-game winning streak ended one game short of their second straight Final Four.
Similarly and perhaps more so for the Southwest region where number one seeded Kansas is competing against 3 double-digit seeds, there may be a perception that they will run away with the regional, and as such, this lack of suspense might be retarding consumer demand and hence secondary ticket prices.
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Former world number one Jelena Jankovic, seeded seven, is now the highest-ranked player still in the tournament, although she also struggled before beating Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-3 4-6 6-2.
The sports world is dizzy with excitement over one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history: fifteenth-seeded Florida Gulf Coast University beat mighty (and second-seeded) Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
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The Czech, seeded 16th, has gone one better than his last-four achievement in Miami last year as he qualified for only his second Masters final.
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One of the four seeded sides in the draw for the eight-team competition, England were drawn in Group B with the Czech Republic, Serbia and Italy.
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Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, seeded one and two for the tournament, both received first-round byes.
The top spots are significant in at least one respect: A No. 1 has never lost to a 16th-seeded team.
Teams in a plus-one game would be selected after the bowls, rather than placed in seeded semifinal games.
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The No. 3-seeded Sharapova moved into the fourth round, eager to fill one of the few holes in her resume.
The British number one, seeded second, will play Ivan Ljubicic next after he beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3 7-6 (7-2).
After notching one goal and eight assists in 20 postseason games a year ago, when the top-seeded Rangers reached the Eastern Conference finals, Stepan is ready to put his experience to good use.
The 23-year-old Scot, seeded second, broke four times as he wrapped up victory in one hour, 14 minutes.
"Cinderella found one glass skipper, " said Gregg Marshall, coach of Wichita State, which beat No. 1-seeded Gonzaga and No. 2 Ohio State on its way to adding some mid-major mojo to the Final Four.
Third-seeded Jelena Jankovic showed improved form as she beat Yulia Putintseva in straight sets, dropping only one more game from 3-3 in the first set to win 6-3 6-1.
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