Two additional notes:
(1) Rutgers/Newark will be an exhibition team, not competing for the
title. Texas A&M *may* be competing as an exhibition team.
(2) As far as bracketing goes, the only things I can say before the
tournament are:
* Teams from the same school will not play each other unless it is
absolutely unavoidable.
* Teams that are traveling long distances will be separated as much
as possible. So, for example, Louisiana/Lafayette, Rice, and Texas
A&M will not play one another unless it is absolutely unavoidable. In
any case, every effort will be made to separate A teams as much as
possible.
* The semifinalists from last year (Yale I, Virginia I, Michigan I)
will not play in the same preliminary brackets.
* The brackets *will* be seeded to keep the brackets as even as
possible in terms of both strength and geographic diversity.