The Big East and Atlantic Coast Conferences battled for overall supremacy this season and if form holds, those leagues will decide who advances to the Final Four out of the East region.

Top seed Pittsburgh is joined by Villanova at No. 3 while second-seeded Duke and fifth seed Florida State will carry the ACC banner. They are the class of a group filled with middle-of-the-pack teams from the Big Ten, Southeastern and Big 12 and hopefuls from non-major conferences.

In addition, Pitt will play in nearby Dayton, Ohio, Duke will travel to familiar Greensboro, N.C., and Villanova stays home in Philadelphia. Only FSU will be far from home in Boise.

Pitt hasn't reached the Elite Eight with strong teams the last three seasons. But these Panthers come in rested after being knocked out in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. No. 16 East Tennessee State will be Pitt's second game in the last two weeks. DeJuan Blair, Sam Young and Levance Fields give them as talented a threesome as any team in the tournament.

Duke comes in after winning the ACC tournament and has long-range shooters Kyle Singlar, Gerald Henderson and Jon Scheyer who can revive the Blue Devils' fortunes. They have failed to reach a regional final the last three years.

Standing in Duke's way is the region's only tournament newcomer: No. 15 Binghamton, which won the America East and carries an 11-game winning streak.

Villanova will have to adjust to the role of the hunted rather than the hunter as a third seed. The Wildcats have more wins as an underdog (13), than any team. Two came last year when they won twice as a 12th seed. This time they have to deal with American, the Patriot League champion making its second consecutive appearance with a senior-laden lineup.

Florida State qualified for the tournament for the first time since 1998 by advancing to the ACC finals with an upset of North Carolina. The Seminoles (25-9) have a deadly scorer in guard Toney Douglas and are two victories shy of the school record set by the 1972 team that lost to UCLA in the finals.

FSU has the edge against a 12th-seeded Wisconsin team that finished tied for fourth in the parity-driven Big Ten.

Minnesota ended seventh in the league at 9-9 and drew the No. 10 seed. The Golden Gophers' matchup with seventh seed Texas will pair two teams with something to prove.

Minnesota went 4-7 down the stretch and is back in the tournament for only the second time since 1999. The Longhorns went out in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tourney after finishing in a four-way tie for fourth place.

Eighth seed Oklahoma State was one of those tied with Texas but comes into its game with No. 9 Tennessee having won eight of its last 10. The Volunteers underachieved this season and stumbled at the end in losing the SEC championship game.

The two most intriguing opening games could be fourth seed Xavier against No. 13 Portland State and sixth seed UCLA facing No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth. Xavier won the Atlantic 10 regular season but has lost two of its last three, while Portland will be playing in Boise. The Bruins don't have the level of talent that reached the Final Four the last two years, and Virginia Commonwealth still has guard Eric Maynor, who engineered an upset of Duke in 2007.