Page 14 Sports March Madness' 64-Team Field Set The March Madness shootout is to tip-off. The road to Seattle begins Thiirsday, with 64 - teams vying for a final four berth. That road m a y be a little rockier for lower seeds like McNeese State, Princeton., Robert Morris and Fast Tennessee State than for power houses Illinois, Georgetown, Oklahoma and Arizona - but, as, previous tourneys have proven, upsets are imminent. Here are the first round pairings and sites enroute to the Kingdome: #l. Georgetown (264)' vs. #4 lowa (22-9) N. Carolina St. (20-8) vs. #8 Vanderbilt (19-13) vs. #2 Duke (24-7) #3 Stanford (26-6) #6 Kansas St. (19-10) vs... #7 W. Virginia (254) #1 Oklahoma (28-5) #4 Florida St. (22-7) #5 Virginia (19-10) #8 La Salle (26-5) #2 North Carolina (27-7) vs. #3 Michigan (24-7) 46 Alabama (23-7) #7 UCLA (20-9) #1 Illinois (27-4) #4 Louisville (22-8) #5 Arkansas (24-6) P . vs. #8 Pittsburgh (17-12) #2 Syracul (27-7) #3 Missouri (27-7) #6 Georgia Tech (20-11) vs. #7 Florida (21-12) #1 Arizona (27-3) #4 UNLV (26-7) #5 Memphis St. (21-10) vs. #8 St. Mary's (25-4) #2 Indiana (25-7) ) #3 Seton Hall (26=6) #6 Oregon St. (22-7) vs. #7 UTEP (25-6) - East - ( at Providence; R.I. ) #l6 Princeton (19-7) vs. #l3 Rutgers (18-12) #l2 South Carolina (19-10) #9 Notre Dame (20-8) f at Greensboroi, N.C. ) #l5 S. Carolina,St. (25-7) #l4 Siena (24-4) #ll Minnesota (17-11) -#lO Tennessee (19-10) - Southeast" ,- (' at Nashville, .Tenn.) #l6 E. Tennessee St. (20-10) #l3 Middle Tennessee (22-7) #l2 Prpvidence (18-10) #9 Louisiana Tech (22-8) ( at Atlanta, Ga. ) #l5 Southern (20-10) #l4 Xavier (21-11) vs. #ll S. Alabama (22-8) vs. #lO low St. (17-11) - Midliest - ( at Indianapolis, Ind. ) #l6 McNeese St. (16-13) #l3 Ark.-Little Rock (23-7) #l2 Loyola-Mary. (20-10) #9 Ball St. (28-2) ( at Dallas, Texas) vs. #l5 Bucknell (23-7) #l4 Creighton (20-10) #ll Texas (24-8) #l7 Colorado'St. (22-9) - West - ( at Boise, Idaho ) #l6 Robert Morris (21-8) #l3 Idaho (254 #l2 DePaul-(20-11) #9 Clemson (18-10) ( at Tucson, Ariz. ) vs.- #l5 George Mason (20710) vs. #l4 S.W. Missouri St. (21-9) #ll Evansville (24-5) '#ICiLSU (20-11) Panthers -rcli-4,:p..ps by Rob Prindle From door-mats in November to division champs in March, the once struggling Erie Panthers clinched the East Coast Hockey League regular season title Friday night with an 8-6 victory over the Johnstown Chiefs. The Panthers, who began their season with a flurry of one and two goal losses, remained cellar-dwellers in the newly formed ECHL for the first several weeks of the long season. At their lowest point, Erie was 21 points out of first place. The club steadily improved and finally put things together to take command of the league winning 13 out of :. ... . . , ... . . f ~,• , .. G .., . . _ . . -..pa ~. ... . ~. , _. vv . . . 1 1 ._ . - , • :, s0 '•7'. ' . • • . - S 0 : : . . . . at. -.,' - , - 1 . : ...: ~I . "', . 1 ; • ~.. .le. • _ A.. DIPPING LS IFOR DIPS. AMERICAN DON'T USE SNUFF OR CHEWING TOBACCO. SOCIETY® The Collegian Wednesday, March 15 17 games in a 30-day stretch. The Panthers record now stands at 36-19-3. • If it had not been for the Chiefs the Panthers would have clinched the title carnet': The Chiefs had previously owned the Erie club . having beaten them nine out of 14 preyious meetings. The win Friday was almost as exciting as the season. The Panthers tied the score at 1-1 in the middle of the first period and the Chiefs returned the favor knotting things at 2-2 in the second. The third peried proved to be wilder. The Panthers, with a flurry of strong drives and power play advantages pulled to a more than comfortable looking 6-2 lead. This was not the case, however, as the play got-rough and the Panthers found themselves at the wrong end of a five minute power play. The Chiefs scored three times during this lengthy advantage and eventually tied the, game with two Panthers - in the box. With the gathe tied. at six and - the clock ticking down, it looked as if the Panthers would have to wait for another night to. clinch the, league crown. However, the: Panthers pulled not : one but .tvici 'last Minute gols to ice the limn' at 8-6 and the championship... Thy Pordiers finish up the season at home — this weekend before heading into the playoffs.