Kentucky is a little peeved, which can't be good news for the other teams in the Midwest Regional.

The top-ranked Wildcats had their 27-game winning streak snapped Sunday when they lost to Mississippi State in the championship of the Southeastern Conference tournament. And coach Rick Pitino thinks it was exactly what his deep and talented team needs."As great as people make us out to be, we couldn't have made a great run in the tournament unless we lost tonight because things have come too easy," Pitino said after the 84-73 loss. "The loss will help us. It shows us we're not invincible."

Maybe not, but the Midwest bracket gives the Wildcats (28-2) an outstanding chance to reach the Meadowlands. They open against San Jose State, which at 13-16 is one of only two teams in the NCAA tournament with a losing record.

Wake Forest, Villanova and Utah are the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 seeds. All three are solid teams with marquee players, but none has the depth and overall talent of Kentucky.

Maybe San Jose State coach Stan Morrison said it best.

"They have two great teams," he said. "One is sitting on the side. The other is on the court."

Wake Forest went 23-5 this season behind the play of center Tim Duncan, who can be unstoppable in the middle, as he showed with his 27-point, 22-rebound performance in the Demon Deacons' victory over Georgia Tech in the championship of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Wake Forest's first-round opponent is Northeast Louisiana (16-13), which got into the tournament by winning the Southland Conference tournament.

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Villanova's star is Kerry Kittles, who sat out the final three games of the regular season for improperly using a school phone card. With him in the lineup, the Wildcats (25-6) figure to have an easy time with No. 14 seed Portland (19-10), winner of the West Coast Conference tournament.

Utah is coming off a loss to New Mexico in the championship of the Western Athletic Conference tournament. But with players like Keith Van Horn, Brandon Jessie and Michael Doleac, Utah (25-6) has enough size and experience to give teams trouble in this region.

Iowa State, the surprise of the Big Eight conference, was made the No. 5 seed. The Cyclones finished second in the regular season, then beat Kansas in the Big Eight tournament to help cost the Jayhawks a No. 1 seed. Iowa State will play California in the first round.

No. 6 seed Louisville plays 11th-seeded Tulsa in a matchup of teams that aren't bashful about shooting the ball. Tulsa has reached the final 16 each of the past two years as an at-large team.

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