By Rick HowlettThe pairings are set for the men's NCAA college basketball tournament that begins this week across the country.The Kentucky Wildcats, one of the four number one seeds in the tournament, will face 16 seed East Tennessee State Thursday in an East Region opener in New Orleans.Murray State, seeded 13th, opens play Thursday against number four seed Vanderbilt in the West Region at San Jose.The ninth-seeded University of Louisville Cardinals begin tournament play in the South Region Friday in Jacksonville, taking on number eight seed California.Kansas is the overall number one seed, followed by Kentucky, Duke and Syracuse.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.
