Kansas will stay close to home, though, playing the opening round in Wichita, Kan., and, if it gets far enough, the second weekend in Omaha, Neb.

The Midwest’s No. 16 seed is Penn (24-8), which won the Ivy League’s automatic bid by defeating Harvard, 68-65, on Sunday. The last time an Ivy team received a No. 16 seed was 1989, when Princeton lost to Georgetown by a point — as close as any bottom seed has come to beating a top seed in 128 such matchups.

Virginia, which began the season unranked in the Associated Press poll, might be considered the prohibitive favorite, as much as the notoriously anarchic tournament can be said to have one. The Cavaliers have been superb for most of Coach Tony Bennett’s nine seasons, with four regular-season titles in the traditionally tough A.C.C. Yet they have not made the Final Four since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, with their last national semifinal coming in 1984, when they were knocked off by a Houston team led by the star center Hakeem Olajuwon.

But the South Region will present Virginia with a tough road to the Final Four in San Antonio. On the second weekend, in Atlanta, the Cavaliers may face a major-conference champion in either Arizona or fifth-seeded Kentucky (24-10), the Southeastern Conference champion. Waiting in the regional final could be No. 3-seeded Tennessee (25-8) or Cincinnati — KenPom.com’s fourth-best team overall.

In the East, Villanova’s toughest competition figures to be fifth-seeded West Virginia (24-10), whose pressing style can fluster even the most poised opponent; fourth-seeded Wichita State (25-7); and, should both arrive in the regional round in Boston, No. 2-seeded Purdue, which has had its best season in years.

Beyond Xavier, the South’s toughest outs include last year’s runner-up, Gonzaga (30-4), which received a No. 4 seed; red-hot Michigan (28-7), the No. 3 seed and the Big Ten champion; and North Carolina, which will open the tournament in nearby Charlotte.

For the second straight year, the A.C.C. placed nine teams in the tournament. The Southeastern Conference, which has made a concerted effort to transfer its success in football to the hardcourt, got 8 of its 14 teams into the field.