North Carolina was rewarded for its near-perfect season with a No. 1 seed – in an unthinkably tough bracket. Connecticut’s bumpy ride earned the Huskies a No. 2 seed that essentially puts the five-time champions in front of a home crowd.

The six-time champ Tennessee Lady Vols, who played the hardest schedule in the land?

They’re just plain mad.

Tennessee drew a No. 2 seed Monday in the tough Cleveland Regional that includes the Tar Heels, the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament; third-seeded Rutgers, who finished the Big East regular season unbeaten; and Big 10 power Purdue, the fourth-seeded team.

“It’s like the Final Four!” Tar Heels coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “I don’t know how any bracket can get tougher than our bracket. … But hey, that’s just the way it is. We have to go play those games.”

The other top seeds were Ohio State, LSU and Duke.

While North Carolina was lamenting its tough road to the Final Four, Tennessee coach Pat Summitt was simply disgusted at not getting a top seed. The Lady Vols beat LSU to win the Southeastern Conference tournament, played the toughest schedule in the nation and were ranked second in the RPI.

“That’s a slap in your face,” Summitt told her players after they watched the selection show. “It’s a slap in our program’s face. I guess it’s my fault for putting together the toughest schedule in the country year in and year out. But as far as I’m concerned, we got no respect, and I don’t understand it.”

The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East had the most teams in the field with seven, followed by the Southeastern and Pacific-10 conferences with six each.

It’s the fourth time in 25 years that Texas did not make the tournament, and Texas Tech saw its string of 16 straight appearances snapped.

Oklahoma, seeded No. 2, finished unbeaten in the Big 12 Conference and will open against 15th-seeded Pepperdine on Saturday in Denver.

Baylor locked up a No. 3 seed and will play Big Sky champion Northern Arizona, a 14th seed, Saturday in Tucson, Ariz.