July 17, 2008

LOS ANGELES - CBSSports.com, aided by college basketball producer Brian De Los Santos -- and the sports information directors from the six most successful programs in the history of the sport -- has launched the National Champions All-Stars Bracket, a reader-influenced series that is taking the top six programs based on national titles (UCLA, Kentucky, Indiana, North Carolina, Duke and Kansas) and placing them against each other using rosters featuring some of the best players of all time.

But there's a catch. Only players with national title rings were eligible, meaning the Bruin's all-time leading scorer, Don MacLean isn't eligible, but Ed O'Bannon is.

Anyway, here's the deal: No. 1 UCLA (11 titles) and No. 2 Kentucky (seven titles) got first-round byes. In the quarterfinal matchups, No. 4 North Carolina (four titles) defeated No. 5 Duke (three titles) by getting 63% of the votes while No. 3 Indiana (five titles) defeated No. 6 Kansas (three titles) by getting 56% of the votes.

Voting has already begun in the semifinal round as the No. 1 Bruins are facing Michael Jordan's Tar Heels in one national semifinal while second-seeded Kentucky is squaring off with third-seeded Indiana in the other semifinal.

Voting is open ... now!

It's up to you to vote! Voting closes for the semifinal round on July 23. Voting for the championship will close on July 29 at 3 p.m. ET and CBSSports.com will unveil the champion July 30.

So get going and get to it and be as passionate as ever. Eternal bragging rights are on the line!

You can vote for the Bruins by CLICKING HERE and scrolling down to the brackets and clicking on vote now.