OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Creighton coach Greg McDermott says his Bluejays deserved a fifth or sixth seed in the NCAA tournament.

Instead, the selection committee made Creighton a No. 8 seed in the Midwest Regional. If the Bluejays beat No. 9 Alabama on Friday in Greensboro, N.C., and top-seeded North Carolina wins its game against either Lamar or Vermont, a Doug McDermott-Harrison Barnes matchup will be set for Sunday.

Doug McDermott, the Creighton star, and the Tar Heels’ Barnes were teammates on the powerful Ames (Iowa) High team that won 53 straight games and made national headlines when Barnes was the nation’s top recruit in 2010.

The 19th-ranked Bluejays (28-5) won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament for the league’s automatic NCAA bid.