RALEIGH, N.C. — The NCAA men's basketball tournament is returning to Raleigh for the first time since 1982.

That year, Reynolds Coliseum hosted four teams in the regional championship. One of them was North Carolina, which went on to win the national title, the first for then-head coach Dean Smith.

This week, the teams will play at the RBC Center. Raleigh is one of a group of "pods" hosting eight teams.

The pod system was adopted to give the NCAA selection committee more flexibility and to reduce travel. It was developed after the 2001 tournament included four Washington, D.C., area teams that went to Boise, Idaho.

Raleigh's pod consists of seeds one, 16, eight and nine, as well as four, 13, five and 12. Duke and Wake Forest are in the pod.

Two of the teams from the pod will go to the Atlanta regional. Two others will go to the East Rutherford, New Jersey, regional.