South Region Preview: Purgatory for Falling Conference Champs – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/14/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
The NCAA South Regional became the whipping post for champions that didn’t fare so well in their conference tournaments.
At the top of the list is Cincinnati.
The Bearcats (28-3) were a certain No. 1 seed until the Conference USA tournament, when star center Kenyon Martin broke his right leg in a stunning 10-point loss to Saint Louis. Now, Cincinnati is No. 2 in the South behind Stanford (26-3), which received a top seed for the first time.
Coach Bob Huggins was clearly perturbed by Cincinnati’s slide, pointing out that his team is No. 1 in the Rating Percentage Index (RPI). The Bearcats had hoped to play in Cleveland with a top seed in the Midwest.
“Tell me the last time a team that was No. 1 in the RPI hasn’t had a No. 1 seed,” Huggins said, fuming. “It’s crazy. I don’t understand that. I don’t understand the rationale.”
He blasted the NCAA selection committee for taking into account that Cincinnati won’t have Martin, one of the favorites for national player of the year.
“How do they know how good we are without Kenyon?” Huggins said. “They judged what we were for 37 minutes without Kenyon. Did they take into (account) the fact that our guys just sat there and watched a very traumatic experience? Did they take that into consideration?”
The No. 3 seed in the South is Ohio State (22-6), a Final Four team a year ago. The Buckeyes were also in contention for a No. 1 until the Big Ten tournament, when they were stunned in the quarterfinals by a Penn State team they already had beaten twice.
Two other major conference champions also were placed in the South after tournament defeats.
Tennessee (24-6), the No. 4 seed, shared the Southeastern Conference title with three other teams but was hurt by a loss to South Carolina in the quarterfinals of its league tournament.
Miami (21-10), co-champion of the Big East, lost to St. John’s in the semifinals of the conference tournament. With that, the Hurricanes slipped to No. 6 in the South, one spot behind Big East rival and defending national champion Connecticut (24-9).
Then there’s North Carolina (18-13), which survived its highest number of losses since 1989-90 to extend its record streak of NCAA appearances to 26 in a row. The Tar Heels are seeded eighth in the South.
“Our players were excited when they saw the announcement,” coach Bill Guthridge said. “I know they are not satisfied with our record and look forward to competing in the NCAA tournament.”
North Carolina won at least one game in the NCAA tournament for 18 consecutive years before losing in the first round to Weber State last year. This season, North Carolina dropped out of the Top 25 for the first time in a decade and was ousted from the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament by Wake Forest.
North Carolina got in, albeit with its lowest seed since 1990, because of a non-conference schedule that included Michigan State, Purdue, Indiana, Louisville, Georgetown, UNLV, Miami and the College of Charleston.
“I am glad the committee rewarded us for playing a challenging out-of-conference schedule,” Guthridge said. “I was afraid I may have over-scheduled.”
The South Regional opens Friday with the first of two rounds at Nashville, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala. The regional semifinals and finals will be held in Austin, Texas, the following week.
At Nashville, Cincinnati starts off with North Carolina-Wilmington (18-12), Tulsa (29-4) takes on UNLV (23-7), Ohio State (22-6) meets Appalachian State (23-8) and Miami faces Arkansas (19-14), the surprise winner of the SEC tournament Sunday.
Stanford highlights the Birmingham half of the bracket, opening against South Carolina State (20-13). North Carolina meets Missouri (18-12), Tennessee takes on Louisiana-Lafayette (25-8), and Connecticut plays Utah State (28-5).
