NCAA Selections Shows New System Has Its Flaws – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 11, 2002
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%^$By MICHAEL MAROT
%^$AP Sports Writer%^$
%^$INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – When the NCAA announced last summer that it wanted to%^$reduce travel in this year’s tournament, some wondered if it would be%^$possible.%^$
%^$On Sunday, the selection committee showed it is not.%^$
%^$The committee, given the freedom to move first- and second-round sites to%^$different regions, proved the new system wasn’t perfect.%^$
%^$”We wanted to limit the travel as much as possible, but we knew that in the%^$middle of the bracket, it would be difficult,” committee chairman Lee Fowler%^$said after the 65-team field was announced.%^$
%^$Fowler said 39 teams were kept in their own time zones, compared with 22%^$last year. Another 15 teams were sent one time zone away, and only 11 teams%^$moved two or three time zones. Last year, 20 teams moved at least two time%^$zones.%^$
%^$But the committee’s decisions also revealed flaws.%^$
%^$Indiana, the fifth seed in the South, was placed in Sacramento, Calif. North%^$Carolina-Wilimington, the 13th seed in the South, also went to Sacramento,%^$and UCLA, the eighth seed in the West, will open against ninth-seeded%^$Mississippi in Pittsburgh.%^$
%^$Other teams benefitted greatly.%^$
%^$Pittsburgh, for instance, will stay at home even though it is the No. 3 seed%^$in the South, and although Fowler said last week that the committee would%^$try to avoid giving lower-seeded teams what could amount to a homecourt%^$advantage, the committee couldn’t prevent it completely.%^$
%^$Charlotte, the ninth seed in the South, plays Notre Dame in nearby%^$Greenville, S.C., while 10th-seeded Pepperdine meets No. 7 Wake Forest in%^$the Midwest at Sacramento. Ivy League champ Pennsylvania, the 11th seed in%^$the South, faces sixth-seeded California in Pittsburgh.%^$
%^$The system also created some anomalies.%^$
%^$Washington and Greenville, S.C., each will play host to a No. 1 and a No. 2%^$seed. Chicago and Albuquerque, N.M., will be without a No. 1 or No. 2 seed,%^$but will have the attraction of nearby teams.%^$
%^$Illinois, the fourth seed in the Midwest, and Southern Illinois, the 11th%^$seed in the East, both will play at Chicago, while third-seeded Arizona%^$opens play in the West Region at Albuquerque.%^$
%^$Fowler, the athletic director at North Carolina State, acknowledged that the%^$system is really a work in progress.%^$
%^$”We can’t avoid all travel because two-thirds of our teams are from east of%^$the Mississippi,” Fowler said. “What we’re trying to do is develop a system%^$where we can cut down on travel.”%^$
%^$Other than geography, much remained the same.%^$
%^$The top four seeds are Duke, Kansas, Maryland and Cincinnati. Duke, which%^$plays in the South, was seeded No. 1 for a record fifth straight year.%^$
%^$Kansas took the top spot in the Midwest, its first No. 1 seed since 1998,%^$and Maryland and Cincinnati earned their first top spots.%^$
%^$”I think it’s great,” coach Bob Huggins said of the Bearcats, who will be in%^$the West Regional and open play Friday in Pittsburgh. “It’s easier for%^$people to get to the game.”%^$
%^$Kansas held onto its top spot, despite losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12%^$championship game Sunday, while Cincinnati beat out the Sooners for the%^$final top seed. Oklahoma drew the second seed in the West.%^$
%^$As usual, there also were questions about the seeding process and who was%^$left out.%^$
%^$Gonzaga, which was No. 6 in last week’s Associated Press poll, drew the%^$sixth seed in the West, where it faces Wyoming.%^$
%^$And Butler, which went 25-5, became the first team with that many wins to%^$not receive a bid after losing in the first round of the Horizon League%^$tournament.%^$
%^$Fowler said to make those determinations, the committee considered things%^$such as a team’s RPI rating, strength of schedule, how it fared against the%^$top 50 teams, and how it fared against teams that might be seeded higher%^$than it.%^$
%^$The decisions left some upset.%^$
%^$”I thought our record over four months would speak for itself,” Butler coach%^$Todd Lickliter said. “I guess there’s a lot more weight on two categories,%^$or whatever, than 10 – the RPI and that we lost in the first game of our%^$tournament by one point.”%^$
%^$Butler wasn’t the only team left out.%^$
%^$Virginia, which was ranked as high No. 4 this season, finished with nine%^$losses in 12 games and didn’t get in. Neither did Tennessee Tech with 24%^$wins, Utah State with 23 wins, and Memphis with 22.%^$
%^$That’s because the “power” conferences again dominated the NCAA landscape.%^$
%^$The Big East, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern each received six bids, while%^$the Big Ten had five and the ACC four.%^$
%^$The lowest-seeded of the 34 at-large selections were Utah, Missouri and%^$Tulsa, all No. 12s.%^$
%^$Maryland – like the other teams grouped in four-team “pods” – opens East%^$Regional play Friday in Washington, D.C., against the winner of Tuesday’s%^$opening-round game between Alcorn State of the Southwestern Athletic%^$Conference and Siena of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The other%^$matchup is eighth-seeded Wisconsin against ninth-seeded St. John’s.%^$
%^$The other four teams in the East play Thursday in St. Louis, Mo., with%^$fourth-seeded Kentucky playing Valparaiso and fifth-seeded Marquette going%^$against Tulsa.%^$
%^$The lower part of the bracket features second-seeded Connecticut against%^$Hampton in Washington on Friday and seventh-seeded North Carolina State%^$against Michigan State, which has been to the last three Final Fours.%^$
%^$In Chicago on Friday, third-seeded Georgia meets Murray State while Texas%^$Tech and coach Bob Knight meet Southern Illinois.%^$
%^$In the Midwest Regional, Kansas (29-3), which had its 15-game winning streak%^$snapped Sunday, plays Holy Cross on Thursday in St. Louis. The other game%^$pits eighth-seeded Stanford against Western Kentucky.%^$
%^$The other half of the upper bracket has Illinois meeting San Diego State on%^$Friday, while fifth-seeded Florida faces Creighton.%^$
%^$Oregon, the Pac-10 regular-season champion, is seeded second and faces%^$Montana in Sacramento on Thursday. Wake Forest and Pepperdine meet in the%^$other game.%^$
%^$The lower part of the bracket is in Dallas on Friday, with third-seeded%^$Mississippi State against McNeese State, and sixth-seeded Texas facing%^$Boston College.%^$
%^$Duke (29-3) opens defense of its national championship in the South against%^$Winthrop on Thursday in Greenville. Notre Dame and Charlotte meet in the%^$other game.%^$
%^$The other pod is in Sacramento on Thursday and has fourth-seeded Southern%^$California against North Carolina-Wilmington, while fifth-seeded Indiana%^$faces Utah.%^$
%^$Alabama, seeded second in the South, also will play in Greenville, meeting%^$Florida Atlantic, which is making its first tournament appearance. The other%^$game features seventh-seeded Oklahoma State against Kent State.%^$
%^$Pittsburgh, which lost to Connecticut in the Big East championship game,%^$meets Central Connecticut State, which has the nation’s longest current%^$winning streak, on Friday.%^$
%^$”We’ll have the comforts of home, in a place we’ve played before,” said%^$Brandin Knight, co-player of the year in the Big East. “No long rides on a%^$cramped plane. No bus rides.”%^$
%^$The other game features Pennsylvania and California.%^$
%^$Cincinnati (30-3), the only team with 30 wins entering the tournament, opens%^$against Boston University. UCLA meets Mississippi in the other game.%^$
%^$The other part of the bracket will be in Albuquerque, N.M., on Thursday.%^$Fourth-seeded Ohio State, the Big Ten tournament champion, plays Davidson%^$and fifth-seeded Miami faces Missouri.%^$
%^$Oklahoma’s first game after upsetting Kansas will be in Dallas on Friday%^$against Illinois-Chicago, with seventh-seeded Xavier facing Hawaii in the%^$other game.%^$
%^$The other pod in the lower half pits Arizona against Cal-Santa Barbara,%^$along with sixth-seeded Gonzaga facing Wyoming in Albuquerque.%^$
%^$Florida Atlantic, the Atlantic Sun conference champions coached by former%^$NBA player Sidney Green, is the only school making its first tournament%^$appearance.%^$
%^$San Diego State, which won the Mountain West title, snapped the longest%^$nonappearance string, making the field for the first time since 1985. The%^$Aztecs are coached by Steve Fisher, whose last NCAA tournament appearance%^$was in 1996 with Michigan. He led the Wolverines to the national%^$championship as an interim coach in 1989 and then to the title game in 1992%^$and 1993.%^$
%^$Another coach returning to the tournament is Knight, who led Indiana to 24%^$appearances, winning it all in 1976, 1981 and 1987. He was fired by Indiana%^$in 2000, and returned to coaching with Texas Tech this season, leading the%^$Red Raiders back to the tournament for the first time since 1996.%^$
%^$North Carolina’s first 20-loss season ever snapped the Tar Heels’ record%^$streak of 27 consecutive appearances. The longest streak now belongs to%^$Arizona, which has been in every tournament since 1985.%^$
