Fallout, follow-ups and a fact or three emerging from Sunday, Whacky Sunday . . .
– De Paul is feeling demon blue, and at Southern Illinois, the Salukis are-well-foaming at the mouth. Both have apt cause for their rabid emotions, yet they were hardly the only ones jilted by the committee that selected the 64-team field for the NCAA tournament.
Consider, for one, those Rainbows of Hawaii, who play in the wild Western Athletic Conference. They finished the regular season 21-8, one game behind conference co-champs Brigham Young (21-7) and Colorado State (21-7). Then at the conference tourney in El Paso, Texas, they advanced to the final before losing to host UTEP while both the Cougars and the Rams were upset in the quarterfinals. And what did that performance and their 23 victories earn them? Nothing more than a trip back to the islands for an NIT game-even though BYU, CSU and UTEP all got invites from the NCAA.
Or consider, for another example, the 49ers of Long Beach State, who play with Nevada-Las Vegas in the Big West Conference. They went 20-7 in the regular season, and were playing the Rebs Sunday in their tourney title game when they learned they would get an NCAA invite only if they won. That word was delivered to them at halftime by school Athletic Director Corey Johnson, and their coach, Joe Harrington, thought it was just a ploy Johnson was using to motivate the 49ers.
It was hardly that. It was, instead, an expression of the committee`s displeasure with the Big West, whose title game would not end until after the 64-team field was revealed to the public. That is why it marked a slot either Long Beach (which would get an automatic bid with a victory), or California-Santa Barbara (also from the Big West, which would get an at-large spot if the 49ers lost).
”The late (conference tourney) games are playing havoc with the selection process . . . (and the conference) should share the burden,” said committee chairman Jim Delany.
”I`m just totally devastated,” said Harrington after his team lost to Vegas 92-74.
”I feel I`ve been kicked in the stomach and it hurts,” said Big West Commissioner James Haney. ”Long Beach State is a team that belongs in the tournament.”
– While we`re on conference tourneys, here are a few figures to consider. Twelve of them, including the Missouri Valley`s, were won by teams playing on their home floor or in their hometown. Three of those 12-Arkansas-Little Rock, Towson State and Murray State-are 16th seeds. Two others-Northeast Louisiana and Robert Morris-are 15th seeds. And four more-Illinois State, Texas Southern, Northern Iowa and Richmond-are 14th seeds.
– The last two years, Oklahoma was sent to the Southeast Regional and Sooner coach Billy Tubbs expressed displeasure at being shipped out of his natural region. But this year he got his wish, the No. 1 in the Midwest. So he must be happy, right? Well, not necessarily.
Go back, if you will, to Sunday afternoon and the bowels of Kemper Arena, where he and assorted scribes are watching the selection show shortly after his talented Sooners won the Big Eight tourney title. The East bracket is shown, and then the Midwest, and now a commercial comes on the screen.
”That`s the toughest bracket they`ll have. Right there. No question,”
says Tubbs of the Midwest.
There is no question he is right, but he has not yet commented publicly on his trecherous road to the Final Four. Still, he has been asking questions like this. ”What do you think of that draw?”
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”Tough draw, isn`t it?”
And those questions, Tubb-o-philes know, mean the coach isn`t any too happy.
– While we`re on the Midwest, here are a few figures to consider. Five of the coaches in the region have made a total of 15 Final Four appearances. Tubbs has one, Illinois` Lou Henson and Georgia`s Hugh Durham have two, Georgetown`s John Thompson has three and North Carolina`s Dean Smith has seven. As if that isn`t enough, the region also includes four of the nation`s Top 10 teams: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 7 Arkansas, No. 8 Georgetown and No. 10 Purdue. In comparison, the Southeast has three, the East has two and the West has but one.
– In conclusion: If you`re keeping track, the new decade began much as the old ended. The Atlantic Coast Conference, which received 50 bids in the 1980s, got five. The Big East, which received 48 in the `80s, got six. And the Big 10, which received 46 in the `80s, got seven. . . . If you`re looking for a trend to determine the champion, forget it. The last five titles have been won by teams seeded third (Michigan), sixth (Kansas), first (Indiana), second
(Louisville) and eighth (Villanova).
And if you`re busy filling in your friendly office pool, you may want to keep this in mind. No 16th seed has ever beaten a top seed (though there were two one-point games in those matchups last year), and no 15th seed has ever beaten a second seed. But every year since the tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1985, at least one third seed has been upset in the opening round.