Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 16, 1992 TAG: 9203160128
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Vermont is 29-0.
Notre Dame is 14-16, the first team to appear in the tournament with a losing record.
Top-ranked Virginia (29-1), No. 12 Purdue (22-6) and unranked Colorado (22-8), would be at home if they make it to the regional finals, scheduled for Charlottesville; West Lafayette, Ind., and Boulder, Colo.
Virginia, the No. 1 team in The Associated Pres poll, No. 2 Tennessee (27-2), No. 3 Stanford (25-3) and No. 7 Iowa (25-2) received the four top seeds Sunday in the 48-team tournament.
The Pac-10 put five teams in the tournament, while the Atlantic Coast and the Southeastern conferences had four teams apiece. Twenty-three teams earned berths through automatic qualifiers that go to conference tournament or regular-season champions. The remaining 25 were given at-large invitations by the committee.
"It was perhaps our toughest year," said UCLA senior associate athletic director Judith Holland, chairwoman of the NCAA selection committee. "Through midnight, we had 16 teams still on the table for one or two spots."
Holland said record, strength of schedule, results from the last 12 games and NCAA computer rankings all were factors.
Notable omissions were Northwestern (17-10), North Carolina State (16-12), ACC runner-up Georgia Tech (17-13), No. 24 Georgia (19-11), the SEC runner-up, and No. 21 Hawaii (23-6), which lost in the Big West semifinals to eventual champion Cal-Santa Barbara.
The Georgia omission was especially noticeable.
"They did not have a strong computer ranking on their non-conference schedule," Holland said.
"It's hard to believe we are not deserving of one of the 25 at-large picks," Georgia coach Andy Landers said. "I'm disappointed because I led the team to believe all week that we were going."
Two mild-surprise picks were Southern Illinois and DePaul.
"I felt we deserved it, but I was not convinced we would get it," DePaul coach Doug Bruno said. "But I believe our wins over Georgia and Alabama, and winning 13 of our last 14 really made it happen."
One indication of parity is the 45-percent turnover of teams from last year's field. In all, 22 participants and seven of the top 16 seeds from the 1991 field are missing.
First-round games will be played Wednesday, with second-round games Saturday and Sunday at on-campus sites. The fourth regional finals are at Seattle and the women's Final Four will be April 4-5 at Los Angeles.
Seeded along with Virginia (29-1) in the East are Miami, Vanderbilt and West Virginia (4). George Washington and Vermont will play in the first round, along with Clemson and Tennessee-Chattanooga; Connecticut and St. Peter's; and Old Dominion and North Carolina. The four seeds in each region receive byes.
Seeded in the Mideast along with Tennessee (27-2) are Maryland, Purdue and Western Kentucky. First-round games are: Rutgers vs. Southern Mississippi; Alabama vs. Tennessee Tech; Louisiana Tech vs. Northern Illinois; and Toledo vs. Providence.
Also seeded in the West are Stephen F. Austin, Southern California and Texas Tech. First-round games are: Houston vs. UC-Santa Barbara; California vs. Santa Clara; Wisconsin vs. Montana; and Long Beach State vs. Creighton.
Also seeded in the Midwest are Mississippi, Penn State and Texas. First-round games are: Southwest Missouri State vs. Kansas; UCLA vs. Notre Dame; Arizona State vs. DePaul; and Southern Illinois vs. Colorado.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB