Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 15, 1993 TAG: 9303150051
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
A WEEK OF UPSETS SENDS MANY TEAMS HOME MAD
The NCAA Tournament bubble wasn't much different from the roof at the Dedmon Center over the weekend.Something had to give.
When the NCAA men's field was revealed Sunday evening, more teams than usual were stunned to have their hopes buried. Nevada-Las Vegas, Providence, Houston, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Virginia Commonwealth are experiencing a different kind of March madness from 64 other schools.
Then, their exclusion was as much a product of one of the more upsetting weeks of conference tournament play in history. In only three hours Sunday, Texas Tech, Missouri and Long Beach State shoved three of the previously mentioned out into the cold.
East Carolina began the trend with its shocking run from the No. 7 seed in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament to a date with destiny - also known as No. 1 East Region seed North Carolina.
ECU upset James Madison in the CAA final and, supposedly, Dukes coach Lefty Driesell spent some time in the past week phoning his former Davidson player and later ACC coaching rival, Terry Holland, to campaign for an at-large bid.
It doesn't work that way. Although Holland is a rookie on the NCAA Basketball Committee that fills and seeds the tournament field, Lefty might as well have been calling another Holland - Judith of UCLA, the NCAA women's basketball selection chairman - about a bid.
For former Virginia coach Holland, the grueling selection weekend in Kansas city must have been his most difficult basketball work since coaching Ralph Sampson. When committee chairman Tom Butters appeared on CBS' selection show Sunday evening, the Duke athletic director looked as if he'd spent the weekend trying to shovel out of the great blizzard.
Butters said he didn't remember a tournament committee laboring so long and hard on teams that didn't make the tournament. Believe it. Houston, Oklahoma and Minnesota likely fell from the bracket with Sunday's upsets.
VCU may have as much of a gripe as anyone. The Rams reached the Metro Conference tournament final, won 20 games and finished the season strong even after losing star forward Kendrick Warren.
Tulane got an at-large spot for the Metro, although the Green Wave stumbled to the finish, including a home loss to VCU 10 days ago and a first-round Metro tourney setback to Virginia Tech. Still, Tulane, the 11th seed in the Southeast, wasn't the lowest of the at-large picks.
George Washington and Marquette, both 12s, were. GW's first NCAA date since 1961 gave the Atlantic 10 Conference four NCAA teams. That's significant because its historical bully - the Big East - received only three.
Providence was left out, but the Friars have no one to blame but their own league. The Big East's foolish - read: financial - decision to let probation-laden Syracuse play in the conference tournament cost the league a bid when the Orangemen reached the final.
Marquette seemed as marginal a selection as Tulane. UNLV will scream that the NCAA is still making the Rebels run punishment drills, but Vegas simply didn't have the power rating to match other possible entries, and Big West Tournament champ Long Beach State beat the Rebels twice.
It was no surprise that the ACC and the Big Eight received six bids apiece, and the ACC's strength as the top conference in the Ratings Percentage Index is reflected in all of the ACC entrants being among the top 24 seeds.
VCU's exclusion left UVa as the only Virginia school in the field, the second straight year the once-strong commonwealth has had only one team among the 64 big dancers.
Although the Cavaliers got the lowest seed among the ACC teams, coach Jeff Jones can use "I'll Take Manhattan" as a first-round theme song for Friday's opening round in Syracuse.
UVa's likely second-round foe, Massachusetts, could be a difficult task - although the Minutemen are a fair matchup from a size and defensive standpoint for Jones' team. Virginia also appears to be in the weakest region, although the Cavaliers obviously took a big gulp when they saw they were only a half-bracket away from UNC.
The Midwest appears to be the toughest road to the Final Four, with potential regional semifinals of Indiana-Louisville and Duke-Kansas. Oklahoma State and California could be tough seeds to swallow, too.
The Southeast is strong enough to have Wake Forest as only the fifth seed, and a 7 vs. 10 first-round date pits Western Kentucky and Memphis State. In the West, Michigan is the team to beat, and No. 2 seed Arizona shouldn't look past a second-round toughie in Temple.
Frankie Allen's first NCAA Tournament as a head coach begins in Orlando (Fla.) Arena for Tennessee State, against Big East beast Seton Hall.
Allen's team may be playing in Shaq's house, but it won't feel like a trip to the Magic Kingdom.