Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 11, 1994 TAG: 9402110067
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's that time of the year when some college basketball teams usually begin playing their way into the NCAA Tournament. However, with selection weekend a month away, more teams are playing their way onto the fence this season than in previous years.
The NCAA Men's Basketball Committee shouldn't have much trouble picking the 34 at-large teams that go with 30 automatic qualifiers to fill the field of 64, although deciding on the last four or five will bring debate. Seeding the field will be tougher. Although about 20 of the 30 conference champions will be slotted in the bottom 24 seeds, the other 40 seeds will be tricky.
The Big East still is down, the Southeastern Conference has even less quality depth. The Pacific-10 is top-heavy. The Metro and Great Midwest are better than expected. In the Ratings Percentage Index used by the committee as a major ingredient in selecting the field, a team outside the top 50 is likely to be playing in the NIT.
The Big Ten will get six or seven bids, the ACC six. The Great Midwest deserves to have five of its seven members in the field, even though the league doesn't have an automatic bid.
The Metro's prospects are as intriguing as any conference.
In Louisville, top-ranked in the RPI, the Metro has a likely No. 1 regional seed, although the Cardinals still must play Temple in Orlando, Fla., and visit UCLA. After the Cardinals, the Metro's NCAA hopes are on the bubble.
The league's strength - fourth in the RPI behind the Big Ten, ACC and Big Eight - will help. In this week's RPI, the Metro has four teams ranked among the top 19 in strength of schedule and five in the top 26 (Tulane is 89th, Virginia Tech 142nd). However, after Louisville, VCU is the next Metro member in the team poll, at No. 43, two spots ahead of UNC Charlotte.
VCU is 20 spots behind West Virginia, which is one of three Atlantic 10 teams that will get bids. The Metro team that might be in the best shape for a spot behind Louisville is Southern Mississippi, which not only is playing well but ranks 48th overall and 13th in strength of schedule.
The RPI top 10 this week is: Louisville, North Carolina, Purdue, Temple, Missouri, Duke, Michigan, Marquette, Florida and Kansas. The only one of those teams in the top five toughest schedules is Marquette, which will visit the Hokies on Tuesday. The Warriors have played the second-toughest schedule, behind Villanova.
Marquette's fellow Great Midwest member, St. Louis, is the only Division I team with only one loss. The Billikens aren't in the top 25 of the RPI, however, because their strength of schedule ranks 203rd.
And, the team that ranks 301st and last in strength of schedule certainly isn't a long shot to make the NCAA's 64-team field. It's Navy, 273rd overall. The Middies are in the balanced Patriot League, have the conference tournament in Annapolis, Md., and in former Hokies coach Don DeVoe have a strategist on the sideline who really can make a difference.
One guy rooting for Michael Jordan to not make the Chicago White Sox's roster is Larry Schmittou. The former Salem Redbirds owner watched his Class AAA Nashville Sounds sell more than $250,000 in tickets the first two days after Jordan signed a Class AAA contract with the White Sox.
Of course, if Jordan can't cut it, the White Sox always could send him to the Class A Carolina League, where Prince William's affiliation has changed from the New York Yankees to the White Sox. Imagine how much space Jordan's limo might occupy in the Salem Municipal Field lot when parked behind the Cannons' team bus.
Roanoke College is ranked seventh in this week's NCAA Division III men's basketball coaches' poll. The team right behind the Maroons is Manchester (Ind.), which has a very familiar coach in former Indiana star Steve Alford.
Here's a postscript on Richie Petitbon's 10 months as head coach of the Washington Redskins. The Redskins' starters on the offensive and defensive line missed a total of 99 games because of injury in 1993. That was more than enough to get Petitbon fired.
by CNB