ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 28, 1997 TAG: 9703280082
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: FINAL FOUR NOTES
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK THE ROANOKE TIMES
The NCAA Final Four was played at the RCA - then Hoosier - Dome in 1991. It returns this year, and again in 2000.
This is good news for the entrepreneurial types.
See, scalping is legal in Indiana.
So, what this Final Four has is a bunch of disappointed Indiana fans with tickets they want and will sell by Saturday.
One Final Four ticketholder advertised two $100 seats for $1,200 in newspapers in Indianapolis and Lexington, Ky., from where many Kentucky fans will make less than a three-hour drive to the Final Four.
The RCA Dome will seat more than 46,000 for the Final Four, and downtown Indy is much different than in '91, with new theatres, restaurants and a 2-year-old, $319-million mall.
The Final Four is expected to enrich the Indianapolis region's economy by about $40 million.
That doesn't include what the scalpers will earn.
SWAMIS WANTED: There is no shortage of coaching speculation and rumors at the Final Four, where the National Association of Basketball Coaches holds its convention.
The Ohio State opening has made a lot of coaches richer, as they've used that job as leverage to sweeten deals without moving. That list includes Clemson's Rick Barnes, Eddie Fogler of South Carolina, Steve Alford of Southwest Missouri State and Mike Montgomery of Stanford.
It has been reported that Ohio State's latest bid is for Iowa State's Tim Floyd. But two prominent coaches said Thursday that Floyd is generally regarded as having an NBA future, perhaps when Phil Jackson - and Michael Jordan - retire from the Chicago Bulls.
Pete Gillen of Providence says he still hasn't heard from Ohio State, where Cincinnati's Bob Huggins supposedly still is trying to get his foot in the door. Floyd also is on Tennessee's talk-to list, although Kevin Stallings of Illinois State still appears the front-runner with the Vols.
"After Lefty [Driesell] going to Georgia State,'' one big-time coach said Thursday to Wednesday's announcement by the Atlanta school, "nothing that happens now will surprise me.''
NO POTHOLES: The Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) said North Carolina played the nation's toughest schedule this season, but the notion at the Final Four is that the Tar Heels had the easiest trip to the RCA Dome.
Among the three No. 1 seeds remaining, Kentucky played the highest-seeded foes possible (16, 8, 4, 2). Minnesota missed by one, beating a no. 9 (Temple) in Round 2.
Arizona, the Southeast's No. 4 seed, beat three double-figure seeds (13, 12, 10) but also had to topple top-ranked Kansas in the regional semifinals. the Heels beat Fairfield (16), Colorado (9), California (5) and Louisville (6).
UNC coach Dean Smith doesn't buy the theory that his team had an easier road to the Final Four.
"Maryland got beat by a 12 seed (College of Charleston), and I thought Maryland was very good,'' Smith said. "Duke lost to a 10 (Providence), Wake Forest by a 6 (Stanford). Basketball is a strange game in that anyone can win.''
UNC also played its first two games only 80 miles from home, at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, then got two teams damaged by injuries to star guards (Cal's Ed Gray and Louisville's DeJuan Wheat). In Saturday's semifinal opener, Carolina faces Arizona.
NEEDS TWO: If the ACC is going to reach its traditional double figures in NCAA Tournament victories, North Carolina will need to win the 59th national championship Monday night.
The ACC, which along with the Big Ten got a tournament-high six berths, is 8-5 in the NCAA entering the Final Four. Last year (a 6-6 record) marked the first time in nine years and only third time since 1985 the league failed to win at least 10 games.
Using their seeds as a basis, Maryland (0-1) and Wake Forest (1-1) went out one round earlier than expected, Duke (1-1) two rounds. Virginia (0-1), Clemson (2-1) and North Carolina (4-0, to date) have played up to their seedings.
SIX 20'S: When Florida State reached the NIT championship by winning its 20th game Tuesday night, it gave the ACC six 20-win teams this season. That happened once previously, in 1980, when NIT champ Virginia was among the elite.
LUTE'S LOOT: Arizona coach Lute Olson continues to hear about how his program has underachieved in NCAA play, despite having made two Final Fours in four years and three in the past 10.
That's because the Cinderella stories are remembered, and the high-seeded Wildcats have lost to East Tennessee State, Santa Clara and Miami of Ohio since 1992.
"People need to get to the present,'' said Olson, who also took Iowa to the Final Four in 1980. "It's time people recognize what we have accomplished. We've been to two Final Fours and a Sweet 16 in the last four years.''
Olson also figures to return all of his starters next season, unless guard Miles Simon bolts for the NBA, and scouts say he's not ready for that step.
Simon missed the first 11 games of the season, including an 83-72 victory over North Carolina four months ago, while academically ineligible.
HALF HERE: Only four active coaches have taken two schools to the Final Four, and two of them are in Saturday's semifinals.
Olson (Arizona, Iowa) and Rick Pitino (Kentucky, Providence) are here. Jacksonville's Hugh Durham (he took Florida State and Georgia to Final Fours) and Eddie Sutton of Oklahoma State (Arkansas) are the others.
LENGTH: Long : 101 linesby CNB