THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603100174
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENSBORO LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
For Maryland and Clemson, the tournament is over and the lobbying has begun.
The Terrapins and the Tigers, losers in the semifinal round of the ACC tournament Saturday, are counting on becoming the fifth and sixth ACC teams to be invited to the NCAA tournament today.
For coaches Gary Williams and Rick Barnes, the modus operandi is to confidently state their team's case and repeat how shocked - shocked! - they would be if the selection committee takes leave of its senses and leaves their teams home, banished to the NIT.
``If they don't put is in, they're crazy,'' Barnes said. ``We're 18-10 in the highest-rated conference. When they run the numbers, I hope it's good enough to get us in. I think the league deserves six teams.''
Williams stated matter-of-factly that his Terps got in Friday, when they beat a shorthanded Duke team in a quarterfinal game.
``We were told we were in yesterday,'' Williams said. ``I felt pretty good beating Duke.''
When someone pointed out that selections weren't made Friday, Williams didn't back down.
``The word we heard was the Duke game was very important,'' Williams said. ``And we won.''
Either Georgia Tech or Wake Forest will grab the ACC's automatic bid today. Both teams are in anyway, as North Carolina and Duke are also considered to be.
Clemson (17-10, 7-9 ACC regular season) and Maryland (17-12, 8-8) seem to have a good chance as well.
Beating North Carolina Friday allowed the Tigers to trumpet the fact that they've beaten every ACC team at least once.
``I think we overcame a lot of things this year and really did more than expected,'' guard Terrell McIntryre said.
And Maryland seems to have momentum, with 11 wins in its last 16 games, and certainly has a recent history of playing well in the NCAAs, reaching the round of 16 the last two years.
But the conference received just four bids last year, and nothing is certain, as Georgia Tech found out last year. The Yellow Jackets were 18-12 a year ago, 8-8 in the ACC, and didn't receive a bid.
Williams pointed to Maryland's tough non-conference schedule as a reason for an NCAA invite.
``I could've had (three more) wins real easy if I'd taken UCLA, Massachusetts and Kentucky off the schedule,'' he said.
In the end, what could help Clemson and Maryland most is the ACC's status as the top-rated conference in the RPI power rating. The conference had no dominant team, but was as balanced as it has ever been from top to bottom.
And the ACC has received six bids on five other occasions, most recently in 1993.
HEELS' EARLY EXIT: North Carolina's loss to Clemson marked the first time the Tar Heels have been bounced in the first round since 1990. That team recovered to reach the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16.
``I'm disappointed in the loss, but we think we have more left in the season,'' coach Dean Smith said.
The players and coaches may have been less disappointed than the legions of Carolina fans who come to the tournament each year with the expectation of staying three days. The Tar Heels had reached the tournament final eight of the last nine years.
One Tar Heel fan standing in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Four Seasons hotel summed it up best:
``I just don't know what to do with myself,'' she said.
QUOTABLE CREMINS: Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins said it took him a while to learn the best way to coach star freshman Stephon Marbury. The method? Leave him alone.
``You've got to let him play and put up with some bad shots,'' he said. ``Because on the other side, he's going to make some great plays.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
HUY NGUYEN/The Virginia-Pilot
``The word we heard was the Duke game was very important,'' Maryland
coach Gary Williams said of the Terps' NCAA chances. ``And we won.''
Clemson's Rick Barnes also stumped for a Tiger berth.
by CNB