Surprises sprout from seeded field
I knew it was going to be a rough tournament for me when there were two finals in by mid-afternoon last Thursday and I was already 0 for 2. But I do have three of my Final Four picks left (Duke, UConn, and Pitt).
How're you doing?
Better, I would think, than Tubby Smith at Kentucky, Mike Montgomery at Stanford, and Mark Few at Gonzaga, whose teams have exited the NCAA Tournament in varying degrees of shock (Wildcats, Cardinals) and ignominy (Bulldogs, or Zags, as we've sub-nicknamed them). They are trying to explain to their followers how such great seasons could have ended so prematurely. As for Mississippi State, another No. 2 seed that will be watching the remainder of the tournament on television, there was less surprise, at least among the wiseguys. As one registered member of the cognoscenti put it, "The only people who thought they deserved a No. 2 were those who had never seen them play." This guy has seen a lot of games in his time. I'm willing to take his word for it.
With an in-person tournament resume that goes back to 1967, I've seen a few games myself. But you don't need my input to know which of this coming weekend's four regionals is the most compelling. The Exit 16W/Swampland Regional taking place at
But I suppose some people would say that is an argument against the Exit 16W Regional. If you maintain that the essential charm of the tournament lies in the unexpected or improbable, then you might lean toward the Heartland Regional (St. Louis), where the highest seed in residence will be No. 3 Georgia Tech, shaky conqueror of your Boston College Eagles. The Yellow Jackets will be joined by the Nos. 4 (Kansas), 9 (Alabama-Birmingham), and 10 (Nevada) seeds. And there is a lot of romanticism here, given that Nevada knocked off Gonzaga and UAB ousted Kentucky, the tournament's overall No. 1 seed. Hardy perennial Kansas, perhaps the ultimate establishment team (when the chap who invents the game becomes your school's first basketball coach, you have an instant legacy), will be automatically cast as the villain in this little scenario.
I don't think anyone had a more interesting opening weekend than UAB. It began by outlasting Pac-10 entry Washington by a 102-100 score in the 8-9 game, and will someone please tell me just exactly where that score came from? Two teams haven't broken 100 in the same NCAA Tournament game since Tulsa (112) beat UCLA (102) in a 1994 first-rounder. There were only five other individual team totals over 90, and the next-highest aggregate total was 172 (Kentucky 96, Florida A&M 76). We are living in a 65-58 world, but for no reason anyone can fathom, people went to an NCAA game in Columbus, Ohio, only to discover two clubs mysteriously inhabited by the soul of Loyola-Marymount. Anyway, that bullet dodged, the Blazers of UAB went after Kentucky Sunday and got them when Mo Finley hit a jump shot and Gerald Fitch didn't. I doubt they'll be very fazed by Kansas.
Are you looking for a hot -- no, make that sizzling -- team? Well, how 'bout them Musketeers? Xavier has won 15 of its last 16. A-10 lodge brother St. Joe's has been lauded, and properly so, for having an A-plus perimeter game, but I suspect that not even the Hawks have had a contest in which they made 10 consecutive threes, as the Musketeers did in trashing Mississippi State Sunday.
As for Nevada, I mean come on. I could have told you it would be a team of destiny after it defeated my beloved Vermont Catamounts in the first game of the preseason NIT. I will say, however, I didn't think Trent Johnson's Wolf Pack would be the only team standing from west of the Rockies when we entered the Round of 16. Has anyone called the fumigator to air out the Pac-10? Go ahead; name Nevada's conference. It's the Western Athletic Conference, which now stretches from Honolulu to Ruston, La. And Gene DeFilippo is worrying about getting BC to Tallahassee?
There are danger teams all over. Texas, for example. Thank the Hoop God they don't have a point guard, because Rick Barnes has everything else. Am I correct that 10 Longhorns scored in the first half of their Carolina game? He has large, useful bodies by the boxcar, and he has that most precious of all modern NCAA commodities: experience. If you've been following college basketball faithfully for the past few years, you actually know who Brandon Mouton, Royal Ivey, James Thomas, Brad Buckman, and Brian Boddicker are. I kind of feel as if they've been regular Big Monday guests at my house.
This bunch, aided a little bit by T.J. Ford, reached the Final Four last year, and there is ample precedent for a team to lose a major marquee player and make it back to the Final Four a year later without him (see Virginia, post-Ralph). The Longhorns play Xavier in Atlanta Friday night. Take my advice and de-ring all your available phones. You'll be much too busy.
I'll be hanging around Exit 16W, where Saint Joseph's will try to keep it going against another danger team, Wake Forest. Senior (teacher) Jameer Nelson vs. Freshman (pupil) Chris Paul? We'll see about that, and many other things.
It's the other game there that could be very special. As a rule, I relish a front-row seat for these games. But that might not be the safest place to be when the ball is thrown up to start a game between a team that has actually practiced in helmets and pads (Oklahoma State) and a team that may have more tough guys than the Steelers (Pitt). About all I can tell you is that I'd surely take the under, because the final score won't be any different than if these two had met 59 years ago, when the Aggies won the first of back-to-back titles under the legendary Hank Iba.
Duke? UConn? Aw, you already know about them. They'll probably meet in San Antonio.
Yeah, as if I have a clue. Don't tell me there's a bracket anywhere -- anywhere! -- in this land that's still 100 percent intact. (Oops, I forgot about the office secretary, who picks colors and has won five years in a row.)
Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is ryan@globe.com.
