For Villanova, advantage hits close to home

PHILADELPHIA - Villanova opens its NCAA Tournament run tonight with what is essentially a home game at the Wachovia Center, where the Wildcats generally play five or six games per season. But because NCAA rules prohibit teams from playing tournament games on its home court (four games or more), the Wildcats played only three times this season at the Wachovia Center, and also played Pittsburgh Jan. 28 at the Spectrum, which is across the parking lot.

Will that bother American, the No. 14 seed slated to face Villanova in the East Regional? Probably not. American opened the season playing 10 of its first 12 games on the road. Of the eight teams to face that challenge this season, the Eagles are the only one to make the NCAA Tournament.

Villanova went 1-2 at the Wachovia Center, losing to Louisville (61-60) and Georgetown (56-54) and beating Syracuse (102-85).

For the second straight March, Ty Lawson's health hangs over North Carolina's hopes for a national championship. Last year, he was making his way back from a sprained ankle that robbed him of some of his explosiveness during a run to the Final Four. Now it's his right big toe, a late-season practice injury likely to sideline him for the top-seeded Tar Heels' tournament opener against Radford today in Greensboro, N.C.

"I'm real frustrated," Lawson said. "It just keeps happening over and over. Everybody on campus, every person I walk by, just asks me how the toe is doing."

Coach Roy Williams said there's a "huge probability" Lawson will sit out against the 16th-seeded Highlanders. Lawson participated in the public practice at the Greensboro Coliseum, a light 40-minute session in which he shot some jumpers and jogged through drills against no defenders.

Pitt point guard Levance Fields practiced for the first time in almost two weeks after being bothered by a sore groin and appeared ready to play in the Panthers' first-round game against East Tennessee State tomorrow in Dayton, Ohio.

"He was out there today, and he looked pretty good," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "It's a good sign because he appeared to be moving well and he didn't seem to be bothered much at all."

Fields was bothered by the injury during the Panthers' Big East tournament loss to West Virginia March 12. He was held out of practice to prevent the injury from becoming worse.

Barack Obama picked North Carolina to defeat Louisville for the NCAA championship, a relatively safe selection for a trailblazing president. Obama spent part of Tuesday making his tournament picks for ESPN, which posted his completed bracket online yesterday.

The president had top-seeded Pittsburgh joining the Tar Heels and top-seeded Cardinals in the Final Four, but chose second-seeded Memphis to beat Connecticut in the West Regional.

Perhaps showing some indecision, Obama initially had Pittsburgh playing Louisville for the national title in the file posted online. Pitt was scratched out of the title game in favor of North Carolina, which in turn replaced Louisville in the "champion" box.

Aside from the players, March is also a busy month for the lawyers in charge of enforcing the NCAA's trademarked properties, which include "March Madness," "Elite Eight," and "Final Four."

The Internet has made it easier for people to try to profit off the tournament by creating bracket pools, cellphone applications, and even streaming CBS's live game feed on their websites. The NCAA's lawyers are trying to thwart them.

"The downward economy has created a spike in unauthorized activity," said Doug Masters, a partner at law firm Loeb & Loeb, and outside counsel for the NCAA. "When times are tough, instead of spending your money to get sales, you try to leverage off of other people's investments."

Texas-El Paso will host a second-round College Basketball Invitational game against Northeastern Monday night instead of traveling to Boston as originally scheduled. The game was relocated after Northeastern, which draws about 2,000 fans per game, declined to host the game and UTEP agreed to pay the $60,000 host fee. UTEP averages more than 7,000 fans.

Material from wire services was used in this report.