One Tournament Top Seed Appears To Be Up For Grabs

Who’s No. 1?

Tennessee has been all season in The Associated Press poll, but what about the NCAA tournament? Who’ll be the top seeds among the 64 selected?

Well, start with Tennessee. After disposing of Memphis on Thursday night, the Volunteers were just three games from an unbeaten regular season. And there’s no reason to expect them to stumble in the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Tennessee had been a No. 1 seed in the tournament for nine straight years before dropping to a No. 3 in 1997. But the Vols still won the national championship.

Connecticut also is line to become a No. 1 seed, which would be the fifth straight for the Huskies, and so is Old Dominion. That other spot at the top of the bracket is up for grabs, though.

Louisiana Tech and Texas Tech could make a case for a No. 1 seeding. So could North Carolina State and possibly Florida.

And don’t count out Stanford. The Cardinal got off to a 2-4 start, but they’re beating up on the Pac-10 just like always and they’ll be helped by their tough non-conference schedule.

As for the entire 64-team field, here’s some guesses based on how things stand now, understanding that what happens in the next two weeks could put teams on the bubble, take them off or eliminate them altogether.

American East: Maine or Vermont.

Atlantic Coast: North Carolina, North Carolina State, Duke, Clemson, Virginia. Bubble: Maryland.

Atlantic 10: St. Joseph’s, George Washington. Bubble: Duquesne.

Big East: Connecticut, Rutgers. Bubble: Notre Dame, Villanova.

Big Sky: Montana or Northern Arizona.

Big South: Liberty.

Big Ten: Illinois, Iowa, Purdue. Bubble: Penn State, Indiana, Michigan.

Big 12: Texas Tech, Iowa State, Nebraska, Kansas. Bubble: Baylor.

Big West: UC Santa Barbara.

Colonial: Old Dominion. Bubble: American.

Conference USA: Marquette, Memphis, Tulane. Bubble: Louisville, Cincinnati.

Ivy League: Harvard.

Metro Atlantic: Siena.

Mid-American: Kent. Bubble: Bowling Green, Toledo.

Mid-Continent: Valparaiso or Youngstown State.

Mid-Eastern Athletic: Hampton, Florida A&M or Howard.

Midwestern Collegiate: Butler or Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Missouri Valley: Drake, Southwest Missouri State.

Northeast: St. Francis.

Ohio Valley: Eastern Kentucky or Tennessee Tech.

Pac-10: Stanford, UCLA, Arizona. Bubble: Oregon, Washington.

Patriot: Navy or Holy Cross.

Southeastern: Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Arkansas. Bubble: Georgia, LSU.

Southern: Georgia Southern or Davidson.

Southland: Stephen F. Austin.

Southwestern Athletic: Grambling, Alcorn State or Jackson State.

Sun Belt: Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky. Bubble: Arkansas State.

Trans America: Florida International.

West Coast: Santa Clara.

Western Athletic: Hawaii, Utah, Colorado State. Bubble: New Mexico, SMU.

Tune in March 8 to find out for sure.

Colorado decline

Colorado, no lower than a No. 4 seed in the last five NCAA tournaments, probably won’t even make the field this year.

The loss of five key players from last season, including three starters, has been too much to overcome. Colorado has struggled after a 6-1 start and a 58-43 loss at Iowa State on Wednesday left the Buffaloes 10-11 overall and 4-7 in the Big 12.

“I think the toughest part is our young players not understanding what it takes to win,” Colorado coach Ceal Barry said. “It’s not necessarily the losing because I expected that we were going to have a dropoff losing five players from last year.

“We had players in the past that understood what it took, the amount of preparation, the amount of work that it took to win. That’s been the hardest part.”

Unless the Buffaloes can turn things around in the final two weeks, they’re headed for their first losing season since going 6-22 in 1984-85. That’s strange territory indeed for a program that in the last five years has run up victory totals of 27, 27, 30, 26 and 23.

The question is whether Barry’s young players can develop the attitude she wants.

“I’d like to hope so,” she said. “I’ve got some good ones coming in and sometimes it only takes one. One player can raise the competitive level of everybody else.”

Doubling up

Double-doubles are becoming routine for Florida’s Murriel Page.

The 6-foot-2 senior recorded her 22nd double-double in 24 games this season when she scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 110-61 victory over Central Florida. It was the 60th career double-double for Page, who’s averaging 19.4 points and leads the nation in rebounding (13.0).

“For most players to get a double-double in her career would be a highlight,” Florida coach Carol Ross said. “She does it night in and night out.”

600 and counting

Tennessee Tech joined some select company with its 77-56 victory over Eastern Illinois.

It was Tech’s 600th victory, a total reached by only seven other schools. And there’s some big names in that group: Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, Texas, Old Dominion, Stephen F. Austin, Long Beach State and James Madison.