Ncaa Has Its Favorites
The NCAA rounded up the usual suspects for the top of the men’s basketball tournament bracket on Sunday, naming defending champion Arizona and perennial powers North Carolina, Kansas and Duke as No. 1 seeds in the tourney’s four regions.
While there may be some ‘Cat calls from Kentucky fans angry about being seeded second behind Duke in the South Regional, the seeding committee’s top choices went according to form.
Arizona (27-4) made a shocking run to the title last year, but played like a favorite this season - falling just one win short of an unbeaten Pac-10 record - and was the clear No. 1 in the West. Kansas (34-3), ranked first in the nation for a good portion of the year, was undoubtedly best in the Midwest. North Carolina (30-3) and Duke (29-3) exchanged the top spot in the polls in the latter stages of the season, and competed in the ACC, the nation’s toughest conference.
The ACC had five teams make the pool, as did the Atlantic 10, the Big East, the Big Ten and the SEC.
No top seed has an easy path. Out West, Arizona must go through fourth-seeded Maryland, which upset North Carolina this year.
If Carolina wants to make Bill Guthridge the seventh rookie coach to take a team to the Final Four, it may have to get past Princeton, which gave the Heels a scare before falling 50-42 on Dec. 13.
In the Midwest, Kansas could find trouble in quick, high-scoring TCU in the regional semifinals. And Duke and Kentucky have each other in the South.
Lower down were surprise entries and unusual matchups that should make for a memorable March.
St. John’s will tackle Detroit on Friday in Chicago, in a Midwest Regional contest between conferences that sent more teams than expected to the tournament. Few anticipated St. John’s Big East rival Miami making it, but the Hurricanes sneaked into the pool.
Detroit, meanwhile, was one of three teams from the Midwestern Collegiate Conference - an obscure collection of urban schools, many with hyphens in their names. Joining the Motown Titans from the MCC are Butler and Illinois-Chicago.
St. John’s coach Fran Fraschilla won’t overlook Detroit. “They remind me of my Manhattan team from a couple of years ago,” he said.
C.M. Newton, who chaired the seeding committee, said the MCC teams all played good schedules outside the conference, and notched upsets over nationally ranked teams such as Michigan State. “In the case of Illinois-Chicago and Detroit, both went out and played good teams,” Newton said. Small New York-area schools will get a crack at some more glamorous big brothers. Iona, the MAAC champ, plays fifth-seeded Syracuse Friday in the South regional in Lexington, Ky.
Fairleigh Dickinson, meanwhile, won’t have to travel far as the 15th seed in the East, but will have the toughest road. The Knights face UConn, the second seed in the region, in Washington, D.C.
The most intriguing story line features Princeton, the No. 5 seed in the East. The Ivy Leaguers, known for slowdown offense, face upstart UNLV, featuring former Brooklyn Tilden star Kevin Simmons.
Graphic: Men’s Basketball Championship Bracket