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Official 2006 NCAA Tournament Discussion Thread

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Dispatch

3/12/06

OSU finds success, but neighbors don’t

One of the struggling, Cincinnati, is sitting astride NCAA bubble

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Todd Jones
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

20060312-Pc-E4-0500.jpg
</IMG> AP FILE PHOTO Andy Kennedy has UC on the verge, but his Bearcats lost in the Big East first round.


Ohio State doesn’t have to look far to get reacquainted with the NCAA Tournament.
Other schools in Ohio and the neighboring, basketball-mad states of Kentucky and Indiana can help the Buckeyes become familiar with the joys of March Madness.
Louisville made the Final Four last year. Kentucky made the Elite Eight two of the past three years. Xavier made the Elite Eight in 2004. Kent State made the Elite Eight in 2002, the same year Indiana lost in the championship game.

While OSU watched on TV last year, Cincinnati ran its string of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances to 14, and Ohio University made the second round.

Dayton earned tournament berths in 2003 and ’04 with the Buckeyes sitting home.

OSU hasn’t been in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament since 2002, and it has been seven years since it advanced past the second round.

A role reversal, however, will occur today when the NCAA Tournament bracket is announced. OSU should receive the highest seed from the selection committee of any school in Ohio, Kentucky or Indiana.

Louisville (18-12) isn’t expected to make the tournament. Cincinnati (19-12) and Indiana (18-11) are on the bubble. Xavier, 17-10 in the regular season, was guaranteed a spot only after its last-second win over St. Joseph’s in the Atlantic 10 tournament final. Kentucky is projected to be in the field of 65 despite a 19-11 regular season, but the Wildcats are expected to see their string broken of 14 consecutive years as a No. 5 or higher seed.

Indiana’s travails this season are well-documented in Big Ten country. Mike Davis announced his resignation as coach, effective at the end of the season, on Feb. 16. The Hoosiers didn’t make the NCAA Tournament the previous two years.

The four traditional powers south of Columbus, meanwhile, have had their own struggles this season:
Cincinnati



The Bearcats have been in turmoil since the school’s administration forced Bob Huggins out as coach in August. Since then, four recruits backed out of commitments, assistant coach Keith LeGree resigned, and senior forward Armein Kirkland was lost for the season Jan. 9 to a knee injury.
It’s still unknown whether interim coach Andy Kennedy will return next season. He pushed the Bearcats to a respectable 8-8 record in their inaugural season in the Big East, but it was only good for eighth place — their worst conference finish in 22 years.
Many prognosticators say the Big East will get eight teams in this year’s NCAA Tournament, but seven is the most ever taken from one conference.
Cincinnati helped its chances with a victory over No. 16 West Virginia in its regular-season finale.
The Bearcats entered the Big East tournament with an RPI of No. 32 and a No. 4 strength-ofschedule ranking, according to CollegeRPI.com. They then lost to Syracuse 74-73 in the first round on a last-second shot.
"There’s no question in my mind that we’re one of the 34 best at-large teams in the country," Kennedy said after the Syracuse loss.
Kentucky



The Mildcats, as their own fans called them this year, have more losses (11) than in any regular season since 1990. Kentucky failed to earn at least a share of the Southeastern Conference East Division title for the first time in seven years.
Their regular season was defined by blowout losses to Indiana and Kansas. Center Randolph Morris wasn’t eligible to play until January. And the Wildcats lost four SEC games at home for only the second time ever, and first since 1966-67.
Kentucky lost nine of 12 regular-season games against opponents ranked in the RPI’s top 50. As usual, there’s speculation about Tubby Smith’s return for a 10 th season as coach, despite the fact that he has won five SEC tournament titles and the national championship in 1998.

Xavier

The Musketeers appeared to be in good shape for their 15 th NCAA Tournament appearance since 1986 when they beat Cincinnati on Jan. 19. Xavier stood 12-2 with an RPI of No. 22.
February was a disaster. Senior center Brian Thornton’s season ended because of a broken ankle, and senior point guard Dedrick Finn was kicked off the team for disciplinary reasons.
Xavier lost six of its final 10 regular-season games, putting some heat on second-year coach Sean Miller. The Musketeers rebounded with their run in the Atlantic 10 tournament.
Louisville



The Cardinals returned only four of 13 players from last year’s Final Four team and then lost starting center David Padgett with four games left in the regular season because of a knee injury.
Louisville was also hurt by an increase in competition when the school left Conference USA for the Big East this season. The Cardinals went 6-10 in their new league and lost to Pittsburgh in a tournament quarterfinal. That made them 0-8 against ranked teams.

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Dispatch

3/12/06

Probably a No . 2 seed



Ohio State’s chance of receiving a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if it wins today likely ended when Memphis won the Conference USA tournament yesterday. Memphis (30-3) is rated the weakest of the No. 1 candidates — Connecticut, Duke and and Villanova are the others — but has a better resume of wins over top 100 teams and over nonconference opponents than Ohio State does. Texas (27-5) also might have an edge on the OSU (25-4).

Win or lose today, though, a No. 2 seed is probably awaiting them. "I don’t care if we’re a one or a two," coach Thad Matta said. "I don’t think anybody would have ever predicted that."
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I wonder how Vitale will try and excuse JJ's national tv 'f--- everyone'
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I hardly think JJ Redick is alone among major D1 hoopers in using the occasional f-bomb. And given Vitale's well-documented remark about Lawrence Funderburke ("cheap-shot motherf---er), any comments by him relative to Redick's language would be unseemly.
 
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George Washington is an 8 seed!!!! Holy shit!

Gumbel: "George Washington is happy with that." Bullshit alert.

Go 26-2 and your reward is a 9 seed, and if you get by them, Duke, close to home.

edit: Gonzaga can't be happy about having to play Xavier in the 1st round. Xavier's a strong # 14 seed.

edit2: looks like Michigan's gonna get squeezed out. Only Iowa and Indiana were announced from the Big Ten in the first two quarter-brackets revealed. That also means that one of Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan State will be in our quarter-bracket.

edit3: Packer just messed up and evaluated the bracket that hadn't been revealed yet by saying the 8-9 matchup of Wisconsin & Arizona will be a good one b/c they are both very well coached. Wrong bracket, LOL.
 
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