NCAA Men's Basketball South Region Preview
March 13, 2000
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The NCAA South Regional became the whipping post for champions that didn’tfare so well in their conference tournaments.
At the top of the list is Cincinnati.
The Bearcats (28-3) were a certain No. 1 seed until the Conference USAtournament, when star center Kenyon Martin broke his right leg in a stunning10-point loss to Saint Louis. Now, Cincinnati is No. 2 in the South behindStanford (26-3), which received a top seed for the first time.
Coach Bob Huggins was clearly perturbed by Cincinnati’s slide, pointing outthat his team is No. 1 in the Rating Percentage Index (RPI). The Bearcats hadhoped to play in Cleveland with a top seed in the Midwest.
“Tell me the last time a team that was No. 1 in the RPI hasn’t had a No. 1seed,” Huggins said, fuming. “It’s crazy. I don’t understand that. I don’tunderstand the rationale.”
He blasted the NCAA selection committee for taking into account thatCincinnati won’t have Martin, one of the favorites for national player of theyear.
“How do they know how good we are without Kenyon?” Huggins said. “Theyjudged what we were for 37 minutes without Kenyon. Did they take into (account)the fact that our guys just sat there and watched a very traumatic experience?Did they take that into consideration?”
The No. 3 seed in the South is Ohio State (22-6), a Final Four team a yearago. The Buckeyes were also in contention for a No. 1 until the Big Tentournament, when they were stunned in the quarterfinals by a Penn State teamthey already had beaten twice.
Two other major conference champions also were placed in the South aftertournament defeats.
Tennessee (24-6), the No. 4 seed, shared the Southeastern Conference titlewith three other teams but was hurt by a loss to South Carolina in thequarterfinals of its league tournament.
Miami (21-10), co-champion of the Big East, lost to St. John’s in thesemifinals of the conference tournament. With that, the Hurricanes slipped toNo. 6 in the South, one spot behind Big East rival and defending nationalchampion Connecticut (24-9).
Then there’s North Carolina (18-13), which survived its highest number oflosses since 1989-90 to extend its record streak of NCAA appearances to 26 in arow. The Tar Heels are seeded eighth in the South.
“Our players were excited when they saw the announcement,” coach BillGuthridge said. “I know they are not satisfied with our record and lookforward to competing in the NCAA tournament.”
North Carolina won at least one game in the NCAA tournament for 18consecutive years before losing in the first round to Weber State last year.This season, North Carolina dropped out of the Top 25 for the first time in adecade and was ousted from the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conferencetournament by Wake Forest.
North Carolina got in, albeit with its lowest seed since 1990, because of anon-conference schedule that included Michigan State, Purdue, Indiana,Louisville, Georgetown, UNLV, Miami and the College of Charleston.
“I am glad the committee rewarded us for playing a challengingout-of-conference schedule,” Guthridge said. “I was afraid I may haveover-scheduled.”
The South Regional opens Friday with the first of two rounds at Nashville,Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala. The regional semifinals and finals will be held inAustin, Texas, the following week.
At Nashville, Cincinnati starts off with North Carolina-Wilmington (18-12),Tulsa (29-4) takes on UNLV (23-7), Ohio State (22-6) meets Appalachian State(23-8) and Miami faces Arkansas (19-14), the surprise winner of the SECtournament Sunday.
Stanford highlights the Birmingham half of the bracket, opening againstSouth Carolina State (20-13). North Carolina meets Missouri (18-12), Tennesseetakes on Louisiana-Lafayette (25-8), and Connecticut plays Utah State (28-5).
