Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Tournament time already full of surprises

Some thoughts that came to mind while standing at the printer in my office, making sure the boss doesn’t catch me running out copies of my NCAA Tournament bracket…

• What an amazing story the Georgia Bulldogs are. After winning just four games during three months of Southeastern Conference action and a total of two games in the previous seven weeks, Georgia entered the SEC tournament as the 12th-place team in the 12-team tournament. Four days and four victories later, the Dawgs are dancing.

How could you not cheer for Georgia (Hogs’ fans excluded) in Sunday’s championship game? Having played and won twice on Saturday, Georgia jumped out to an adrenaline-fueled, double-digit lead and held it until the final 10 minutes. As the Razorbacks trimmed the deficit to a handful of points, you could sense the dream slipping away as it appeared Georgia’s players had understandably run out of gas.

But the clutch shooting never ran out. When the Dawgs hit in the final 90 seconds to build an eight-point lead, Arkansas was forced to call a timeout. It was the final momentum-swinging moment, the type of situation that players usually greet with chest thumping, primal screaming and celebratory hugs. Instead, for the first time all day, the Dawgs looked like dogs, slowly drudging back to the bench like Uga searching for shade on a steamy summer day.

“Cinderella” is not a role schools from high-major conferences often get to play, but for Georgia, the slipper was a perfect fit. In fact, Georgia’s run through the SEC tournament is more impressive because of the competition. When Coppin State or UT-Arlington come from the bottom of the bracket in their mid-major conferences to earn the tournament title, they don’t have to knock off four teams that are currently or have spent time ranked in the Top 25 during the season.

• I don’t have a problem with the 65 teams that are playing in the NCAA Tournament, but I have some serious questions for the selection committee about how the brackets were put together.

1. Why are six of the best mid-major teams in America facing each other — Drake vs. Western Kentucky, Gonzaga vs. Davidson and Butler vs. South Alabama — in three first-round games? All of these teams are good enough to win in the first round and would be a scary second-round opponent. Instead, half of this group will be one-and-done, leaving small-school haters saying, “I told you so.” Why not make No. 7 West Virginia see if it can handle South Alabama, while letting overrated Arizona try and slow down Butler?

2. Why is Butler a No. 7 seed to start with? The Bulldogs have been ranked in or near the top 10 by the coaches and Associated Press since December, yet the selection committee, in its infinite wisdom, ranks them no better than the 25th to 28th best team in the country? Other seeding concerns include East No. 6 Oklahoma (too high), West No. 2 Duke (too high), Midwest No. 3 Wisconsin (too low) and South No. 1 Memphis being forced to possibly play No. 2 Texas in Houston with a spot in the Final Four on the line.

3. Who did Bruce Pearl piss off on the selection committee? Tennessee, considered by many a legitimate No. 1 seed candidate, instead received the fourth No. 2 seed and will have to face North Carolina in the East Regional championship game — if they can get there. And that’s not a guarantee. The Vols have a potential second-round game against underrated Butler. If the Bulldogs are upset in the first round, Tennessee would face South Alabama. By the way, these games will be played in Birmingham. The only group that hates hearing “Rocky Top” more than the Florida Gators is the entire state of Alabama. No matter who the Vols face Sunday, their opponent will be very dangerous and the anti-UT crowd will be more than willing to cheer for the underdog.