The dislocation of Kansas' title hopes

Sporting News, The, March 10, 2003 by Mike DeCourcy

However much they can achieve, it won't be what it might have been.

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M@IL BONDING

MIKE DECOURCY ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

A lot of water cooler discussion centers on who gets invited to the NCAA Tournament and who gets left out. I have a solution: Play one more round. Invite 128 teams. Seed the teams as with any other tournament, and have No. 1 play No. 128, and so on, with the first round on the higher-seeded team's home court. That would cut out the whining about, "We were robbed and didn't get in."

David McColloch, Rockville, Md.

David: Here is what your plan would accomplish:

1) Eliminate much of the suspense created by the regular-season drive for NCAA bids. Nearly every major-conference team with a .500 record would make it.

2) Create a round of games that would be marginally entertaining and would put teams from mid- and low-major conferences at an even greater disadvantage, playing on elite teams' home courts.

3) Spoil the office pools that fueled the tournament's growth in popularity. It would be nearly impossible to print a readable 128-team bracket on a single sheet of paper.

4) Leave you and your friends with nothing to discuss at the water cooler.

There is nothing wrong with the NCAA Tournament. It's the best sporting event we have.

SPEED READS

* The ugly episode at Georgia could have been avoided if Jim Harrick had ignored the urge to recruit guard Tony Cole. Cole, who bounced from school to school, wasn't needed. Georgia has Rashad Wright to run the offense and Ezra Williams to play off the ball. Harrick couldn't help himself. He may regret that decision as deeply as any since the expense-report fiasco at UCLA.

* Where is Mercer University? Geographically: in Macon, Ga. Competitively: 22-5, atop the Atlantic Sun, tied with Troy State for the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the league tourney. A year ago, Mercer was 6-23. Coach Mark Slonaker has won half as many games this season as in his previous five combined. It's the greatest one-year improvement in D-I history.

* When picking your coach of the year, don't dismiss Stanford's Mike Montgomery. The Cardinal lost Curtis Borchardt and Casey Jacobsen to the NBA, Teyo Johnson to the NFL draft and Chris Hernandez to injury. Still, Stanford is second in the Pac-10.

INSIDE DISH

By MIKE DECOURCY

Jerry Palm, who compiles the Ratings Percentage Index numbers and analyzes the NCAA Tournament selection process for his CollegeRPI.com website, contends Butler blundered by skipping ESPN's Bracket Buster event, instead filling out their nonconference schedule with a road game at Duke. The Bulldogs lost to the Blue Devils, 80-60. "That game proved nothing," Palm says, "but they were so wrapped up in blaming the RPI for their exclusion last year they failed to realize the committee would see a win over a team like Creighton or another of their peers as more positive than getting creamed by Duke." This season, Butler, ranked 40th in the RPI, gained its fourth consecutive regular-season Horizon League title with a buzzer-beating shot against UW Milwaukee. The Bulldogs were 77th in the RPI last year when they missed the tournament with a 25-5 record.... Even with the injury to PF Wayne Simien diminishing Kansas as a team, the Jayhawks have been successful enough and the Big 12 has been strong enough that the NCAA Tournament selection committee should consider seeding conference heavies KU, Oklahoma and Texas in separate regions. Were that the case, the Big 12 would have a chance to become the first league to place three teams in the Final Four since the Big East in 1985. Committee chair Jim Livengood declined to address that possibility, leaning instead on the tournament rule that prevents conference partners from playing one another before the regional finals.... One reason Duke freshman J.J. Redick slumped when he hit the ACC road: He started drawing opponents' top perimeter defenders. Another reason: He was on the road. "A lot of it is psychological," Redick says. "A lot of times, you've got to provide your own energy." In his first five league road games, Redick shot 34.9 percent from 3-point range and 38.5 percent from the field, compared with overall averages of 42.6 and 41.1. In his next two ACC road games--victories over Virginia and Georgia Tech--Redick was 12-of-21 from the field and made 9-of-14 3-pointers.... A commitment from junior PG prospect Daniel Gibson of Houston suggests the Texas Longhorns will continue to enjoy excellent playmaking even after sophomore All American T.J. Ford departs for the NBA. If Ford stays next season to continue developing his jump shot, the Longhorns will pass directly from Ford to Gibson, who will be a freshman in 2004-05. Gibson is big, 6-3, and brings a smooth, intelligent approach to the game without sacrificing athleticism.... As Mississippi State fought for an SEC West division title, it got some good news about the future. Frontcourt recruits Jackie Butler and Travis Outlaw were named McDonald's All-Americans. Butler has committed but hasn't signed a letter of intent. Other schools with multiple recruits in the game: Duke (PF Kris Humphries, SF Luol Deng); Kansas (C David Padgett, SF J.R. Giddens); Arizona (PF Ndudi Ebi, PG Mustafa Shakur), and Michigan State (PG Brandon Cotton, SG Shannon Brown). The game will be played March 26 in Cleveland.