Buckeyes wary of being next top seed to fall
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -When Northern Iowa crumpled up and tossed America's brackets in the trash by knocking off top-seeded Kansas last week, it figured to benefit someone.
The Ohio State Buckeyes, the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Regional, hope it works to their advantage somewhere down the road.
For now, however, they have their hands full with sixth-seeded Tennessee in the round of 16 on Friday night in St. Louis.
"We definitely thought it was crazy that it happened," star guard Evan Turner said of the Jayhawks' shocking 69-67 upset loss in the second round. "But it kind of got us geared into thinking it can happen to anybody. Definitely, anybody can lose. We just really focused on ourselves. We weren't like, 'Yes! Kansas is out!"'
With only 16 teams left, there aren't any pretenders. Ninth-seeded Northern Iowa meets No. 5 Michigan State in the other half of the St. Louis bracket.
Still, Ohio State coach Thad Matta conceded that the Jayhawks' absence might come to mind if his team makes it to the regional final.
"If you get to that position on Sunday, maybe you allow yourself to say, 'Kansas isn't here,"' he said Wednesday. "But you're still playing a team that beat Kansas, or the team that beat the team that beat Kansas. So they have to be pretty good, too."
And the Buckeyes know they can't afford to worry about what's going on elsewhere.
"If you're going to win a national title, you've got to beat the best of the best," Turner said. "We just have to take care of business. Northern Iowa played a great game. They showed up for 40 minutes and got the job done."
Kansas' defeat is a cautionary tale for most of the top teams. That could have been US, they're thinking, just happy to have survived the first weekend of the tournament.
So far, Ohio State has had blinders on in the NCAAs.
"Our team's been really good at that so far," shooting guard Jon Diebler said. "Because with what has happened in the tournament, anyone can beat anybody on any given night. That doesn't mean that Northern Iowa is a better team than Kansas, but that night they were. So, again, we know we have a great opportunity right now, but at the same time we have a great team that we have to play against to get there."
Much like the past couple of months, the Buckeyes appear to be calm and loose headed into their fourth game with the Volunteers in the last four seasons. The two teams battled it out in a classic regional semifinal game during the Buckeyes' run to the national championship game in 2007. Tennessee led by 17 points at halftime, only to have Ohio State - led by freshmen Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. - roar back to win 85-84.
"I remember saying to myself at halftime, we've got to get this thing under 10 with 10 minutes to go," Matta said. "And it was under 10 with 3 minutes gone in the (second) half."
David Lighty, a freshman sub on that Ohio State team and a front-line star on this one, said that comeback win provided a valuable lesson.
"As long as you stick to the system, and believe, and go out and play hard, anything is possible," he said. "It's not over until it's over. You're not going to have time left to sulk and be worried about, 'Oh my goodness, we're down 20!' and lose your composure and be nervous. That's how you come back from being down so much."
The next meeting will take place at the Edward Jones Dome, with Northern Iowa trying to continue its remarkable march against Michigan State in the nightcap.
Matta joked about the Buckeyes getting ready to play in such a huge venue.
Referring to Ohio State's 105,000-seat football stadium, he cracked, "We practiced over in the 'Shoe today."
Copyright 2010 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press.
Why Dominique Jones Should Return To South Florida
Dominique Jones has a decision to make this postseason. He’s arguably one of the top five players ever to wear a Bulls uniform, but the NBA is calling. For the first time in his successful career at USF, Jones actually has some decent talent surrounding him, which adds to the difficulty of this decision.
The Bulls fell just short of making the NCAA tournament this season, but did make an NIT bid. Jones was a huge part of the success that led to the best record USF has seen since the 1989-1990 season.
Dominique Jones is the Big East’s leading scorer this season. He’s also the only player in college basketball to average at least 21 points six rebounds and three assists this year. He was named first-team All Big East and also was on the Naismith list.
Accolades won't get you into the NBA, but they help garner some attention. Currently, Jones is seen as a second-round draft pick and is the rated the No. 8 scoring guard and No. 54 overall prospect. To put that in perspective, there are currently 29 teams in the NBA and two rounds of the draft, equaling 58 total picks.
Jones has some serious upside when compared to other potential scoring guards entering the draft. He already has an NBA body and plays tough physical defense.
His quick first step acceleration gives him an uncanny ability to get to the basket. Jones’ long arms give him the ability to be both a productive rebounder, and a pickpocket on defense.
It’s not all rosy with the Bulls' star player. He’s had to carry this team his entire career at USF, and because of that, he’s prone to have an itchy trigger finger. This is a huge problem, considering Jones is a very streaky shooter, often going cold for long periods of time during games.
His lack of perimeter jumpshot will hurt him in the draft as well. He’s shooting 31 percent on the season, but went 0-10 in the Big East tournament. He’s made some huge shots for the Bulls this season, but lacks consistency hitting from beyond the arc.
Jones' tendency to try and take over games leads to some erratic play and turnovers. Because he's a slasher, he spends the majority of the time he has the ball driving the lane and getting double-teamed. These double teams lead to potential three-point plays for Jones, but also have led to 96 turnovers on the season.
Jones could do himself some good by coming back for his senior year. Continuing to improve on mid-range and perimeter shooting could skyrocket his draft stock. Reducing his turnovers and maintaining his scoring numbers would also propel him into a mid-first-round pick.
Copyright © 2010 Bleacher Report, Inc.
Is it time to expand the NCAA Basketball Tournament?
It is a pretty open secret the NCAA is looking hard at expanding the NCAA Basketball Tournament field from 65 teams to 96. But is this is smart move?
Is this something that will enhance the excitement of March Madness? Is this Something the public wants? So we ask you, the public, what do you think?
Is this a plus for schools like Cleveland State, Akron, Kent State, Youngstown State and others like them? Will it mean more opportunities to dance?
Or, is this just a way of giving the TV networks more of the same; more slots for power conference teams from coast to coast to just get fatter on the coffers of the NCAA?
More importantly what will the impact be on the sport of college basketball?
Offer us your thoughts.
(c) 2010 Cleveland Live, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
NCAA basketball tournament isn't broken, so why fix it?
Increasing the field from 65 to 96 teams would be more about greed than the organization's purpose, which is the advancement of the education of college students through athletics.
The scrum of big-time sports may be adding to the pile soon. March Madness may become March Insanity.
The NCAA is pondering adding to its 65-team men's basketball tournament, making it a 96-team field. It is locked into the current format only through this year's championship game. After that, it can re-negotiate its $6-billion contract with CBS.
The 96-team field is a dumb idea, based on greed.
So expect it to happen.
If you give somebody more product, they have to pay more. It's a simple theory, and since big-time college sports is pretty much a product these days, 31 more packages filled with potential story lines should make CBS raise the ante and/or take in cable partners. One of the likely cable partners would be ESPN, the sugar daddy of American sports these days.
Is there no God? Expanding the tournament by 15 more games means that a network has paid for just that many more opportunities to subject viewers to three people sitting at a table analyzing what is going to happen before it happens, followed by three people sitting at a table analyzing what happened after it happened. How much more can we wallow in televised cliches and belabor the obvious?
The truth is there are already 97 teams that play in NCAA-owned postseason tournaments. It's just that 32 of them currently take part in the NIT (National Invitation Tournament), which should be called the TOL -- Tournament of Leftovers. It's only good for the coaches, who can tell their administration and alums that they got their team "into the postseason."
NCAA officials say that adding those teams to the big tournament would elevate their profile, and they're probably right. Can you imagine UCLA's Ben Howland talking to a group of Bruins boosters in the off-season and starting his speech with, "Well, last season was a success because we got to the NIT"? At least he wouldn't have to cite a junior tournament.
Coaches such as Howland and Mike Krzyzewski of Duke would have an understanding for the 96-team proposal, if it truly did the one thing Coach K advocated recently in his support of the expansion. That being put more emphasis on the regular-season conference race.
This year's Pacific 10 Conference is a prime example. The teams are so closely matched -- another way to say none of them are very good -- that whoever wins the conference title may not go to the NCAA tournament.
The Pac-10's automatic berth goes to the winner of its postseason tournament. The regular-season conference champion wins out over 18 games. The conference tournament champion wins out over four at the most, usually three.
Taking care of the regular-season champion is a good thing, but only in the current 65-team NCAA format. That means there would be no need for conference tournaments, which would mean doing away with another of college basketball's cash cows.
Which means that's not going to happen.
The NCAA is a business, but not a business of widget makers. It is supposed to be guided by its higher calling: the advancement of the education of our college students through athletics. It provides the raw material for the pros, but that doesn't mean it has to do business like them.
If it goes ahead with this plan to reach deeper into television's pockets, in return for the rights to televise another round of games matching the likes of 15-13 Washington State against 14-16 Northwestern, it should at least consider being right up front in its approach. Hire Tom Cruise, put him in his "Jerry Maguire" wardrobe and have him stand up in front of CBS executives, pound on the table and yell,"Show me the money!"
At least that would be honest.
If it isn't broken, don't fix it. And the NCAA basketball tournament is closer to being perfect than broken.
Instead of taking the Jerry Maguire image into contract talks with CBS, the NCAA would be best served by sitting down, pointing out the massive success and branding value this event brings to the network, and negotiating a reasonable increase.
When all the papers are signed, leave the meeting, meet the media and present an outline of how this additional money will be used. We should assume that it will further educational aspects of each member school.
That's the NCAA's reason to exist. Orchestrating disproportionately bigger and richer TV shows is not.
(c) 2010, The Los Angeles Times.
Come March, Pac-10 could face a different kind of 'one and done'
The NCAA tournament could bring only one invitation as the conference's powerhouse reputation has been badly damaged this season. Defections to the NBA are only part of the reason.
Pacific 10 Conference officials may find a whole new meaning to the phrase "one and done." One team in the NCAA men's basketball tournament and done by the time the first round is in the books.
It may sound like real March madness, but the unthinkable sits on the horizon as the conference's basketball reputation sinks slowly in the West this season.
For the first time since 1987, the conference does not have a team in the top 25, a 431-week stretch that ended when Washington, billed as a flagship team, started taking on water. Conference teams, weakened by a number of underclassmen jumping to the NBA, are 1-15 against teams currently ranked in the top 25.
There appears to be little the conference can do at this point, as public opinion has already fitted the Pac-10 with an off-the-rack mid-major wardrobe.
"If the selection committee met today, evaluated the body of work, applied its criteria . . . it is very unlikely the Pac-10 would get more than one team," said former UCLA Coach Steve Lavin, now an analyst with ESPN.
"This is the dilemma a vast majority of mid-majors have dealt with for years in trying to get multiple bids," he said. "What's unusual about it is this is usually a power conference."
There is a power outage at the moment for a conference that sent six teams to the tournament each of the last two seasons.
But this season, it's unlikely that UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero, the head of the committee, will have to excuse himself from the discussion when wrangling over the at-large teams begins. His conference may not be in that tug of war.
"I would certainly hope not," Pac-10 Assistant Commissioner Dave Hirsch said when asked if the conference could have only one team in the tournament. "I think we have teams that do warrant consideration."
But it would help, Hirsch said, "if a couple of our teams would separate themselves, but everyone is beating up on each other right now."
The value of winning conference games has dipped in the Pac-10. The Big East Conference has six teams ranked among the top 12, offering chances for a marquee victory to impress committee members.
"The Big Ten, the Big East, the Big 12, they have teams that are considered quite strong," Lavin said. "Wins against them are viewed as quality wins that can get you off the bubble."
California was ranked 13th and Washington 14th when the season began. The Bears were unranked when conference play began, and the Huskies followed them out of the poll after losing three of their first four conference games.
"We didn't have a school in the preseason top four or five; that has hurt us," Oregon Coach Ernie Kent said. "You need that team to be perceived as having a chance to win the national title. UCLA has been that team the past three years."
UCLA this season has had trouble on the regional level, including nonconference play, with a 1-3 record against Southern California teams. Such woes were shared throughout the conference.
Arizona was blown out at home by Brigham Young. USC lost to Loyola Marymount. Stanford was beaten by Oral Roberts. Oregon State lost to Sacramento State.
"We kind of made our bed in November and December," California Coach Mike Montgomery said.
The conference's only victory over a current top-25 team was USC's upset over Tennessee, now ranked eighth. That means little because the Trojans have a self-imposed ban on postseason play.
The conference's next best spotlight moment was Stanford missing two free throws with seconds left in regulation and losing, 73-65, in overtime to undefeated Kentucky, then ranked No. 5.
Hirsch pointed out that California played Syracuse (now ranked No. 5) and Ohio State (now ranked 21st) without injured forward Theo Robinson, who is averaging 14 points per game.
Montgomery was in on that campaign, saying, "The conference is not as bad as everyone wants to make it out to be," but he acknowledged that "once the perception comes, and is perpetuated, there is not much we can do about it."
The perception has taken hold.
The Pac-10 is seventh in the RPI rating, behind the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West. California, at 24, is the highest-rated team in the index as of today. Arizona State, at No. 55, is the conference's next highest-ranked team, checking in 11 slots below Harvard.
"A lot is based on nonconference play, and we didn't impress anybody," Hirsch said, though he noted that a Stanford victory, "would have given Kentucky its only loss."
Since the NCAA tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1985, the power conferences -- Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big 12, etc. -- have always received at least two team bids. The NCAA began inviting multiple conference teams in 1975 and only twice has the Pac-10 been limited to one team (in 1977 and 1978).
"I just think when you look at it historically, we've been very, very successful in regards to the tournament," UCLA Coach Ben Howland said. "We'll still end up with two or three teams."
The Pac-10 has had at least one team reach the Sweet 16 in 20 of the last 22 seasons, with eight Final Four teams since 1994, one more than both the Big East and Big 12.
UCLA won the title in 1995 and Arizona in 1997. That's ancient history in the eye of selection committee.
"The committee tries to emphasize only this season," said Tom Hanson, former Pac-10 commissioner. "But they have to understand where the best basketball has been played over the years."
The committee, though, is supposed to have a short memory, and "a lot of people are going to look to see how that is applied now that the Pac-10 is facing the same thing mid-majors have faced," Lavin said.
How this became the middle-of-the-Pac-10 is easily traced.
Talent has disappeared as if part of a Ponzi scheme. Only five of the 17 players chosen to the conference's all-freshman team the last three seasons remain.
UCLA's Kevin Love and USC's O.J. Mayo would be juniors. Six of the 10 conference teams have had players jump early to the NBA.
"When the season started, we had 51 sophomores and freshmen on our rosters, which was more than the junior and senior classes combined," Hirsch said.
Everyone has had to deal with the one-and-done syndrome, with freshmen using college basketball as a momentary pause on the way to the NBA.
Hanson, Lavin and Montgomery, all with lengthy Pac-10 resumes, said they have never seen a season like this for the conference.
"It's not just that the Pac-10 has been ravaged by underclassmen leaving," Lavin said. "They have lost guys, seniors, who were pillars for their teams, and the returning players haven't elevated their games. Then you look at this year's freshman class and there are not a whole lot of bright spots. It is a perfect storm."
One the Pac-10 has never needed shelter from in the past.
Said Lavin: "It will give them some empathy and appreciation for the frustration level the mid-majors have every year."
(c) 2010, The Los Angeles Times.
Pac-10 will be lucky to get more than two teams in NCAA men's basketball tournament
A priest and a rabbi are seated at a bar. In walks a Pac-10 basketball player.
Go ahead, supply a punchline. Everybody else does. We all knew this wasn't going to be a vintage year for the conference, but it's turning into an Abbott and Costello skit of double entendre, exploding cigars and backside falls down staircases.
California and Washington began the season in November as the consensus cream of the league, the tandem that would spare the Pac-10 embarrassment in the wake of all the early dashes to the NBA.
So the Huskies begin 2010 by losing at home to Oregon, which had mucked aimlessly through the preseason. Then Cal left the door open for Washington by losing at home to UCLA, the Bruins of the 174 RPI. The Huskies' way of saying thanks was to cough up two 17-point losses in the desert.
AP voters decided they'd had enough this week, snubbing the Pac-10 for the first time since late February 1987. That was the first season of the three-point shot.
It's gotten to the point that, with USC banned from the postseason, it would be a serious upset if the Pac-10 got three teams into the NCAA tournament. No other BCS conference has ever failed to land three teams (other than the Pac-10, which got two in 1986-88).
The league began making its bed early, doing next to nothing before conference play. These are the Pac-10's (USC excepted) current RPI computer numbers, courtesy of CollegeRPI.com, followed by the best nonleague win of each:
Arizona (72): Louisiana Tech (74).
Arizona State (88): San Diego State (41).
Cal (32): Murray State (86).
Oregon (132): Oakland (66).
Oregon State (206): George Washington (127).
Stanford (121): Virginia (128).
UCLA (174): Colorado State (94).
Washington (64): Texas A&M (35).
Washington State (84): Idaho (160).
Anyway, we want a mulligan. Shred those predictions of two weeks ago in which we picked the Huskies for first and Oregon ninth. Here's a new (improved?) version:
1. California (2-1). Without guard Jorge Gutierrez, who will sit out games again this week in Washington with a knee problem, Cal is getting thin. But who else deserves to be up here?
2. USC (2-2). Lots of wide-bodied athletes.
3. Oregon (2-1). Not a picture of stability, but the Ducks flew under the radar with some December injuries.
4. Arizona (2-2). A youthful team that should get better.
5. Washington (1-3). This might be pessimistic, but the Huskies have lost three straight in double digits for the first time since December 2003, Lorenzo Romar's second season, partly because of a 31-rebound deficit in those three. Would Jon Brockman have allowed that?
6. UCLA (2-2). Just when the Bruins show signs, they tumble.
7. ASU (2-2). Sun Devils' defense looked better than ever last weekend. Eight opponents have had season-low points games against ASU.
8. WSU (2-2). Like last year, Cougars sometimes struggle to score.
9. Oregon State (1-2). Fortunately, Seattle U. is not in the league.
10. Stanford (2-1). Not much depth, but Landry Fields and Jeremy Green can play.
And a disclaimer: This year, an extra win or loss might mean three or four places.
And what's more ...
* Thursday night's Arizona-OSU game in Corvallis will be the first regularly scheduled UA game not on any form of TV since 1998.
* Nothing new on touted OSU guard Roberto Nelson's saga with the NCAA Clearinghouse, and coach Craig Robinson says he might be redshirted.
* Point guard Jio Fontan, who averaged 15.3 points as a Fordham freshman last season, has transferred to USC, and coach Kevin O'Neill says he'll be immediate help next January.
* O'Neill on the fallout of Pete Carroll's departure at USC: "Pete was a great resource for all of us. When we had guys here for recruiting visits, he was really active with it. Unbelievable personality and unbelievably loyal. He's going to be missed by everybody here. He's a one-in-a-million type guy."
(c) 2010 The Seattle Times Company.
USC penalizes self in O.J. Mayo basketball recruiting violations
LOS ANGELES --- Former Southern California basketball coach Tim Floyd used to say that O.J. Mayo recruited himself to USC, that Mayo just called Floyd out of the blue and said he'd like to play for him.
Turns out, USC had something to do with it, too -- something illegal.
USC admitted violating NCAA rules Sunday when it self-imposed sanctions on its men's basketball team: a ban on postseason competition this season, including the Pacific-10 conference tournament; a reduction of two scholarships, plus other recruiting limitations, and the forfeiture of all victories during the 2007-08 season, Mayo's one year at USC (he is in his second season player for Memphis of the NBA).
In addition, USC will return to the NCAA the money it earned as a result of its participation in the 2008 NCAA basketball tournament.
Floyd resigned in June amid allegations he gave $1,000 in cash to a man who helped steer Mayo to the Trojans.
"We believe the self-imposed sanctions are consistent with penalties imposed at other NCAA member institutions which have been cited with similar rules infractions," USC athletic director Mike Garrett said in a statement. "Although we are disappointed that rules were violated, we look forward to moving past this matter and to the future success of our men's basketball program."
The Trojans, under new coach Kevin O'Neill, were expected to be a disaster this season following the mass exodus of last year's stars to the NBA, as well as several top recruits changing their minds and choosing other schools.
But they are currently 10-4, having won eight consecutive games, and off to their first 2-0 start in the Pac-10 since 2001-02.
"I respect and understand the action that was taken," O'Neill said. "Our players have risen to many challenges already this season and I am proud of what they have accomplished. I am confident that they will rise to this latest challenge."
USC said the sanctions impact only the men's basketball program.
New Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott said the league has been working with USC and the NCAA in independent investigations of the school's basketball program.
"USC's decision to self-impose aggressive penalties on itself is clear recognition of how seriously the university takes this matter," Scott said in a statement.
The USC football program is also under NCAA investigation for alleged illegal benefits given to Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush.
The basketball case is not necessarily over. The NCAA could add to the sanctions when its investigation is completed.
(c) 2010 USA TODAY.
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