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Oregon Daily Emerald
Tournament’s ‘pod’
system has its flaws
By Andrew Bagnato
Chicago Tribune
In an effort to ease travel and sell
more tickets to early-round NCAA
Tournament games, the NCAA this
year created a “pod” system that al
lowed schools from different re
gional to play in the same building
in the first and second rounds.^
It all made sense on paper. But the
execution has been tricky. And the
perception that some undeserving
teams were given huge breaks may
result in more tinkering next year.
One of the tournament’s prime
attractions has been the concept
that all games are played on neutral
floors. Of course, “neutral” is some
times an illusion, as anyone who
has played North Carolina in Char
lotte or Greensboro knows. This
year the committee gave up any
pretense of neutrality. Maryland
opens in Washington, D.C., a short
drive from its campus in College
Park. But few will quibble because
the Terrapins earned the pampering
— they’re a No. 1 seed and they
won the Atlantic Coast Conference
regular-season title.
Heavier scrutiny will fall on Pitt
and Illinois. The Panthers, a third
seed who failed to win their confer
ence, open the tournament in their
own city. And the Illinois, a fourth
seed, open in Chicago.
Plenty of others have gripes, in
cluding Notre Dame, which is seed
ed higher than Charlotte in the
South Regional but will face a vir
tual road game against the 49ers in
Greenville, S.C.
“How did the nine seed get to be
the only team on the bus ride?”
Irish coach Mike Brey asked. “They
must know somebody on the com
mittee.”
Brey hasn’t passed judgment on
the system yet.
“I understand what they’re trying
to do,” he said. “I think it’s interest
ing that (No. 9 seed) Charlotte goes
two hours to Greenville, and we’re
an eight seed, and we don’t go two
hours to Chicago.”
And Ohio State, the Big Ten
tournament winner, is still won
dering how it could sweep Illinois
and wind up with a worse draw^.^..
than them.
The Buckeyes are headed out to
Albuquerque as the fourth seed in
the West Regional, widely ac
knowledged to be the most rugged.
“It kind of seems a little wacky,”
Buckeye coach Jim O’Brien said. “It
just reinforces the confusion ... how
much I don’t understand about
how this works. Davidson, Miami,
Missouri — for the four of us to go
to Albuquerque seems a little
bizarre to me.”
Of course, coaches whose teams
stayed close to home endorse the
new system.
“Going to Pittsburgh is great for
us,” Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins
said. “It’s five hours away. We’ll be
able to sell as many tickets as they
have available over there.”
Selection committee chairman
Lee Fowler acknowledged the in
consistencies, but said the change
was worth it.
“There is travel still in this tour
nament,” Fowler said. “We know
that. We have cut it down, we hope.
“We’re happy with what hap
pened with our new system at this
point in time where we can keep
our athletes where their parents
and families can see them.”
The move nearly doubled —
from 22 to 39 — the number of
schools that will play in their own
time zone the first weekend. Fifteen
teams are traveling to a neighboring
time zone, while five will cross two
time zones and six will play three
time zones away from home.
©2002, Chicago Tribune.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Intormation Services.
Sports briefs
UO women golfers
finish eighth
The Oregon women’s golf team
captured its best finish of the year as
it placed eighth at the Pioneer Elec
tronic Bruin Classic, played at the
6,116-yard, par 72 Menifee Lakes
Country Club in Menifee, Calif.
Freshman Jess Carlyon shot a
third round career-low 71 and
placed fifth (73-78-71-222), the
highest individual Duck finish this
season. Senior Kathy Cho finished
at plus-10 and tied for 15th with a
226 composite.
Overall, the Ducks shot a 925 in
the three rounds. Oregon finished
49 strokes behind tournament
champion Pepperdine, which shot
a 12-over 876.
Up next, the Ducks will host the
Duck Invitational, March 28 and 29
at the Mallard Creek Golf Course in
Lebanon, Ore.
—from staff and wire reports
Western Kentucky
surprised by seed
(U-WIRE) BOWLING GREEN, Ky.
— More than 1,000 Hilltopper fans
packed into two combined ball
rooms in the Plaza Hotel’s Sloan
Convention Center Sunday, anxious
to find out whom, when and where
their beloved Western Kentucky
men’s basketball team would play
in the NCAA Tournament.
A 76-70 win over Louisiana
Lafayette in the Sun Belt Confer
ence Tournament championship
last week guaranteed Western a seat
at the NCAA table.
A measure of the national atten
tion the Hilltoppers have earned
was shown by CBS choosing West
ern as one of 10 sites to broadcast
during the announcement.
Western’s No. 9 seed in the Mid
west Region of the NCAA Tourna
ment drew cheers and applause
from some Western fans.
“Ooooh!” Hilltopper coach Den
nis Felton said, sounding like
someone had pinched him.
He said before the pairings were
announced that he expected a No.
7 seed or better.
“I didn’t think we’d be any lower
than seven,” Felton said. “It’s sur- -
prising, but then it isn’t surprising -
because I’ve been trained to expect
that kind of thing out of the NCAA. ” .»
An 8 or 9 seed was exactly where
the Hilltoppers did not want to be,
associate head coach Pete Her
rmann said after winning the con
ference final. Those positions mean
playing a nearly equal team — in
this case, Stanford — and, in case of
a win, almost ensure a meeting
with the No. 1-seed Kansas in the
second round.
“It’s really clear that they favor
the six power leagues,” Felton said
after the seeds were announced. “I
clearly have no idea what the com
mittee considers.”
The Southeastern Conference
placed four teams, the most of any
conference, in the tournament with
a 4 seed or better. Those included
fourth-seeded Kentucky (in the East),
whom Western beat in its season
opener, and third-seeded Mississip
pi State (in the Midwest), which won
the SEC Tournament. MSU.
— By Malcolm C. Knox
College Heights Herald
(Western Kentucky U.)