Sunday, March 14, 2004
Area teams hope to land on higher ground
By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Today is selection day for Cincinnati, Xavier and Kentucky. The NCAA Tournament pairings will be announced at 6 p.m., letting the area teams know where they fit into the 65-team field.
Five tournament projection Web sites predict that Kentucky will receive a No. 1 seed. The Wildcats (25-4) play Florida in the Southeastern Conference Tournament final at 1 p.m. today.
As many as eight teams could be in contention for one of the four top seeds.
Cincinnati (24-6) won the Conference USA championship Saturday and is projected to receive a seed between No. 3 and No. 5.
"I would be surprised if they got a 3," said CollegeRPI.com's Jerry Palm,who predicts UC will get a 4 seed.
Xavier (23-10) stands to go into the tournament anywhere from a No. 8 to a No. 11 seed, according to the bracket projections. The Musketeers could move ahead of Dayton in seeding after beating the Flyers on Saturday in the Atlantic 10 final.
"There just isn't a whole lot of movement now," said Palm, who has Xavier as a 10.
This year the seeds mean more than usual. Instead of randomly matching the winners of each region, the NCAA will rank the top four seeds and their regionals when the field is chosen.
The No. 1 overall seed will be in line to play the No. 4 overall seed in the national semifinals in San Antonio.
Last season Arizona and Kentucky, widely considered the best two teams, were in line to meet in the national semifinals. Neither made the Final Four, but the selections prompted the reseeding.
Also new for this year: The four regionals no longer will be given geographic identifications but will be named after the host cities.
Conference tournaments
America East Conference
Championship
Saturday
Vermont 72, Maine 53
Atlantic Coast Conference
Semifinals
Saturday
Duke 85, Georgia Tech 71
Maryland 85, North Carolina State 82
Championship
Today
Duke vs. Maryland, 1 p.m.
Atlantic Sun Conference
Championship
Saturday, March 6
Central Florida 60, Troy State 55
Atlantic 10 Conference
Championship
Saturday
Xavier 58, Dayton 49
Big East Conference
Championship
Saturday
Connecticut 61, Pittsburgh 58
Big Sky Conference
Championship
Wednesday
Eastern Washington 71, Northern Arizona 59
Big South Conference
Championship
Saturday, March 6
Liberty 89, High Point 44
Big Ten Conference
Semifinals
Saturday
Illinois 74, Michigan 60
Wisconsin 68, Michigan State 66
Championship
Today
Illinois vs. Wisconsin, 3:30 p.m.
Big 12 Conference
Semifinals
Saturday
Oklahoma State 82, Texas Tech 77
Texas 64, Kansas 60
Championship
Today
Oklahoma State vs. Texas, 3 p.m.
Big West Conference
Championship
Saturday
Cal State Northridge vs. Pacific, night
Colonial Athletic Association
Championship
Monday
Virginia Commonwealth 55, George Mason 54
Conference USA
Championship
Saturday
Cincinnati 55, DePaul 50
Horizon League
Championship
Tuesday
Illinois-Chicago 65, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 62
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Championship
Monday
Manhattan 62, Niagara 61
Mid-American Conference
Championship
Saturday
Western Michigan 77, Kent State 66
Mid-Continent Conference
Championship
Tuesday
Valparaiso 75, Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis 70
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Championship
Saturday
Florida A&M 58, Coppin State 51
Missouri Valley Conference
Championship
Monday
Northern Iowa 79, Southwest Missouri State 74, 2OT
Mountain West Conference
Championship
Saturday
Utah vs. UNLV, night
Northeast Conference
Championship
Wednesday
Monmouth, N.J. 67, Central Connecticut State 55
Ohio Valley Conference
Championship
Saturday, March 6
Murray State 66, Austin Peay 60
Pacific-10 Conference
Championship
Saturday
Stanford 77, Washington 66
Patriot League
Championship
Today
American at Lehigh, Noon
Southeastern Conference
Semifinals
Saturday
Kentucky 78, South Carolina 63
Florida 91, Vanderbilt 69
Championship
Today
Kentucky vs. Florida, 1 p.m.
Southern Conference
Championship
Saturday, March 6
East Tennessee State 78, Chattanooga 62
Southland Conference
Championship
Friday
Texas-San Antonio 74, Stephen F. Austin 70
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Championship
Saturday
Alabama State 63, Alabama A&M 58
Sun Belt Conference
Championship
Tuesday
Louisiana-Lafayette 67, New Orleans 58
West Coast Conference
Championship
Monday
Gonzaga 84, St. Mary's, Calif. 71
Western Athletic Conference
Championship
Saturday
Nevada 66, Texas-El Paso 60
Automatic NCAA Tournament bids
• Alabama State, Southwestern Athletic Conference
• Central Florida, Atlantic Sun Conference
• Cincinnati, Conference USA
• Connecticut, Big East Conference
• East Tennessee State,
Southern Conference
• Eastern Washington, Big Sky Conference
• Florida A&M, Mid-Eastern
Athletic Conference
• Gonzaga, West Coast
Conference
• Ill.-Chicago, Horizon League
• Liberty, Big South Conference
• Louisiana-Lafayette, Sun Belt Conference
• Manhattan, Metro Atlantic
Athletic Conference
• Monmouth, N.J. Northeast Conference
• Murray State, Ohio Valley
Conference
• Nevada, Western Athletic
Conference
• Northern Iowa, Missouri Valley Conference
• Princeton, Ivy League
• Stanford, Pacific-10
Conference
• Texas-San Antonio, Southland Conference
• Valparaiso, Mid-Continent Conference
• Vermont, America East
Conference
• Virginia Commonwealth,
Colonial Athletic Association
• Western Michigan,
Mid-American Conference
• Xavier, Atlantic 10 Conference
NCAA Division II
First Round
Saturday
Alderson-Broaddus 85, Mount Olive 80
Bowie St. 86, Lenoir-Rhyne 81
Bryant 65, C.W. Post 63
Cheyney 76, California, Pa. 59
Columbus St. 77, Virginia Union 75
Eckerd 70, Florida Southern 62
Findlay 84, Indianapolis 83, OT
Francis Marion 86, Armstrong Atlantic 84
Henderson St. 71, Morehouse 51
Kennesaw 78, Catawba 63
Mass.-Lowell 74, Bridgeport 64
N.Y. Tech 81, Philadelphia 75
NW Missouri St. 77, E. New Mexico 57
Nebraska-Kearney 104, Bemidji St. 90
Rollins 88, Benedict College 79
S. Indiana 96, Kentucky Wesleyan 83
South Dakota 82, Nebraska-Omaha 71
W. Virginia St. 80, Dist. of Columbia 69
Washburn 81, St. Mary's, Texas 70
Wayne, Mich. 65, Lewis 62
NCAA Division III
Quarterfinals
Saturday
Amherst 81, Franklin & Marshall 70
John Carroll 70, Wooster 64
Williams 79, Keene St. 64
C-USA TOURNAMENT
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ONLINE EXTRA: Photos of Saturday's game
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Defense is star of tournament championship
A-10 TOURNAMENT
XU's 4-for-4 makes history
Finn's role this day is hero
MORE TOURNAMENT HEADLINES
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A foolproof guide to doing your bracket
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SEC: Gators cruise past Vandy to title game
Big 10: Harris shoots; Badgers rebound
Big 12: Mouton's 3-pointers spur Longhorns to title game
Big East: Connecticut claims sixth league title
Pac-10: Cardinal avenge their lone defeat
MAC: Western Michigan wins title, NCAA berth
Tate lifts unlikely Florida A&M in MEAC tourney
Quakers in D-III Final Four
Women: Oklahoma beats No. 2 Texas
A quick chat with ... Digger Phelps
PREP PLAYOFFS
Eagles show why team's ranked No. 1
With Moeller on ropes, Duncan takes command
CovCath's Listerman finally makes Sweet 16
Lancers heading to Sweet 16
Sycamore pulls upset over Princeton
Big Blue gets D-1 title
Amazons' 1st loss comes at high cost
Royals ousted; streak snapped
Groeschen: Norwood building athletic program
Ernst: Try this all-region tourney team
Prep sports results, schedules
REDS / BASEBALL
Haynes aces first big pitching test
ONLINE EXTRA: Reds e-mail Q&A
Inside Reds camp
Kelly: Nasty, but pain just hurts
Norton in fight for spot on staff
Fantasy baseball: Unproven rookies still worth a look
Maroth's many sleepless nights
Is Benson on the way out?
Williams' wish to be frozen alongside dad
BENGALS / NFL
Visits and offers, but no action yet
Chesley: Bengals are just 'bullying'
Forget salary; age might be key number
Law wants to leave Pats, calls team's offer an 'insult'
TOP O' THE SECOND
Teen finds groove as skater, excels on international stage
What's up with that?
Area swimmers going national
Planning ahead: Must-see TV
This week's poll question
All thumbs
MORE SPORTS HEADLINES
Long shot pulls upset in Fla. Derby
Inman gives Petty team nudge in right direction
NBA: Rockets halt Memphis
Sports digest
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