Tar Heels favored, but there’s something about Vols

During a simpler time when the country was unraveling, in 1970, the NCAA staged its Mideast Regional at

St. John Arena. There, on Ohio State’s campus, Artis Gilmore and Jacksonville won a trip to the Final Four with a 106-100 victory over Dan Issel and Kentucky.

Gilmore and the Dolphins went on to beat Bob Lanier and St. Bonaventure. Then, in the national championship game, they ran into a John Wooden, mid-dynasty UCLA team. If you’ve never heard of any of these people, please visit Springfield. The one in Massachusetts.

The NCAA Tournament didn’t return to Columbus until 2004. Now, there’s a rhythm. Our city hosted sub-regionals in 2007, 2012 and 2015 — and here we go again. If you spotted a tanned, white-haired gent in a black-and-blue windowpane suit walking up High Street on Thursday, and you thought, “That man looks like he just robbed an ice-cream social — or he’s Roy Williams,” well, you just might be right.

The tournament is notoriously volatile and it has a particular roil within Nationwide Arena. There have been 24 first- and second-round games played here. The higher seeds are 15-9, which is not exactly inspirational if you’re Ol’ Roy and No. 1 seed North Carolina.

Twice before has Columbus hosted No. 1 seeds — in 2004, when Kentucky was shocked by No. 9 Alabama-birmingham, and in 2012, when Michigan State barely got past Saint Louis.

Here’s the real death stat: Each of the eight teams that won their way out of the Columbus sub-regional lost their next game. Tennessee came closest to upsetting this Sour Sixteen trend, in 2007.

Ohio State fans well remember San Antonio. The Volunteers built a 20-point lead on the top-seeded Buckeyes. Mike Conley Jr., Ron Lewis, Greg Oden, et al., came all the way back. Oden put the exclamation point on an 85-84 victory when he jumped over somebody to swat away Tennessee’s final shot at the buzzer. (Ultimately, there was Florida.)

It was 1960 the last time Ohio State had a team that good. It may never have another of the same caliber. You never know.

Tennessee is a case study. Think: Bernard King, Dale Ellis and Allan Houston … oh, such sweet strokes. Think: Bruce Pearl’s recruiting barbecues … oh, such sticky fingers. The perception is that Tennessee has a winning tradition in basketball. It does, but only to a point.

The Volunteers have only once made it past the Sweet 16 — in 2010, when they beat Ohio State (Evan Turner, David Lighty, Jon Diebler, et al.). Those Volunteers went on to lose to Michigan State 70-69 in the Elite Eight. It’s as close as they’ve ever come to the Final Four.

There is something about this particular group of Volunteers. Start with the coach, Rick Barnes, 64, who’s nearly as old as Ol’ Roy, 68. Barnes spent a year as an Ohio State assistant under Gary Williams and then went on to win 690 games over five stops as a head coach. Right now, Barnes has the sort of feel about him that Jim Calhoun had in 1999, that Jim Boeheim had in 2003, and that Ol’ Roy had in 2005.

Awesomely named Admiral Schofield tested the NBA draft waters before he decided to return to Knoxville for his senior year. “It taught me how much I missed my teammates,” he said. Schofield is one of two senior starters on a veteran team that has little time left to mark history.

Last year, they suffered a bracket-breaking loss at the hands of Loyola-chicago. Last week, they were barbecued by Pearl’s Auburn team. This weekend in Columbus, they begin their last journey together.