Reigning champs pegged as team to beat
Villanova top overall seed; TSU draws UNC; Baylor-SMU is a possibility in second round
Villanova has picked up right where it left off in the NCAA Tournament, and that’s no small accomplishment. The last time college basketball fans saw the Wildcats in the NCAA postseason — and Houstonians owned an up-close view — Kris Jenkins sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Villanova to a national title over North Carolina at NRG Stadium last April.
The finish was among the tops in the history of the title game, and Sunday the Wildcats earned the top overall seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, which culminates in Glendale, Ariz.
Villanova (31-3) tops the East Regional, with Kansas in the Midwest, North Carolina in the South and Gonzaga in the West joining the Wildcats as the Tournament’s top four seeds.
“We never take this for granted,” Villanova coach Jay Wright told a gathering near Philadelphia after the NCAA Tournament selection show. “The (players) know they have more work to do, and they’re focused
on continuing this journey together.”
Closer to home, outside of 16th seed Texas Southern facing North Carolina in a first-round game in the South, there’s a good chance of a Southwest Conference reunion between two Tournament teams, with this likelihood taking place a few hours north of the Red River.
Baylor is the No. 3 seed in the East and will face 14th seed New Mexico State in the first round in Tulsa, Okla. No. 6 seed SMU also is in Tulsa and will wait on the winner of a First Four contest between 11th seeds Providence and Southern California. Should the Bears and Mustangs advance as expected, they’ll play in Tulsa in the second round with a berth in the Sweet 16 at stake.
“SMU just won a (league tournament) championship. They’re on a roll,” Baylor coach Scott Drew told reporters in Waco. “More importantly, we know we’re in (the NCAA Tournament), we know we’re in Tulsa, and we know whoever we play is going to be a tough matchup. It’s win or go home.”
The Bears (25-7) have played in Providence, R.I., and Jacksonville, Fla., the past two seasons, getting upset in the opening round at both places (against Yale and Georgia State, respectively). That’s one more reason Drew said he was excited about this year’s Tulsa expedition.
“With it being closer, hopefully our fans can drive there,” he said.
SMU (30-4) won the American Athletic Conference tournament title Sunday with a 71-56 thumping of Cincinnati, and many figured the surging Mustangs would receive a higher seed than sixth. SMU didn’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament a year ago because of NCAA sanctions.
“I couldn’t care less what the number is,” SMU coach Tim Jankovich told reporters of the No. 6 seed and perceived slight. “They’re just numbers.”
The Big 12 put six members in the NCAA Tournament, with Baylor the only one of the 10-member league’s four Texas schools to make the postseason.
ACC sets pace
The Atlantic Coast Conference led the way with nine NCAA entries, followed by the Big East and Big Ten with seven each.
The Southeastern Conference followed the Big 12 with five entries, and the Pac-12 had four. SMU, in its first year under Jankovich following the abrupt July retirement of Larry Brown, was one of two AAC entries.
Northwestern’s gym in Evanston, Ill., hosted the championship game in the first NCAA Tournament in 1939, but the Wildcats had never made the field until this year’s 79th Tournament. No other program from a major conference has had to wait as long.
No. 8 seed Northwestern (23-11) will face No. 9 seed Vanderbilt in the West Regional. The Commodores (19-15) own the most losses of any at-large entry in the Tournament’s history.
Pitinos separated
Vanderbilt, under firstyear coach Bryce Drew, a former Rocket, at least has momentum on its side, with six victories against opponents in the top 50 RPI, and the Commodores have won seven of their last nine games. Bryce Drew is Scott Drew’s brother.
This year’s NCAA Tournament also has another fun family affair: As usual, Rick Pitino’s Louisville squad is in, but so is Richard Pitino’s Minnesota program. This is the first time a father and son have led their teams into the same NCAA Tournament, although they probably won’t face each other. Louisville is a No. 2 seed in the Midwest; Minnesota is a No. 5 seed in the South.
“That wouldn’t have been right,” Richard Pitino said of possibly being pitted for a second-round matchup against his father in the Midwest. “I would’ve hated for that storyline to have been about us.”