Throwback Thursday: The 2001 NCAA Tournament

Posted on December 15, 2016 by John Stalica

For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Coppin State and Goldey-Beacom, CLICK HERE. For the Puppet’s thoughts on last night’s action, click in the same place.

Today we go back in time to another checkpoint year in NCAA Tournament history – in this case, we look not only at the first tournament of the 21st century, but also the first year that the field expanded to 65 teams. This change came about from a desire to keep the number of at-large teams at 34. Up until the 2000 season, there were 30 conferences that awarded automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament. After the WAC split up into 2 conferences following the 1996-97 season, the Mountain West would finally be eligible for an automatic bid beginning with the 2001 season. The first 2 teams to be selected in the play-in game (colloquially called the “Opening Round” game by the NCAA Basketball Committee) would be Northwestern State and Winthrop. Northwestern State won the first such play-in game, but their prize was a matchup with top-seeded Illinois in the first round (Midwest region).

Chalk  was the name of the game for the most part in the Midwest Region that season. Illinois, Arizona, Ole Miss and Kansas were the top 4 seeds – all moved on to the Sweet 16 with relative ease. Only Ole Miss was seriously challenged – they edged Notre Dame 59-56 on the day after St. Patrick’s Day. (Butler also hammered Wake Forest in the first round – that game had coaching carousel ramifications for Dave Odom, Skip Prosser, Thad Matta, Wake Forest, Xavier and Butler.) As for the regional games played in San Antonio, Illinois and Arizona advanced to the regional final. Arizona edged the Illini this time – this would be the Wildcats’ 4th trip to the Final 4 under Lute Olson thanks to guys like Gilbert Arenas, Michael Wright, Luke Walton and Jason Gardner.

The South region would be more chaotic – there was the defending champion Michigan State and a lot of chaos preceding the Sweet 16 in Atlanta. Gonzaga would make a remarkable run to the Sweet 16 for the 3rd straight season as a double-digit seed thanks to wins against Virginia and Indiana State (who themselves upset Oklahoma in Round 1). Penn State advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1955 thanks to wins against Providence and 2nd-seeded North Carolina in the Superdome. Temple would one-up their neighbors in the Keystone State with wins against Texas  and 3rd-seeded Florida to advance to Atlanta and also beat Penn State 84-72 to advance to the Elite 8 for the fifth time under John Chaney. They lost a close regional final to Michigan State, but that game turned out to be the last NCAA Tournament game of Chaney’s distinguished career.

The West region was even more wild than the South turned out to be. Only 3 of the higher seeds (Stanford, Maryland and Cincinnati) won their first-round games. The other winners included #9 Saint Joe’s, #10 Georgetown (over Arkansas), #11 Georgia State (over Wisconsin), #13 Kent State (over Indiana). Even more surprising was Hampton shocking 2nd-seeded Iowa State in Boise – this led to one of the most iconic images of the NCAA Tournament where coach Steve Merfeld was carried off the floor by one of the Hampton players. There were no lower-seeded victories in the 2nd round and the Sweet 16 – this meant Stanford beating UC in the Sweet 16 and Maryland beating Georgetown to advance to the West regional final in Anaheim. Not only was getting to the Elite 8 a breakthrough for Maryland, they upped the ante further with a decisive 87-73 victory to advance to the Final 4 for the first time in program history.

The East region was tailor-made for a potential Duke-Kentucky rematch in Philadelphia 9 years after their classic matchup in the Spectrum. Kentucky barely escaped against Holy Cross in their opener, and ultimately lost in the Sweet 16 against 6th-seeded USC. The Trojans scored upsets against 3rd-seeded Boston College and 2nd-seeded Kentucky to advance to their first Elite 8 since 1961. Duke/Mike Krzyzewski would be challenged by former Dukie Quin Snyder and Missouri in the 2nd round before ultimately succumbing to the Blue Devils by a 94-81 score. Upon advancing to Philadelphia, Duke would defeat both UCLA and USC to advance to the Final 4 for the 9th time under Krzyzewski.

When the Final Four convened in Minneapolis, Arizona easily defeated Michigan State 80-61 to advance to the championship game for the second time in their program’s history. (The Duke-Maryland matchup was the feature game – they already had a classic matchup at Cole Field House earlier in the season where Duke overcame a 10-point deficit in regulation to force overtime and beat the Terrapins on the road. Maryland got their revenge in Cameron on Duke’s Senior Night, and Duke returned the favor in the ACC Tournament.) In Minneapolis, Maryland would race out to a 21-point lead in the first half, but the Blue Devils would get a huge momentum shift thanks to stars like Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer, and freshman phenom Chris Duhon. Duke ended up winning 95-84 to advance to Monday night. The Duke-Arizona game was tight throughout, but the Blue Devils pulled away late with an 82-72 win in the championship game for Duke’s third national championship.

You can CLICK HERE for the video of the championship game and also CLICK HERE for their comeback against Maryland in the semifinal game.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Goldey-Beacom College at Coppin State (and Puppet Ramblings, Thursday, Dec 15)

Posted on December 15, 2016 by Chad

Goldey-Beacom College at Coppin State, 7:30 PM Eastern, coppinstatesports.com

For our latest Under the Radar video podcast, CLICK HERE.

For the past six years, we here at HoopsHD have given an annual “award” to the team that in our opinion, had the worst season among all 351 Division I teams.  This award includes with it the honor of being among the teams that we will keep on our Nomination Board during our Mock Committee meetings in March.  Last season, the Chicago State Cougars took the Award.  And last night, we almost saw one of the greatest upsets in a long time as that same Chicago State team just barely came up short at Northwestern, in what would have been the most significant win in their school’s history.  In honor of this near miss by Chicago State (and yes, we were pulling for them and the amazing story it would have made), tonight’s Under the Radar Game of the Day is focusing in on one of this year’s top candidates for the Award.

Coppin State enters play tonight at 0-12 on the season.  11 of those losses have come away from home, and most of them in buy games against major conference teams.  However, the Eagles have played one home game, against non-D1 Chestnut Hill, and came up short in that one as well.  Tonight, the Eagles get another non-D1 opponent as Goldey-Beacom College from Wilmington, Delaware is in town to challenge them.  The Goldey-Beacom Lightning are 7-2 on their Division II season, having run off six straight wins heading into tonight’s game.  A win by Coppin State will take them off the ever-diminishing list of teams without a win yet this season, while a loss will clearly turn them into the frontrunners for this season’s Centenary Award.

For the complete history and more information on the Centenary Award, CLICK HERE.

 

PUPPET RAMBLINGS

-The fact that Chad picked the game that he did for the UTR GOTD is a testament to just how little is happening tonight.  NC State, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Auburn are playing home buy games.  Auburn’s game against Coastal Carolina isn’t technically a buy game, but part of a series.  Cliff Ellis, who was the coach a Auburn the last time the team was any good, is now the coach at Coastal Carolina, so it’s a good series for that reason.

-Two other games worth pointing out are Charleston at East Carolina and UCF at George Washington.  Charleston is off to a good start this year and their program appears to be turning around in a hurry.  They go to an ECU team that’s also off to a notably good start.  UCF is coming off a rather surprising home loss to Penn, especially considering how good they had looked prior to that game, and will look to rebound against a GW team that’s sometimes hot, but more oftentimes cold.

-Notable results from last night include Northwestern’s near escape against Chicago State, which Chad mentioned above.  That would have been far more notable had Chicago state pulled off the upset.  East Tennessee State picked up a nice road win at Mississippi State, and on paper are suddenly looking just as good as Chattanooga, who we felt could not only win the SoCon, but perhaps contend for an at-large bid.  Middle Tennessee picked up another true road win at Belmont, and continues to build what looks to be an impressive profile.

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Under the Radar: December 14th

Posted on December 15, 2016 by David Griggs

This week’s show starts out looking at Morehead State’s current and likely soon to be former head coach Sean Woods, who is facing assault charges after allegedly striking two of his players during the team’s game against Evansville.  After that, they run through all 22 conferences starting with the Sun Belt, where UT Arlington has put together quite an impressive profile with wins at Texas and at Saint Mary’s.  Other teams having big years and who could contend for NCAA Tournament at-large bids are Valparaiso, UNC Wilmington, Middle Tennessee, Monmouth (who just won a big game at Memphis), and Wichita State.  They look ahead to this week’s upcoming games, reveal this week’s UTR Top Ten, and much more…

 

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Dec 14th

Posted on December 14, 2016 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day, which is a really good one today – CLICK HERE

-We will be recording our Under the Radar podcast tonight, so be on the lookout for that and be sure to check it out.

-Not a whole lot of news from last night other than Monmouth keeping their hopes for an at-large bid flickering with a notable road win at Memphis.  Memphis is much improved this year, and could continue to improve as the season goes on, but at this moment in time it’s hard to say just how much credit they’ll get for that win by the time March rolls around.  Still, it is much better to have won it than to have lost it.

-LSU had to sweat out NC Central.  That’s not encouraging, but as of now they’ve been holding serve and don’t have any mud on their profile just yet.  They don’t have a lot of gems on it either, so….

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE AT GEORGIA.  This is a buy game, but the Ragin Cajuns come into this game with a very impressive 8-2 start and can add a somewhat notable road win to their profile if they’re somehow able to pull this off.

-UNC WILMINGTON AT CAMPBELL.  This is one of those games that seems silly to highlight, but you can’t call it a buy game since UNCW is on the road.  Campbell is the kind of team they shouldn’t have too much trouble with, and it will be the 4th true road win for UNCW so long as they don’t stub their toes.

-EAST TENNESSEE STATE AT MISSISSIPPI STATE.  Mississippi State is much improved in the second year of Ben Howland, but as much as they’ve improved it still appears as though they have a long way to go.  They will likely be challenged, and perhaps even beaten, at home tonight by an East Tennessee State team that’s one of the better UTR teams.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT BELMONT.  Middle’s profile is shaping up to be good enough to get them noticed and considered by the selection committee.  They won’t have any singular wins that really blow you away, but they’ll have an abundance of decent and notable wins on there.  Belmont, who is usually very good at home and is perfect this year, would be another scalp of note for Middle Tennessee, who is looking for their third true road win and their tenth overall win.  They are an at-large caliber team on the court, and I think when it comes to what is on paper their profile will end up reflecting that as well.

-UC IRVINE AT NEVADA.  UCI, like much of the Big West, has been rather disappointing this year, but they still look to be one of the better teams in the conference.  Nevada looks to be one of the two best teams in their league as well, and perhaps one of just two teams with an outside shot at landing inside the bubble, which means they can’t slip up in games like this.

-GRAND CANYON AT ARIZONA.  Last year’s Team of the People, and a team that’s looking like they’ll challenge for first place in the WAC this year, has a huge test tonight against an Arizona team that is battling injuries, but is still managing to hold serve and put together a decent profile.

 

BUY GAMES

-Tennessee Wesleyan (nondiv1) @ Chattanooga
-Chicago State @ Northwestern
-Fairleigh Dickinson @ Rutgers
-Southern @ Baylor
-Milwaukee @ Ohio U
-LIU Brooklyn @ Minnesota – (semi upset alert on this one)
-McNeese State @ SMU
-Alabama State @ Tennessee State
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Oklahoma State
-Green Bay @ Wisconsin – Technically not a buy game due to this being a regular series, but for all practical purposes it is this year
-Nicholls @ Texas Tech
-Western Kentucky @ Saint Mary’s
-UC Santa Barbara @ UCLA

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Arkansas State at Tennessee-Martin

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Chad

Arkansas State at Tennessee-Martin, 8:00 PM Eastern, ovcdigitalnetwork.com

Skyhawk Arena in Martin, Tennessee will be the site of tonight’s Under the Radar Game of the Day as the Ohio Valley Conference’s UT-Martin Skyhawks will be hosting the Sun Belt Conference’s Arkansas State Red Wolves.  UT-Martin had been one of the worst programs in the Ohio Valley Conference for years, only scoring two winning season between 2002 and 2014.  That all changed two seasons ago when Heath Schroyer took over as head man and led the Skyhawks to back-to-back 20+ win seasons, a tie for the West Division championship last year, and a pair of appearances in the CIT.  Of course, Schroyer then pulled one of the stranger offseason coaching moves, leaving Martin to take an assistant job at North Carolina State.  Anthony Stewart has taken over this season and has the Skyhawks out to an 8-3 start and looking like a potential contender in the OVC again this year.  Kedar Edwards has been in double figures every game but one so far this year, and guard Matthew Butler has been almost just as potent.

The Skyhawks will have to be on top of their game tonight if they want to pick up their 9th win, as Arkansas State comes to town with several nice scalps already in their back pocket.  The Red Wolves are 7-2 on the year and have won at Georgetown, defeated Chattanooga on a neutral court, and have a solid home win against Lehigh.  They have not played in 11 days, when they lost at TCU, so should be well rested for tonight’s game.  Keep an eye on Devin Carter for the Red Wolves, as he has had his best games against some of his team’s best opponents, including 25 points against Georgetown and 22 against TCU.  Senior point guard Donte Thomas has done a great job setting the table so far this year as well, with two games in double figures in assists already, and is ranked 4th in the nation in Assist Rate according to KenPom.  A win tonight in Martin will continue to help boost Arkansas State’s profile, and with potentially winnable games left against both Alabama and Minnesota, they have a real chance to be put together a resume that could be on the NCAA Tournament at-large bid bubble in March.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: New Mexico State at UTEP (and Other News, Notes, and Games: Tuesday, Dec 13)

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Chad

New Mexico State at UTEP, 9:00 PM Eastern, cusa.tv (subscription required)

For our latest HOOPS HD Report video podcast, CLICK HERE.

El Paso, Texas is the site of tonight’s Under the Radar Game of the Day as Conference USA’s UTEP Miners play host to the WAC’s New Mexico State Aggies.  Head coach Tim Floyd’s UTEP Miners have gotten off to a very slow start to the season, entering play tonight at 2-5 with one of those two wins having come against a non-D1 opponent.  On top of that, and unfortunately for the Miners, their record has not been a product of their schedule as their losses include Northwestern State and Southeastern Louisiana, both at home.  They did play a very good game last time out, losing by only a single point at New Mexico, one of the toughest places in the country for a road team to win.  Freshman Deon Barrett, who had very limited production during the team’s first six  games, was an amazing 7-for-8 from three-point range in that game, scoring a career high 25 points.  If he can continue to light things up from downtown, expect to see Barrett get a lot more playing time moving forward, and this team to start finding a way to pick up a few more wins.

New Mexico State enters tonight’s game at 8-2 overall, with their losses having come at Colorado State and at New Mexico (a loss they avenged last time out by picking up a home victory over the Lobos).  Ian Baker led the way in their last game with 26 points while Jemerrio Jones came off the bench to notch his second straight double-double.  The Aggies have been the team to beat in the WAC for the past few seasons and, despite being upset by Bakersfield in last year’s conference tournament, once again should be right there among the conference’s top contenders all season long.  But first, they need to finish their non-conference slate which will also include a trip to Arizona State and a second game, this time in Las Cruces, against UTEP on December 30.

 

NEWS, NOTES, AND OTHER HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-South Carolina’s unbeaten season came to an end last night as they fell in a close game to a Seton Hall team that picked up one of their biggest wins so far.  It was the second game of a doubleheader.  As for the game that preceded that….

-Auburn had looked pretty good this season and came into last night’s game against Boston College expecting to walk all over them, especially following BC’s comedically bad loss to Hartford, which capped off a stretch where they had lost four out of five.  Surprisingly, BC pretty much led for the entire game, and you just kept waiting for Auburn to snap out of it, but they never did.  Auburn will certainly have opportunities to make up for this, but this is a BAD loss on their profile.

As for tonight’s action….

-TEMPLE AT VILLANOVA (Big Five).  Every year there are schizophrenic teams, and this year Temple is one of those teams.  They have big wins against West Virginia and Florida State as well as some head scratching losses to teams like New Hampshire, UMass and George Washington.  I don’t want to entirely count them out tonight, but they’re overmatched by the #1 team in the country who has been rolling over their Big Five rivals, and who already has big wins away from home against Notre Dame and Purdue.

-MONMOUTH AT MEMPHIS.  Monmouth’s at-large hopes are flickering, but barely.  They need a win like this on their profile, and they basically need to run roughshod over the rest of their schedule.  Memphis comes in at a very quiet 7-2 and is trying to build a profile of their own.

-STONY BROOK AT HOFSTRA. Not as meaningful as last season from a postseason standpoint, but we at HoopsHD love rivalry games. In this case, this is the Battle of Long Island.

-TEXAS SOUTHERN AT CINCINNATI.  Buy game

-SOUTH CAROLINA STATE AT CLEMSON.  Buy game

-NC CENTRAL AT LSU .  Buy game

-CENTRAL ARKANSAS AT MICHIGAN.  Buy game

-MONTANA AT OREGON.  Buy game

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