Winners and losers from Selection Sunday
— -- Who should be celebrating -- or crying after the NCAA Selection committee unveiled the 68-team field?
We give you the winners and losers from Selection Sunday. And it starts with Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse Orange.
There was plenty of speculation on whether the committee would take the Syracuse coach's nine-game, NCAA-mandated suspension into account when determining if the Orange were worthy of inclusion. The Cuse went 4-5 in his absence, finished 19-13 overall and 9-9 in ACC play.
The Orange had an RPI in the high 60s and lost to Pittsburgh three times. They lost five of their last six, all with Boeheim on the sidelines.
This was a résumé that many anticipated would land Boeheim's team in the NIT -- maybe in the First Four. Instead, the Orange were rewarded with a No. 10 seed in the Midwest Region.
Syracuse will also draw a Dayton team that has struggled of late, partially due to the fact that Flyers starter Kendall Pollard is at far less than 100 percent (knee injury).
WINNERS
Des Moines, Iowa
The city gets to see Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana and UConn on Thursday. Bill Self, John Calipari, Tom Crean and Kevin Ollie. The second-round games on Saturday could be Kentucky vs. Indiana and Kansas against UConn. That's a terrific day.
State of Oregon
Oregon gets a No. 1 seed (West Region), and Oregon State received a No. 7 seed. The Ducks will play in Spokane while the Beavers -- who appeared to be on the bubble -- were given a 7-seed and will play VCU.
No one should be happier than Tulsa coach Frank Haith. He escaped an investigation a prior coaching stop, Miami, because of a technicality and then bolted from his former post at Missouri for Tulsa amid speculation he was going to be fired. There were 59 people who submitted mock brackets on Bracket Matrix -- and not a single one predicted Tulsa to get into the field. The Golden Hurricane, who finished 20-11 and 12-6 in the American, will play Michigan in the First Four on Wednesday.
The Wolverines were just 11-9 without star Caris LeVert in the lineup. LeVert is done for the season and won't return in the NCAA tournament. John Beilein's team got an 11-seed and will face Tulsa in Dayton.
LOSERS
Coach King Rice did what he was supposed to do. He loaded up in the non-conference slate -- and did enough damage, beating Notre Dame, USC UCLA and Georgetown. However, losing a trio of MAAC contests didn't help the Hawks.
Kansas was the top overall seed. North Carolina swept the ACC's regular-season and tournament titles. The Tar Heels deserved better than this. Sure, they get to play first and second-round games in nearby Raleigh, but a Saturday matchup against either Providence or USC is far from a walk in the park. The Friars have as potent a one-two punch as there is in the country with Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil, and many Pac-12 coaches swear that the Trojans are the most talented team in the conference. Then, if the Tar Heels advance to the Sweet 16, they will likely face either Kentucky or Indiana -- two of the hottest teams in the country.
The Wildcats were shipped all the way out to Providence and have to play the winner of the Wichita State-Vanderbilt First Four matchup. The Shockers have one of the best backcourts in the country with Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker, and the Commodores have two, maybe three future NBA players. Coach Sean Miller shouldn't be happy about this one.
Frank Martin's Gamecocks won a school-record 24 games and tied for third place in the SEC at 11-7, but the soft nonconference slate was Martin's undoing. South Carolina also beat Tulsa, which ended up in the field.
How many more opportunities will the 70-year-old coach have to go dancing? Sure, the Aztecs struggled early, and lost to Fresno State in the Mountain West conference tourney title game, but they also finished 25-9 overall and were 16-2 in league play.
