High Hopes for NCAA Underdogs
D A Y T O N, Ohio, March 16, 2001 -- Kansas has flopped in recent NCAAtournaments. A bunch of Matadors are hoping to add to thosefailures.
The Jayhawks haven't survived the second round in the last threetournaments, despite being seeded first, sixth and eighth. Kansas,seeded fourth this time, is a heavy favorite heading into today'sMidwest first-round game in Dayton against Cal State Northridge,making its first appearance in the tournament.
It takes more than the memories of Wilt Chamberlain, Phog Allenand Danny Manning to scare the Matadors. After all, Northridge islocated on a fault line.
"A lot of guys are going to be surprised with this game,"Matador forward Carl Holmes said. "A lot of people are thinking,'Oh, little Cal State Northridge — blowout.' No. I don't thinkso."
Holmes said his teammates have to get past their respect for oneof the most tradition-rich programs in the country.
"Right now we need to get past the name Kansas," Holmes said."They're beatable."Kansas Coach Criticized
More than anyone, Kansas coach Roy Williams has been stung bycriticism of his team's early exits.
"I hope the tide's going to turn one of these days and we go alot farther than anybody expects," he said.
In 1998, Kansas was seeded No. 1 and lost to eighth-seeded RhodeIsland 80-75 in the second round. The next year the Jayhawks were aNo. 6 seed and lost to third-seeded Kentucky in overtime. Lastseason, top-seeded Duke eliminated Kansas in the second round,69-64.
From 1994 to 1997, the Jayhawks were seeded fourth, first,second and first, but made it to the regional finals just once.
"My freshman year we were the No. 1 seed and we were upset,"senior center Eric Chenowith said. "So I know what it's like. Ijust want to make sure I never have that feeling again."Underdog Bravado
Upsets on the first day of the tournament served to fuel thebravado of the underdogs and catch the attention of the favorites.Fifth-seeded Ohio State and sixth-seeded Wisconsin fell in two ofthe early games.
"I don't think there's a favorite in this type of tournament,"said Diego Guevara of Charlotte, which plays eighth-seededTennessee in the second game Friday at Dayton. "It's March Madnessand anything can happen. I just think we can beat this team. That'swhat I focus on."
Top-seeded Illinois meets Northwestern State in the first gameFriday in Dayton.
A No. 1-seeded team has never lost in 66 tries in the NCAA'scurrent format, and has won by an average of 25 points.
But Northwestern State has the advantage of having alreadyplayed on the University of Dayton floor, beating Winthrop 71-67Tuesday night in a play-in game for the right to play the Illini.
"I think that helps us," Demons coach Mike McConathy said."When a person is comfortable, he's going to be more productive.We're not just coming into the bright lights tomorrow. We were inthe bright lights on Tuesday."
Hawaii meets Syracuse in the other first-round game. When thebrackets were announced Sunday, the Rainbow Warriors were watchingfrom their hotel in Tulsa where they had just won the WesternAthletic Conference tournament.
"They didn't want to go to Boise. They didn't want to go to thecold altitude," coach Riley Wallace said. "So they cheered whensomeone else went to Boise. They also cheered when they got to cometo Dayton."
They didn't cheer drawing Syracuse, a team that makes an annualpilgrimage to the NCAAs. Hawaii is making only its third appearance— as many as the Orangemen's juniors have made.A Rags to Riches Story?
But one upset isn't enough for some people.
"We are not a Cinderella story yet," Rainbows center TroyOstler protested. "We need to win a few games and prove ourselves,and then people can start considering us a Cinderella team."
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