NCAA Tournament 2001 - Games should be closer to home


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 Tuesday, March 13
Games should be closer to home
By Bob Stevens
Special to ESPN.com

What in the name of Mrs. Gerkey's sixth-grade geography class have we here? Arizona is the No. 2 seed in the Midwest region, while Iowa State is the No. 2 in the West? Indiana's a No. 4 in the West, while UCLA's a No. 4 in the East? St. Joseph's is a ninth seed in the West, while Missouri's a nine in the East?

Jamaal Tinsley
Jamaal Tinsley and Iowa State will open the tournament in Boise.

George Mason, which would kill to get Maryland on its schedule, finally plays the Terps -- in Boise? Fresno State and Cal, about three hours apart, finally meet -- in Memphis?

You get the idea.

Sure, the NCAA Tournament selection committee tries to keep conference foes apart as long as possible. The committee has its formulas, claiming all No. 2 seeds are supposedly created equal, as are the No. 4's and No. 12's and so on. But if the committee's science was so exact, why did two No. 8 seeds -- Wisconsin from the West and North Carolina from the South -- make the Final Four last season?

In '99, UConn won the national title as the West regional champ. And is it coincidence that Gonzaga's five West regional victims over the last two years included Minnesota and Florida in '99 and Louisville and St. John's last year?

Admitting the system is as much art as science, knowing the NCAA loves money as much as its thick rulebook, and remembering how the NCAA promotes the "student-athlete" experience, why not go back to the days when the regionals were really regionals?

Keeping teams closer to home would cut down on travel costs and, theoretically, missed class time. If you don't buy that argument, here's more: Keeping teams in their true regions would give the rest of the student body a chance to be a part of that All-American collegiate tradition -- the road trip.

When you see empty seats at the West regional games in Boise on Thursday and Friday, remember which teams got sent there. How many students from Georgetown, Georgia State, Maryland or Wisconsin, could even dream of trying to attend?

There is a better way -- regionalize the regionals. The committee would have to break one of its rules and fudge the seeds a bit. But the tournament would be just as unpredictable as last year with a lot more interest and excitement at the game sites.

Here's how I would re-do the current bracket (with my seedings in parentheses):

West
In San Diego:
Stanford (1) vs. CSU Northridge (16)
California (8) vs. Fresno State (9)
USC (5) vs. Hawaii (12)
UCLA (4) vs. Southern Utah (13)
In Boise, Idaho:
Arizona (2) vs. Gonzaga (15)
Creighton (7) vs. Oklahoma State (11)
Kansas (6) vs. Utah State (12)
Oklahoma (3) vs. BYU (14)
Midwest
In Kansas City:
Illinois (1) vs. Play-in winner (16)
Iowa (8) vs. Missouri (9)
Wisconsin (5) vs. Butler (12)
Iowa State (4) vs. Indiana State (13)
In Dayton, Ohio:
Michigan State (2) vs. E. Illinois (15)
Cincinnati (7) vs. Notre Dame (10)
Ohio State (6) vs. Xavier (11)
Indiana (4) vs. Kent State (13)
South
In Memphis, Tenn.:
Kentucky (2) vs. Monmouth (15)
Tennessee (7) vs. Providence (10)
Arkansas (6) vs. Hofstra (11)
Ole Miss (3) vs. W. Kentucky (14)
In New Orleans:
North Carolina (1) vs. UNC Greensboro (16)
Georgia Tech (8) vs. Georgia (9)
Texas (5) vs. Georgia State (12)
Florida (4) vs. Alabama State (13)
East
In Greensboro, N.C.:
Duke (1) vs. Hampton (16)
Charlotte (8) vs. Georgetown (9)
Wake Forest (5) vs. George Mason (12)
Virginia (4) vs. Princeton (13)
In Uniondale, N.Y.:
Boston College (2) vs. Holy Cross (15)
Penn State (7) vs. St. Joseph's (10)
Syracuse (6) vs. Temple (11)
Maryland (3) vs. Iona (14)

Judging the toughness of my regions based on the "real" tournament seedings, Duke and Kentucky have easier subregionals than Illinois and Michigan State.

Obviously, not everyone was a perfect fit. For instance, because several low-seeded teams hail from the Northeast, Hofstra and Providence would have to travel to Memphis.

The more regionalized bracket would at least keep conference foes apart in the first round. And look at the wonderful first- and second-round matchups created just by geography -- six California schools in San Diego; Gonzaga, the Rocky Mountain and Western plains schools in Boise; the two Iowa schools and Mizzou in K.C.; Michigan State, Indiana, the Ohio schools and Notre Dame in Dayton; Western Kentucky with Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas in Memphis; North Carolina, Florida and the Georgia schools in New Orleans; three Virginia schools and Princeton, and maybe Duke-Georgetown in the second round in Greensboro; and Penn State-St. Joseph's, BC-Holy Cross and Syracuse-Temple on Long Island.

The bracket matches up teams that wouldn't meet during the regular season and might foster scheduling opportunities for the future. Remember, Kentucky and Louisville for years only played each other in the NCAAs; now they play nearly every season.

There would be guaranteed sellouts, lower costs, and a chance for Cinderella to keep dancing in front of fans closer to home.

Basketball junkies think America wants a Final Four with the four best teams, even if three of them come from the same conference. Yet the most appealing Final Fours could evolve from regional interest, with each region rooting for its team to claim the NCAA crown.

Maybe this will get the NCAA back in the good graces of geography teachers everywhere. Now, about that 11 teams in the Big Ten thing ...

Bob Stevens is an anchor for SportsCenter.

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