Tiger Madness - Opelika Auburn News -- March 14, 2018

Tiger Madness WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2018

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A look inside Auburn’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 15 years

Photo by Wade Rackley/Auburn Athletics

INSIDE • News

• Brackets • Staff commentary • Photos • Predictions • P review of each region

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2018

TIGER MADNESS: BRACKET

Boise, Idaho

Charlotte, N.C.

FIRST ROUND Thursday-Friday

OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS

Dallas

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Tuesday, 8:10 (truTV) 11 St. Bonaventure (25-7)

Tuesday, 5:40 (truTV) 16 LIU Brooklyn (18-16)

11 UCLA (21-11)

16 Radford (22-12)

SECOND ROUND Saturday-Sunday

SWEET 16 March 22-23

First

Tuesday-W Dayto

ELITE EIGHT March 24-25

Friday, 8:20 (TNT) 1 Virginia (31-2) 16 UMBC (24-10) Friday, 5:50 (TNT) 8 Creighton (21-11)

Sunday

9 Kansas State (22-11) Thursday, 6:10 (CBS) 5 Kentucky (24-10)

March 22

FIN FO

12 Davidson (21-11) Thursday, 8:40 (CBS) 4 Arizona (27-7)

Saturday

SOUTH REGION

13 Buffalo (26-8) Thursday, 2:10 (truTV) 6 Miami (22-9)

Atlanta March 24

11 Loyola-Chicago (28-5) Thurs., 11:40 a.m. (truTV) 3 Tennessee (25-8)

San A Marc

Saturday

Boise, Idaho

Nashville, Tenn.

Nashville, Tenn.

14 Wright State (25-9) Friday, 3:30 (TBS) 7 Nevada (27-7)

March 22

10 Texas (19-14) Friday, 1 (TBS) 2 Cincinnati (30-4)

NaTIONaL CH

Sunday

San An Apr

15 Georgia State (24-10) Friday, 6:20 (TBS) 1 Xavier (28-5) 16 NCCU/Texas South.

Friday, 8:50 (TBS) 8 Missouri (20-12)

Sunday

9 Florida State (20-11) Thursday, 3 (TNT) 5 Ohio State (24-8)

March 22

12 S. Dakota St. (26-8) Thursday, 12:30 (TV) 4 Gonzaga (30-4)

Saturday

Emily Enfinger/eenfinger@oanow.com

Follow the action on Twitter @AUBlog

Wichita, Kan.

13 Greensboro (27-7)

Charlotte, N.C.

6

WEST REGION

Thursday, 6:20 (TBS) 6 Houston (26-7)

Los Angeles March 24

11 San Diego St. (22-10) Thursday, 8:50 (TBS) 3 Michigan (28-7)

Saturday

14 Montana (26-7) Friday, 11:15 a.m. (CBS) 7 Texas A&M (20-12)

March 22

10 Providence (21-13) Friday, 1:45 (CBS) 2 North Carolina (25-10) 15 Lipscomb (23-9)

Sunday

All times p.m.

TIGER MADNESS: BRACKET

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t Four

Wednesday on, Ohio

Wed., 8:10 (truTV) 11 Arizona State (20-11) 11 Syracuse (20-13) ELITE EIGHT March 24-25

SWEET 16 March 22-23

FIRST ROUND Thursday-Friday

EaST REGION

Friday, 12:30 (TNT) 4 Wichita State (25-7) 13 Marshall (24-10)

Saturday

Sunday

Friday, 11:40 a.m. (truTV) 2 Purdue (28-6) 15 CS Fullerton (20-11)

Saturday

Thursday, 3:30 (TBS) 8 Seton Hall (21-11) 9 N.C. State (21-11)

Sunday

mIDWEST REGION

Friday, 6:27 (truTV) 4 Auburn (25-7) 13 Charleston (26-7)

Sunday

Friday, 6:10 (CBS) 3 Michigan St. (29-4) 14 Bucknell (25-9)

Saturday

Thursday, 1:45 (CBS) 2 Duke (26-7) 15 Iona (20-13)

pittsburgh

Thursday, 11:15 a.m. (CBS) 7 Rhode Island (25-7) 10 Oklahoma (18-13)

March 23

Detroit

Friday, 8:40 (CBS) 6 TCU (21-11) 11 Arizona St./Syracuse

Omaha, Ne. March 25

Emily Enfinger/eenfinger@oanow.com

San Diego

Friday, 8:57 (truTV) 5 Clemson (23-9) 12 New Mexico St. (28-5)

March 23

Wichita, Kan.

Thursday, 1 (TBS) 1 Kansas (27-7) 16 Penn (24-8)

Detroit

Friday, 2:10 (truTV) 7 Arkansas (23-11) 10 Butler (20-13)

March 23

ntonio ril 2

Thursday, 6:27 (truTV) 3 Texas Tech (24-9) 14 Step. F. Austin (28-6)

Dallas

Thursday, 8:57 (truTV) 6 Florida (20-12) 11 St. Bonaventure/UCLA

Boston March 25

San Diego

Sunday

pittsburgh

Thursday, 8:20 (TNT) 8 Virginia Tech (21-11) 9 Alabama (19-15) Friday, 3 (TNT) 5 West Virginia (24-10) 12 Murray State (26-5)

March 23

HampIONSHIp

. unless noted

SECOND ROUND Saturday-Sunday

Saturday

Antonio ch 31

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Wed., 5:40 (truTV) 16 N.C. Central (19-15) 16 Texas Southern (15-19)

Thursday, 5:50 (TNT) 1 Villanova (30-4) 16 LIU Brooklyn/Radford

NaL OUR

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2018

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2018

1. virginia 16. UMBC 8. creighton 9. kansas st.

5. kentucky 12. davidson 4. arizona 13. buffalo

6. miami (fl) 11. loyola-chicago 3. tennessee 14. wright st.

7. nevada 10. texas 2. cincinnati 15. georgia st.

TIGER MADNESS: south region

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Virginia gets rough road in South The Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. — Virginia spent an entire season exceeding all expectations and making a dominant run through the Atlantic Coast Conference. Now the Cavaliers face a new challenge: trying to earn a spot in their first Final Four in more than three decades as the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Cavaliers headline the South Region bracket, earning a No. 1 seed for the sixth time in program history. It’s the third 1-seed in the past five seasons under coach Tony Bennett, who guided his team to a regional final two years ago but has yet to take the next step: the Final Four.

The pressure will be higher than ever for the Cavaliers (31-2) to do it now.

“I wouldn’t say pressure is the word,” leading scorer Kyle Guy said after Saturday night’s win against North Carolina in the ACC Tournament title game. “But you know, that’s definitely in the back of our minds. .

We’re just trying to do this for each other.”

Virginia opens play Friday against No. 16 seed UMBC (24-10) in Charlotte in a bracket that features Cincinnati, Tennessee, Arizona and Kentucky — with both sets of Wildcats in the Cavaliers’ top half of the draw.

“I told our players that everyone can play

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Virginia guard Kyle Guy (5) celebrates as the final seconds wind off the clock against North Carolina in the ACC Championship game on March 10.

if they’re in there,” Bennett said in a teleconference Sunday after the pairings were released.

If Virginia can make it through the bracket to reach San Antonio, that would add to what has already been a milestone-filled season. The Cavaliers have a program-record win total and are a unanimous No. 1 in the AP Top 25 ; before this year, the last time they were No. 1 was December 1982 (the poll had just 20 teams then) during Ralph Sampson’s senior season.

Virginia went to a Final Four in 1981 with the 7-foot-4 Sampson, then made an unexpected trip there in 1984 as a 7-seed.

The Cavaliers have their traditional suffocating defense that ranks No. 1 in KenPom’s

adjusted defensive efficiency (84.4 points allowed per 100 possessions), while the methodical-tempo attack ranks 21st in offensive efficiency (116.5 points per 100 possessions).

They were picked to finish sixth in the ACC, but they went on to become the first team since 2000 to win the ACC regularseason race outright by four games, then followed with the program’s third ACC Tournament title to complete a 20-1 slate against league opponents.

The top challenger is Cincinnati (30-4), which got less than an hour to celebrate Sunday’s win against Houston in the American Athletic Conference Tournament championship in Orlando before learning its NCAA path. The secondseeded Bearcats open

with 15-seed Georgia State (24-10) on Friday in Nashville, Tennessee. vvv » VOLS IN Third-seeded Tennessee (25-8) fell to Kentucky in the Sunday’s Southeastern Conference Tournament final, but the Volunteers still earned their first NCAA bid since 2014 and open against 14th-seeded Wright State (25-9) in Dallas on Thursday.

That’s quite a climb for a team that started the year picked to finish 13th in the SEC.. » RED-HOT ‘CATS Coach John Calipari’s latest crop of Kentucky freshmen just needed a little longer to figure things out. Now the Wildcats (24-10) enter with a No. 5 seed after winning seven of eight to claim the SEC Tournament title.

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1. KANSAS 16. PENN 8. SETON HALL 9. NC STATE

5. CLEMSON 12. NEW MEXICO ST. 4. AUBURN 13. CHARLESTON

6. TCU 11. ARIZONA ST./SYRACUSE 3. MICHIGAN ST. 14. bucknell 7. rhode island 10. oklahoma 2. duke 15. iona

TIGER MADNESS: midwest region

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2018

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Kansas leads the way in Midwest The Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. — The Midwest Region could be called the NCAA Tournament’s Blue Blood Bracket.

Top three seeds Kansas, Duke and Michigan State have combined for 271 wins in 118 tournament appearances, 39 Final Fours and 10 national championships — and all could be in Omaha for the Sweet 16 in two weeks.

Kansas is a No. 1 seed for a third straight year and eighth time since 2007. The Jayhawks, who lost by 18 points to Oklahoma State on March 3 after they had locked up their 14th straight Big 12 regularseason title, cast aside any doubts about their worthiness with a dominant three-game run through the conference tournament. The Jayhawks open in Wichita, Kansas, with a Thursday game against Penn.

Duke, runner-up to Atlantic Coast Conference champion Virginia in the regular season, plays Iona on Thursday in Pittsburgh. Michigan State , the Big Ten regular-season champ, meets Bucknell on Friday in Detroit.

Kansas coach Bill Self, whose team has lost in regional finals the last two years, said the Jayhawks’ path sets up well if they can beat Penn and then No. 8 Seton Hall or No. 9 North Carolina State. Wichita is a 2½-hour drive from their campus in Law-

rence, and Omaha is three hours to the north.

They played first- and second-round games in Omaha in 2008, 2012 and 2015.

“The advantage is your fans get an opportunity to come see you play,” Self said. “We have never been to Wichita and look forward to doing that. (If ) we’re fortunate to win two games, Omaha is kind of a home away from home during the NCAA Tournament.”

Kansas is among three Big 12 teams in the Midwest, with TCU earning a No. 6 seed and Oklahoma a No. 10.

The inclusion of the Sooners, who lost eight

of their last 10 to finish 18-13, raised some eyebrows. NCAA Selection Committee chairman Bruce Rasmussen, the athletic director at Creighton, said OU’s case was buoyed by quality nonconference wins.

“We look at the entire body of work,” Rasmussen said. “The games in November and December count the same as the games in February and March, and Oklahoma had six wins against top-35 RPI. They had some absolutely great wins. We know they stumbled down the stretch and that certainly affected their seeding,

but they had enough on their resume to get in.”

The region has three ACC teams, with Clemson joining Duke and North Carolina State. vvv » STAR POWER Some of the biggest names in college basketball are in the region.

Headliners include Big 12 player of the year Devonte Graham of Kansas, Big 12 freshman of the year and national scoring and assist leader Trae Young of Oklahoma, ACC player of the year and rookie of the year Marvin Bagley III, Grayson Allen of Duke and Miles Bridges of Michigan State.

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1. villanova 16. liu brooklyn/radford 8. virginia tech 9. alabama

5. west virginia 12. murray st.

4. wichita st.

13. marshall

6. florida 11. st. bonaventure/ucla 3. texas tech 14. stephen f. austin 7. arkansas 10. butler 2. purdue 15. cal state fullerton

TIGER MADNESS: east region

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‘Nova is top cat in East The Associated Press

VILLANOVA, Pa.— Villanova has a more urgent goal as a No. 1 seed than a Final Four.

Try, surviving opening weekend.

The Big East Tournament champion Wildcats (30-4) earned yet another top seed in the NCAA Tournament and will open the East Region on Thursday in Pittsburgh against the winner of the LIU Brooklyn-Radford game.

The Wildcats have a 2016 national championship that serves as the crowning moment under coach Jay Wright.

But the program has been known as much for its early NCAA exits as it has for a 159-21 record with four Big East regular-season titles in the last five seasons.

The Wildcats were the overall top seed last year and lost to Wisconsin.

Villanova lost opening weekend as a No. 1 seed in 2015, and as a No. 2 seed in 2014 and 2010.

They failed to get out of the first weekend in 2011 and 2013. Villanova has advanced out of the opening weekend only twice in the last 10 seasons — when it reached the Final Four in 2009 and when Kris Jenkins hit a 3 at the horn to win it all in ‘16.

“I think it’s been different each year,” Wright said. “I don’t see one consistent issue. I looked at each one of them independently. I

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Villanova’s Jalen Brunson (1) reacts after making three point basket during the Big East Championship game on March 10.

did try and find some consistencies. The only thing that was consistent was tough matchups.”

He’ll find plenty ahead in the East.

Purdue (28-6) is the No. 2 seed and plays 15th-seeded Cal State Fullerton. Texas Tech, Wichita State, West Virginia and Florida are among the teams that could also come out of the East should Villanova stumble.

Wright, who became Villanova’s career wins lead in the Big East Tournament, has the Wildcats rolling behind their B-listers: Big East

player of the year Jalen Brunson, all-Big East pick Mikal Bridges and national title game leading scorer Phil Booth.

Brunson matched a career high with 31 points in Villanova’s overtime victory against Providence to clinch the tourney title. The Wildcats spent eight weeks at No. 1 in the AP Top 25, have no seniors and NBA prospects Brunson and Bridges are not expected to return next season, increasing the feeling to make a Final Four run now.

“It’s not pressure, it’s just an expectation, I guess,” Brunson said.

“We know what we’re capable of doing.” vvv » BOILER UP The Boilermakers (28-6) are a perennially tough team that usually falls short of making a deep run in March.

Purdue won 19 straight games and seemed poised to win the Big Ten until a 3-game losing streak. Purdue and Villanova could meet in the East Region final months after it was expected they would play in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. But the Boilermakers were upset in the Bahamas and the anticipated game may come instead with a Final Four berth at stake.

Purdue guard Carsen Edwards walked into the locker room after the Boilermakers got their highest seed since 1994 and told Matt Painter, “Thanks coach.” » 3-ON-5 Avery Johnson coached the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals.

Can he pull off a rare double and lead a college team to the Final Four?

Johnson has Alabama as the No. 9 seed in the East and it advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.

The Crimson Tide could be a factor in the region — just as long as it plays five players.

The Crimson Tide had a 3-on-5 matchup — that’s players, not NCAA seeding — for the final 10 minutes in a November loss to Minnesota.

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1. xavier 16. n.c. central/texas southern

8. missouri 9. florida st.

5. ohio st.

12. south dakota st.

4. gonzaga 13. unc-greensboro

6. houston 11. san diego st.

3. michigan 14. montana 7. texas a&m 10. providence 2. north carolina 15. lipscomb

TIGER MADNESS: west region

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2018

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Xavier deemed West’s best The Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — Xavier came up just short of the Final Four a year ago, losing to eventual finalist Gonzaga in the Elite Eight.

The Musketeers could be poised to break through this season.

Following one of the best regular seasons in program history, Xavier earned its first NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeding despite losing in the Big East Tournament semifinals.

The Musketeers (28-5) are No. 1 in the West Region and will face the First Four winner between North Carolina Central and Texas Southern on Thursday in Nashville.

“The tournament is so unique,” coach Chris Mack said Sunday. “We’ve got to play our best if we want to advance and I think we’re right on the verge of that. I think our defense grew up the last three weeks of the season.

Experience helps, but being ready to play that night is the most important thing.”

Xavier overcame losing point guard Edmond Sumner to a torn ACL midseason to make an improbable run to the Elite Eight a year ago, knocking off Maryland, Florida State and Arizona before losing to the Zags.

Sumner went on to the NBA and athletic guard Trevon Blueitt considered leaving before deciding to stay in Cincinnati for another season.

Blueitt’s return was a

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Xavier’s Naji Marshall (13) drives past Providence’s Rodney Bullock (5) during the first half of a game in the Big East Conference tournament on March 9.

huge boon to the Musketeers. He averaged 19.5 points and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 42 percent from 3-point range to become one of the frontrunners for national player of the year.

Behind Blueitt, Xavier reached the program’s highest ranking at No. 3 in the AP Top 25 and set a school record for conference victories with 15 on the way to the Big East regular-season title.

The season earned the Musketeers the No. 1 overall seed, but it took them a few seconds to see if they heard right while gathered in an entertainment room in coach Mack’s house.

“I honestly didn’t hear,” Bluiett said. “The volume wasn’t up high enough to hear. J.P. (Macura) leaned

back to me and said, ‘Did he say we have a No. 1 seed?’ It was a good feeling to be first in school history to be able to do so.” vvv » CAROLINA CLOSE TO HOME It’s become an NCAA Tournament tradition: North Carolina opening close to home.

The Tar Heels, the No. 2 seed in the West, will face No. 15 seed Lipscomb in Charlotte on Thursday despite losing 10 games.

North Carolina opened last year’s NCAA Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina, on the way to the national title and played its first two games in Raleigh in 2016. The Tar Heels are 33-1 in NCAA Tournament games in their home state, the only loss coming in 1979.

North Carolina (2510), No. 12 in the AP Top 25, tied for third during the ACC regular season at 11-7 and won nine of 11 before losing to topranked Virginia in Saturday’s ACC title game. » POTENTIAL UPSETS The West Region has games that will be popular upset picks.

One comes in Charlotte on Thursday, when No. 10 Providence faces No. 7 Texas A&M. The Friars (23-10) had one of the conference-tournament season’s biggest upsets, taking down Xavier in overtime of the Big East semifinals. The Aggies (20-12) have been inconsistent this season, matching the program’s highest ranking by reaching No. 5 in the AP Top 25 before going 9-9 through the SEC.

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TIGER MADNESS

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