University of North Carolina Athletics
View From The Press Box
March 12, 2000 | Men's Basketball
March 12, 2000
By Rick Brewer
You might have had a tough time convincing anyone at the time that North Carolina's December 18 victory at Miami of Florida would play a major factor in the Tar Heels' receiving a record 26th consecutive bid to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
However, that probably was the case.
Carolina will be seeded eighth and face number nine Missouri in the opening round of the South Regional at Birmingham on Friday.
Although Carolina stumbled at times down the stretch of the season and finished with an 18-13 record, the Tar Heels' still made the NCAA field when it was announced Sunday night. A major factor had to be the difficult non-conference schedule the team faced.
For example, Carolina defeated Miami, which tied for the regular-season title in the Big East standings. Plus, the Tar Heels toppled Purdue, which finished just a game behind Ohio State and Michigan State in the Big Ten race. There was also a 102-78 win over UNLV, which tied Utah for first place in the Mountain West Conference and then routed BYU, 79-56, in the league's championship game.
Among the 13 losses were setbacks to Michigan State, Cincinnati when the Bearcats were ranked number one in the country, Indiana, Louisville and UCLA. All were selected for the NCAA Tournament. If Coach Bill Guthridge had played three easier opponents than any of those, his team could well have finished at least 21-9.
"I may well have simply over-scheduled this team," Guthridge said earlier in the year. "But, we've always played difficult schedules and I hoped it would help us as the season progressed."
What Guthridge didn't count on last summer when putting his schedule together were the injuries to Ronald Curry and Brian Bersticker. Curry has missed the entire season after tearing his Achilles tendon on the football field and a broken foot has sidelined Bersticker for all but the first five games.
Plus, Kris Lang was slowed much of the year with an assortment of physical problems. All of these have combined to limit the things Guthridge has been able to do with his team.
Still, it is certainly one of the top 64 teams in the nation and one which belongs in the championship bracket. The Men's Basketball Tournament Committee had a difficult time with some of its selections and decisions on where to seed teams due to upsets in conference tournaments and schools which will be without star players the rest of the year.
Cincinnati, an easy top seed with Kenyan Martin, dropped to a number two seed after he broke his leg in the Conference USA Tournament. Chris Porter being ruled ineligible was certainly a factor in Auburn drawing a number seven seed in the Midwest.
Because of the conference tournament upsets, Guthridge didn't know what to expect until the pairings were announced.
"Getting into the NCAA Tournament is the main goal of every team in the country each season," he said Sunday night. "We have not accomplished our other goals, but we're happy we did get this one. I'm glad the Basketball Committee rewarded us for playing the schedule that we did.
"Our players are not satisfied with our record and look forward to competing in Birmingham. I know Missouri is an outstanding team and will be well coached by Quin Snyder."
Guthridge said his biggest surprise in a quick look at the tournament field was the exclusion of Virginia.
"Pete Gillen has done a great job rebuilding that program," he said. "I really thought Virginia would get a bid and am disappointed that was not the case."
Committee Chairman Craig Thompson was questioned about that on national television immediately after the 64-team field was announced. Why was Virginia left out after the Cavaliers had beaten Carolina twice during the season?
"When it came right down to it, strength of schedule was the key," he said. "We felt Virginia was a quality team. Those two teams tied for third place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. But, Carolina had played a tougher schedule. That's why UNC was chosen."
Although committee members won't discuss certain aspects of their selection process, it certainly did not come down to Carolina being chosen over Virginia for a single spot.
The Tar Heels were placed in the field as an eighth seed. At-large teams seeded below Carolina included DePaul, St. Bonaventure, Seton Hall, Pepperdine, Dayton, Fresno State, Indiana State, Missouri and UNLV. The Cavaliers could have been selected for one of those spots and, based on the way they played in the ACC, were certainly worthy of being chosen.
As far as the Tar Heels are concerned, they do not face an easy task against Missouri. Snyder, the former Duke assistant, obviously knows a great deal about the Carolina program. Thus, UNC loses an edge it normally has in post-season play.
The Tigers (18-12) feature the freshman of the year in the Big 12 in 6-6, 230-pound Kareem Rush. He averaged 14.9 points and 4.3 rebounds a game this year. He shot 51.0 percent from the floor, 42.7 percent from three-point range and 75.6 percent from the foul line.
Sophomore Keyon Dooling, a 6-3 guard, was a second-team all-conference selection and the team's leading scorer with a 15.3 average. Missouri's other double-figure scorer was guard Clarence Gilbert, a 6-2 soph, at 13.6. The key man up front is Tajudeen Soyoye, a 6-9 Nigerian, who averages 8.9 points and 6.3 rebounds. There is more size on the bench with 7-0 sophomore Pat Schumacher.
The Tigers own an impressive win over Illinois and a 22-point rout of Kansas. They lost an 84-80 overtime decision to powerful Oklahoma in the Big XII Tournament.
It shapes up as a difficult opening game for Carolina. But, that's nothing new. After all, it's games like this that helped get the Tar Heels in the NCAA Tournament in the first place.
