DRESS REHEARSAL : In Some Conference Basketball Tournaments, the Only Thing at Stake Is Pride

Lefty Driesell, now behind the camera instead of its target, says today’s coaches have it made as they get ready for the upcoming league tournaments.

“You can go in a lot looser now than when you had to win your tournament to get in the NCAAs,” said Driesell, who won 524 games in 26 seasons at Davidson and Maryland.

None of those victories, however, had as significant an effect on college basketball as one loss Driesell suffered on March 9, 1974. Maryland was beaten 103-100 in overtime by North Carolina State in the championship game of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

The defeat left Driesell’s team with a 22-5 record -- losses at seven-time defending NCAA champion UCLA by 2 points, at North Carolina by 9, and to N.C. State by 6 twice before the 3-point overtime defeat. The Terrapins were ranked No. 4.

Today, such a record would distinguish a team as perhaps a No. 1 seed in a region, or at least among the favorites going into the NCAA playoffs.

In 1974, however, Maryland was through. The Terrapins turned down the NIT, which they won two seasons earlier. They had given their best shot and failed against a team that would go on to win the 1974 national title.

“You always end up losing your last game, unless you win the NCAA or NIT,” said Driesell. “Any game that ends a season is tough. I don’t know if that one (in 1974) was any tougher than any of the others.”

It brought more condolences, however, and stirred anew a debate among the press and fans for an expanded NCAA tournament with the stronger conferences no longer limited to one representative.

The next year the NCAA field was expanded by seven teams to 32. Within 10 years, it had doubled to 64, its current size. Maryland in ’74 remains the last great team to miss the NCAA tournament.

Today, many teams with 18 or more wins by the end of February know they’ll be playing into March.

“You can play a lot looser at the end of the season,” said Driesell. “You can play different combinations, or play a guy you think may help in the NCAA.”

Once the NCAA field began to grow, more conferences saw the financial and publicity success the ACC had and followed suit with league tournaments of their own.

All but three conferences will hold tournaments over the next two weeks. In some, only the winner will advance into the NCAA event.

But in the major conferences with the touted teams, such as the ACC, Southeastern, Big East, Big Eight and Western Athletic Conference, the league tournament will be as much for pride as for purpose.

About half the teams in those conferences are going on to the NCAAs regardless. The other half aren’t unless they win the league tournament. A few are still somewhere in between.

“Coaches have different feelings,” said Auburn’s Sonny Smith. “If you’re down, you welcome the second chance. If you’re already set and know you’re in, you might not be for it. In our situation, we’re a maybe, maybe not case. We might need to win a game or two in the (SEC) tournament.”

Smith is doing a little scoreboard watching within his league. The SEC has its tightest race in years with Auburn caught in the middle.

“One thing that worries me is playing LSU on their floor in the first round of the touranment,” said Smith. “Right now, we could finish fourth and fifth and those two play each other.”

The SEC tournament is in Baton Rouge, La., March 10-13. That’s also where Auburn ends its regular season on March 5. It’s possible Smith’s Tigers might have two games against LSU’s Tigers within six days and with both of them important to Auburn’s NCAA hopes.

While Smith isn’t sure how long his season will last, Bill Foster of Northwestern can see the end. It will come March 12 at Minnesota.

The Big 10 doesn’t have a postseason tournament, although one is being considered.

“In our situation, it would be the best thing,” said Foster, who previously coached in the ACC and Metro, leagues with tournaments. “It would do a lot for Northwestern, give the players something to look forward to, and help bring our alumni in tow. People would rally and get closer to the school athletically.

“I’m not displeased with the guys’ efforts now, but it is different when you have that goal the team can continue to shoot for the whole season. It gives you a reason to keep playing.”

Like them or not, conference tournaments are here to stay. But they don’t pack the do-or-die drama of yesteryear.

“Imagine the pressure today if a team won all its (league) games and still had to win a tournament,” said Driesell.

Maybe that’s why the 1974 loss in the ACC tournament hasn’t shadowed Driesell. He realizes that had Maryland won, the situation would have been even more unfair for N.C. State, which did win all its games and then had to prove itself a third time.