NCAA Goes to Great Lengths so Teams Don’t

Bracketville, so often a dot on a map far from campus, could become a neighboring burg for UCLA and other elite college basketball teams.

The NCAA’s decision last week to keep the top four seeded teams in each region as close to their campuses as possible for the first two rounds of the men’s tournament could allow the Bruins to avoid the logistical problems they endured in March.

UCLA, seeded fourth in the East Regional, played the first two rounds in Greensboro, N.C. After defeating Utah State in the second round Saturday, March 17, the Bruins flew home, spent Sunday studying, took final exams Monday and flew that night to Philadelphia.

Under the new system, UCLA’s first two games would have been in San Diego or Boise, Idaho. The players would have had more time to study, the NCAA would have saved the money it spent flying the Bruins back and forth to the East Coast, and more Bruin fans could have attended the games.

“With us being in finals, it would have shortened the road trip and lengthened the week in between,” Bruin Coach Steve Lavin said.

The reduced travel is a benefit primarily for the top 16 seeded teams in the 65-team tournament. The rest of the field gets no guarantees, although the NCAA said geography will now be considered when making pairings for all teams.

However, the committee also determined that teams seeded lower than fifth cannot play so close to their campuses that they get a “home-court advantage” in the first round.

The NCAA said the change was made, in part, to allow players to spend more time in the classroom, but some question that. Players on higher-seeded teams presumably have no greater academic load than those on lesser teams.

The impetus for change was empty arena seats at last season’s subregionals and complaints from players’ families and friends unable to afford travel on a few days’ notice.

“I think they did it because the crowds were down this year,” said Purdue Coach Gene Keady, a member of the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches’ board of directors. “There was a lot of travel that probably wasn’t necessary.”

Four schools within 200 miles of one another near Washington, D.C.,--Maryland, Georgetown, George Mason and Hampton--played first- and second-round games 2,500 miles away in Boise, Idaho.

“That kind of pushed it over the top,” said Lee Fowler, North Carolina State athletic director and incoming chairman of the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee. “Nobody would have mentioned just Maryland going to Boise. But all those teams could have played right there [in the East]. That brought a big public cry, and the fans saying, ‘Why are we going out there?’ ”

Excluding huge domed venues, only three of nine sites had attendance of less than 90% of capacity: Kansas City, Mo., Memphis, Tenn., and Greensboro, N.C. Under the new format, it figures that arenas will be more nearly full and fans will be more involved. Crowds at first- and second-round games often were indifferent because they were unaffiliated with the teams on the court.

“If Iowa State had been sent to Kansas City, it would have sold out and been a much better atmosphere,” NCAA spokesman Jim Marchiony said.

Tournament teams are required to sell 350 tickets to first-round games, which was a chore even for UCLA. Round-trip air fare to Greensboro on short notice was about $400--double the fare to Boise--at a time when students were preparing for finals.

“We eventually utilized all 350 tickets, but we had plenty,” said Ken Weiner, associate athletic director for business operations.

Considering UCLA has about 3,200 season-ticket holders, Bruin fans might have numbered in the thousands had the games been in San Diego.

“It’s a double-edged sword for the school because when we are playing away from home, we don’t [make anybody mad],” Weiner said. “When we are playing in our own backyard, we have to tell some season-ticket holders they can’t get tickets.”

Next season’s closest first- and second-round games will be in Sacramento and Albuquerque.

Lavin, for one, isn’t certain playing closer to home is an advantage.

UCLA has advanced to the regional semifinals in four of the last five seasons without the benefit of first- and second-round games in the West Region.

“When you are away from home, there are fewer distractions to the team, fewer people asking for tickets, fewer people the players feel they need to take care of,” Lavin said. “The most critical aspects to the tournament are momentum--playing well at the right time of the year--and matchups. You could stay in your region and not get a favorable matchup.”

The new format will not result in teams from a particular conference grouped into one regional. Only the fourth team from a conference can be placed with the highest-seeded team from the same conference.

That’s because the two four-team groupings at each first- and second-round site will not necessarily feed into the same regional. Duke and North Carolina, for example, could play first- and second-round games next season at Greenville, S.C., yet would not meet until the Final Four.

A greater concern is that the NCAA will base seedings on a team’s ability to fill an arena close to home. Getting seeded fourth instead of fifth could be the difference between a home-cooked meal and eating at a greasy spoon 3,000 miles away.

“There are always conspiracy theories,” Lavin said. “People will discuss the perceived inequities and injustices. This will just be another one.”

The NCAA, which pays the travel costs of every tournament team, insists seedings will be made without regard to drawing power.

“That will not play a factor in it,” Marchiony said. “The amount of money is not that significant. What we are talking about is the atmosphere in the arenas. The most compelling e-mails we got were from parents of kids playing and of fans of the teams. They said, ‘Hey, we love the tournament, but we can’t get there.’ ”

Mike Tranghese, outgoing chairman of the basketball committee and commissioner of the Big East Conference, put in a call to women’s chairman Maryalyce Jeremiah of Cal State Fullerton before implementing the changes. The women’s tournament uses essentially the same format, but allows the top 16 seeded teams to play first-round games at home.

“The committee wanted to maintain the event as a national tournament, with four evenly balanced regions, while at the same time keeping as many teams close to their natural geographic area as possible,” Tranghese said.

USC, seeded No. 6 in the East in last season’s tournament, played its first two games in Uniondale, N.Y., then traveled to Philadelphia for the regional semifinals.

Had the new format been in place, the Trojans, who finished fourth in the Pacific 10, could have joined conference champion Stanford at San Diego for first- and second-round games, or been just another seed, blowing in the wind and landing who knows where.

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Setting Their Sites

The NCAA Division I men’s basketball committee last week adopted new bracketing for the 65-team tournament that will allow more teams--specifically those seeded among the top four in each region--to have games closer to their campuses in the first and second rounds starting next season. The committee will put teams at the eight first- and second-round sites in groups of four (seeds 1, 16, 8 and 9; seeds 2, 15, 7, 10; seeds 3, 14, 6, 11; and seeds 4, 13, 5 and 12). A look at where the top four seeded teams in each regional played in the first round in last season’s tournament, and two scenarios for those teams (with the same seedings) in the new bracketing format in determining sites for last season’s tournament and next season’s:

Where Top Four Seeded Teams in Each Regional Played Their First/Second-Round Games in 2001 Tournament

MIDWEST

At Dayton, Ohio

1. Illinois

4. Kansas

At Kansas City, Mo.

2. Arizona

3. Mississippi

*

SOUTH

At Memphis

1. Michigan State

4. Oklahoma

At New Orleans

2. North Carolina

3. Florida

*

EAST

At Greensboro, N.C.

1. Duke

4. UCLA

At Uniondale, N.Y.

2. Kentucky

3. Boston College

*

WEST

At San Diego

1. Stanford

4. Indiana

At Boise, Idaho

2. Iowa State

3. Maryland

*

Where Top Four Seeded Teams Could Have Played First/Second-Round Games in 2001 Tournament in New Bracketing Format

MIDWEST

At Dayton, Ohio

1. Illinois

1. Michigan State

At Kansas City, Mo.

2. Iowa State

4. Indiana

*

SOUTH

At Memphis

2. Kentucky

4. Kansas

At New Orleans

3. Florida

3. Mississippi

*

EAST

At Greensboro, N.C.

1. Duke

2. North Carolina

At Uniondale, N.Y.

3. Maryland

3. Boston College

*

WEST

At San Diego

1. Stanford

2. Arizona

At Boise, Idaho

4. Oklahoma

4. UCLA

*

Where Top Four Seeded Teams in 2001 Could Have Played First/Second-Round Games in New Bracketing Format in 2002 Tournament

MIDWEST

At Chicago

1. Michigan State

4. Kansas

At Dallas

2. Iowa State

3. Mississippi

*

SOUTH

At Greenville, S.C.

2. North Carolina

3. Florida

At St. Louis

1. Illinois

4. Indiana

*

EAST

At Washington

1. Duke

3. Boston College

At Pittsburgh

2. Kentucky

3. Maryland

*

WEST

At Sacramento

1. Stanford

4. UCLA

At Albuquerque

2. Arizona

4. Oklahoma