University Daily Kansan / Monday, March 16, 1992
NCAA PREVIEW
7
Jayhawks get first seed in Midwest
Bv Lvle Niedens
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas' victory yesterday in the Phillips 66 Big Eight Conference tournament championship game assured it of the No.1 seed in the Midwest Regional of the coming NCAA tournament.
The 64-team tournament bracket was announced yesterday at 5:30 p.m., and the Jayhawks found out that they would be heading to Dayton, Ohio, for a first-round match-up with the 16th-seeded team in the Midwest Regional, Howard University.
The bracket also revealed that six teams from the Big Eight Conference had made the tournament field, the most in conference history and the most from any conference this season.
In addition to Kansas, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Iowa State made the 64-team field. Kansas State will play in the National Invitational Tournament.
Kansas more than likely had
wrapped up a 1. no seed in the Midwest with a victory Saturday against Oklahoma. However, the placing was not finalized until after yesterday's victory, said Bob Frederick, Kansas Athletic Director and a member of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, which determines the teams and seeds in the field.
"Kansas was in good shape after beating Oklahoma," Frederick said yesterday. "They didn't solidify the No. 1 seed until after today's game."
Frederick and committee head Roy Kramer both said that conference strength was important in selecting the 34 at-large berths to the tournament. The other 30 berths were determined automatically on the basis of conference championships.
Also, conference strength and how teams performed in conference tournaments were important in where the teams were seeded, Frederick said.
Eight placed six of its eight teams in the tournament was a testament to the strength of the conference.
"I'm really happy for the conference," he said. "It's a real credit to the coaches and players. It's no secret the conference has been rated as high as any in the country, and it wasn't any fluke that six teams made it."
Frederick said the fact that the Big
Kramer said that late season surges or swoons had an effect on where the teams in the conference were seeded.
For example, he said that Missouri, which was seeded No. 5 in the East Regional, might have been seeded higher if the field would have been chosen three weeks ago.
"But they've lost four straight games and went out of the tournament early," he said.
eral big victories by the Cyclones during the season and the team's victory against Missouri in the first round of the conference tournament Friday were significant enough to put them in the tournament.
Frederick said that Oklahoma, a No. 4 seed in the West Regional, received a higher seed than it would have two weeks ago because of the team's strong playlately.
On the other hand, Kramer said, that although Iowa State finished 5-9 in the conference, the worst conference record ever for an at-large team, sev-
With Oklahoma State, a No. 2 seed in the Southeast Regional, and Nebraska, a No. 8 seed in the Southeast, four conference teams were among the top 20 seeds and five were among the top 32. Iowa State was seeded No. 10 in the East.
"Obviously, because the conference has high seeds, those that are critical will look at how those teams do in the first rounds," Frederick said. "It will help the conference if those seeds are justified with victories."
Blue Devils win ACC tourney
The Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Make room for one more trophy at Duke, one the Blue Devils have been waiting to claim for four years.
The 1991 national champions had made an Atlantic Coast Conference title their main objective after taking the league's regular season title this year The top-ranked Blue Devils settled that yesterday, routing No. 20 North Carolina 94-7 in the tournament championship game behind 25 points from Christian Laetner.
"We finally got it. It's something we can put under our belts," said Laetner, who with senior classmate Brian Davis took the title in their final ACC appearances.
"We're glad we've done it," Davis said. "But we've got to accomplish more."
Laetner, the tournament MVP who led six players in double figures, helped the Blue Devils take a title they had not won since 1988. Since then, Duke had lost two tournament championships, both to the Tar Heels. The most recent loss was a 96-74 decision in last year's title game, which Duke-players called an embarrassment.
"They came out, played hard and beat us," Duke's Grant Hill said of last year's game. "This year, we wanted to get the monkey off our back. We were so determined, so focused. Before the game we were pumped up, Coach had to calm us down."
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