Section B·Page 10
The University Daily Kansan
Monday. March 9.1998
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Step on a crack,break the Jayhawks' back?
By Melinda Weaver
Special to the Kansan
In recent years, the Jayhawks have been cursed with a string of bad luck in NCAA tournament play.
Heartbroken fans watching from home can console themselves, knowing they do not bear the brunt of the responsibility for the unfortunate losses.
Or do they?
"Last year, when KU lost to Missouri, I wore this outfit, and without thinking about it, wore the same one when we lost to Arizona," said J-ssica Conrad, Sylvia freshman. "I'll never wear that outfit on game day again."
From pregame snacks to lucky hats, many students have superstitions that they think they must follow if Kansas is to continue to win.
"I don't have any superstitions until the tournament," said Adam Habluetzel, Clay Center junior. "Then, I have to keep a pessimistic attitude. If I pick KU to win in my brackets, they never do."
These superstitions range from radical rituals to barely recognizable habits. But no matter how mild, they become more important as the tournament approaches.
Several students share a similar attitude. Yet some carry their superstitions to a much higher
level of paranoia.
Lucky shirts or jewelry are popular items among students, but they do not work for everyone. Sometimes, it just depends on who accompanies the student while watching the games.
"When I was in eighth grade, I thought I could totally control the outcome of the game," said Rebekah Gaston. Liberal freshman. "I had a pair of pajamas to wear the night before and after every game. I also had a pair of luck underwear and earrings I had to wear for every game. I've calmed down a lot, but I'm still very superstitious."
"I'm going to watch the games with the same people I went to the home games with," said James Katzenneyer, Hoffman Estates, ill., freshman. "It's worked so far."
The superstitious say that the smallest things can make a difference: A change in the daily routine, missing a class, or wearing the wrong pair of socks.
Even Chancellor Robert Hemenway said that he thought a change in his game-day routine could cause the Jayhawks to fall short of an NCAA trophy.
"I feel the same way the students do." Hemenway said. "Any change in the routine might affect the outcome of the game. I plan to continue doing things the same way all the way to San Antonio."
The Associated Press
Seeding procedures complicated, regulated
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Syracuse fell. Then Maryland took a tumble. A short time later, UCLA dropped like a rock.
Chaos was threatening to engulf the NCAA tournament.
The reason? Faulty adhesive tape.
While choosing, seeding and bracketing the 64 team field every year, the NCAA's selection committee spends a weekend moving teams around on big poster boards, searching with a diamond-cutter's caution for just the right matchups in just the right places at just the right times.
Former NCAA staffer Dave Cawood recalled the incident 10 years ago when, to the committee's horror, the names suddenly began falling to the floor.
It's all done with such reverence and care that only one person — known as "the traffic cop" — is authorized to touch the boards or move the teams.
"It was crazy," he said. "Here we were trying so hard to be efficient, and the teams just kept falling off the board."
As the traffic cop, Cawood was the only person authorized to pick the team names off the floor and stick them back.
The next year, the committee used dependable Velcro.
This year's traffic cop is longtime NCAA staff Bill Hancock.
"He's the only one who touches that board," said committee chairman C.M. Newton.
Decisions are made that spell the difference between a successful
season or a bust, between a team having a decent chance or very little hope of reaching the Final Four.
Contrary to popular opinion, the committee's job is not to select the best 64 teams. It's to select the best 34 that did not gain automatic entry by winning one of 30 conference tournaments.
Then they break the 64-team field down to what amounts to four 16-team tournaments; the East, West, Midwest and South regionals. Each is seeded 1 through 16 — four No. 1 seeds, four No. 2 seeds, etc.
On one side of the room is the board with the names of every school considered for an at-large berth. Next to it is the board listing every team that's already captured one of the 30 automatic berths.
On the other side of the room are four boards representing each 16-team bracket, and four that keep track of the seedings, making sure, for example, that a No. 6 seed does not show up on a seventh-seed line.
At 10 p.m. last Thursday, the tedious process began when everybody submitted two ballots. The first is each committee member's "must-have" list of not more than 17 teams that absolutely have to be there.
Committee members don't vote on their own teams, so there's about eight to 12 listed on every ballot, and they become the first names affixed to the at-large board.
Those teams are now in. No one can remember a team making the first ballot without making the tournament.
Members then take their second Thursday night ballot, listing all other teams they believe merit consideration.