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NCAA Special Section / University Dailv Kansan / March 6, 1991
Teams on bubble await NCAA bids
The Associated Press
Bubbles are fragile things, liable to burst at the slightest disturbance, hardly a comfortable place for a colliery worker before the NCAA tournament begins.
Imagine 6-foot-11 John Thompson, towel tossed casually over his shoulder, treading ever so lightly on the NCAA bubble.
Or Bobby Cremins, armed with one of college basketball's most exciting players, daintily making his way on the bubble.
Or Rolle Massimio, his tie askw.
Or Billy Tubbs, the Jack Nicholson of college basketball. Or sad-eyed Hugh Durham.
They're all coaching heavyweights, regulars at March Madness. But they head into conference tournaments this week with shaky credentials at best, excellent candidates to be left on the outside looking in when the 64 team tournament field is announced Sunday.
That won't be a problem for five conference champions who've already been crowned. Princeton from the Ivy League, Ohio State from the Big Ten, Arizona from the Pac-10, East Tennessee State from the Southern and Louisiana Tech from the American South are in.
Four more teams joined the party Monday night. George Mason played Richmond for the Colonial Conference and was named captain in the Metro Atlantic, South Alabama
went against Old Dominion in the Sun Belt and Pepperdine took on St. Mary's in the West Coast.
For some teams, this week's conference tournaments are handy warmups for the big show, a chance to improve seedings. For others — like Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Villanova, Oklahoma and Georgia — you may have some postseason credentials that at the moment are tenuous at best.
Georgetown has gone to the NCAA's 12 straight years but Sunday's 62-58 loss to Syracuse by the Hoyas at 16-11 and 12-11 against Division I opponents. At least one victory in the Big East tournament would seem imperative to secure an invitation.
The Hoyas have the advantage of some marquee attractions for the tournament in twin towers Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo, along with Thompson stalking the sidelines.
Georgia Tech is in the same situation with Kenny Anderson, probably the premier point guard in the country, as its main man. But Tech has struggled through and up-and-down 6-8 ACC season and is 16-11. One more win in the ACC hoedown might get Cremins into the tournament.
Villanova is in even more trouble. Massimino's team owns some good wins over tournament teams like Duke and Ohio State, but quality wins always help, but at 14-13.
Kansas fans show their disdain for the opposing team's starting lineup before the Iowa State game.
least on East Eagle, whom whis-
ters do. No, they do the Villanova,
do you do with Providence, which goes into the Big East tournament two games better than massamono's team at 16-11? A couple of wins would certainly make the Friars a factor.
the Wildcats would seem to need at least two Big Fish tournament wins.
Then there's Georgia, also 16-11 but just 9-19 in the conference as it begins
Philp Meiring/KANSAN
the SEC tournament. Two wins might get Durham and the Bulldogs over the NCAA hum. Vanderbilt, 17-10 going in and 11-7 in the conference, probably needs just one SEC tournament win for an invitation.
After a 13-2 start, Oklahoma went south in a hurry, losing 10 of its last 12 games. The Sooners are 16-13, but buried near the bottom of the Big
Eight at 5-9. A couple of conference
events, with the rest savage an
indication for Tubbai, tabla
TCU (18-9, 9-7) and Houston (18-9,
10-6) are both probably one win away
as the Southwest Conference tournament
begins. The same is true of Brigham Young (17-12, 11-5) in the Western Athletic Conference.
There is no Pac-10 tournament but
the last week of the regular schedule promises some showdowns with Arizona State, Southern Cal. Oregon and Washington in the middle of the standings
Iowa and Purdue in the Big Ten, South Carolina in the Metro, Xavier and Butler in the Midwestern state are other teams on the bubble.
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