Pitt Gorilla
03-20-2006, 01:11 PM
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2002876660&zsection_id=2002119889&slug=ncaanotes20&date=20060320
Notebook: Critics of "little guys" eat their words
By Seattle Times news services
Maybe the Missouri Valley Conference wasn't so undeserving after all, CBS commentators said.
"I guess we created quite a stir, created a little fuss" with the ripping of the league, Jim Nantz, CBS' lead college basketball play-by-play broadcaster, said on the air Sunday while covering the NCAA Tournament in Philadelphia. "They proved a lot of people wrong, including two who are sitting right here courtside."
A week earlier, Nantz and college analyst Billy Packer blasted the selection committee for including four teams from the Valley and two from the Colonial Athletic Association. The same number of schools were picked from the MVC as were selected from the traditionally more powerful Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12.
"You've got to be kidding," Packer said last week.
But Sunday, after two Valley teams (Bradley and Wichita State) had moved to the Sweet 16 — one more than the Big 12 and two more than the ballyhooed Big Ten — Packer and Nantz pulled back on their criticism.
"They have proven to be quite meritorious," Nantz said. "I guess our words didn't really play well in Peoria."
He added, "The Missouri Valley certainly came through with their performance this week. Doug Elgin, their commissioner, has to be one of the happiest guys in America right now. Great validation for the Missouri Valley Conference and what they've done all year."
Packer called Bradley's tourney wins, over Kansas (of the Big 12) and Pittsburgh (of the Big East), "impressive victories."
Nantz said they since have talked with Craig Littlepage, head of the selection committee, after blasting the group on the selection show. And he said Littlepage gave them this message: "We were just trying to tell people last week with the bracketing and selections that a lot of people out there can play basketball that maybe you haven't heard of."
Last week, Nantz said: "For years we trumpeted the fact that the little guy needs some representation. But it's gone way too far now." But on Sunday he said, "Good for the little guy making his presence felt."
Notes
• Brother and sister Jamie and Maggie Dixon led their teams into the men's and women's NCAA tournament this year.
Both their seasons ended Sunday as Jamie's Pittsburgh Panthers lost 72-66 to Bradley in the second round of the men's tournament, while Maggie's Army team lost 102-54 to Tennessee in the first round of the women's tourney.
• All four No. 1 seeds — Duke, Connecticut, Villanova and Memphis — advanced to the round of the 16. It's the second straight year that happened (two went on to the Final Four). Since 1979, when the field expanded to 32 teams, all four No. 1s have advanced to the regional semifinals 13 times.
• Kansas' second consecutive first-round upset loss caught the attention of local police over the weekend. "A police officer came in this morning," said owner Jon Amyx, owner of the Downtown Barbershop in Lawrence, Kan. "Last night he thought he had a domestic disturbance. But it was just three couples who were crying. Men and women both. They were all crying. We've heard about a lot of that."
Notebook: Critics of "little guys" eat their words
By Seattle Times news services
Maybe the Missouri Valley Conference wasn't so undeserving after all, CBS commentators said.
"I guess we created quite a stir, created a little fuss" with the ripping of the league, Jim Nantz, CBS' lead college basketball play-by-play broadcaster, said on the air Sunday while covering the NCAA Tournament in Philadelphia. "They proved a lot of people wrong, including two who are sitting right here courtside."
A week earlier, Nantz and college analyst Billy Packer blasted the selection committee for including four teams from the Valley and two from the Colonial Athletic Association. The same number of schools were picked from the MVC as were selected from the traditionally more powerful Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12.
"You've got to be kidding," Packer said last week.
But Sunday, after two Valley teams (Bradley and Wichita State) had moved to the Sweet 16 — one more than the Big 12 and two more than the ballyhooed Big Ten — Packer and Nantz pulled back on their criticism.
"They have proven to be quite meritorious," Nantz said. "I guess our words didn't really play well in Peoria."
He added, "The Missouri Valley certainly came through with their performance this week. Doug Elgin, their commissioner, has to be one of the happiest guys in America right now. Great validation for the Missouri Valley Conference and what they've done all year."
Packer called Bradley's tourney wins, over Kansas (of the Big 12) and Pittsburgh (of the Big East), "impressive victories."
Nantz said they since have talked with Craig Littlepage, head of the selection committee, after blasting the group on the selection show. And he said Littlepage gave them this message: "We were just trying to tell people last week with the bracketing and selections that a lot of people out there can play basketball that maybe you haven't heard of."
Last week, Nantz said: "For years we trumpeted the fact that the little guy needs some representation. But it's gone way too far now." But on Sunday he said, "Good for the little guy making his presence felt."
Notes
• Brother and sister Jamie and Maggie Dixon led their teams into the men's and women's NCAA tournament this year.
Both their seasons ended Sunday as Jamie's Pittsburgh Panthers lost 72-66 to Bradley in the second round of the men's tournament, while Maggie's Army team lost 102-54 to Tennessee in the first round of the women's tourney.
• All four No. 1 seeds — Duke, Connecticut, Villanova and Memphis — advanced to the round of the 16. It's the second straight year that happened (two went on to the Final Four). Since 1979, when the field expanded to 32 teams, all four No. 1s have advanced to the regional semifinals 13 times.
• Kansas' second consecutive first-round upset loss caught the attention of local police over the weekend. "A police officer came in this morning," said owner Jon Amyx, owner of the Downtown Barbershop in Lawrence, Kan. "Last night he thought he had a domestic disturbance. But it was just three couples who were crying. Men and women both. They were all crying. We've heard about a lot of that."