((((( Time To Dance )))))<<<<< Selection Sunday >>>>>.....(((((((((( In Game ))))))))))

[Greenbacks]

Southern Conference teams have long been tough opponents for higher seeds, but they have rarely been rewarded with a victory for their efforts. In fact, the only wins the conference has in the past 20 years are the three that Stephen Curry and Davidson strung together on the way to the Elite Eight in 2010. In the modern era, SoCon teams are just 3-30 in the first round. UNC Greensboro hopes to make some noise as a 13-seed in the West Region. The Spartans will face last year's national runner-up, Gonzaga, on Thursday in Boise.

 

[Greenbacks]

Recent tourney regular Stephen F. Austin is the Southland Conference's representative, as a No. 14 seed. The Lumberjacks will face Texas Tech in the first round. The last time SFA made the tournament in 2016, it was also a 14-seed and knocked off West Virginia in the first round. Will it knock off another Big 12 squad on Thursday?

 

[Greenbacks]

This is the 25-year anniversary of the SWAC's only win in the round of 64, when Jervaughn Scales and Southern stunned Georgia Tech by 15 points in 1993. That Jaguars team was seeded 13th, which is the last time a SWAC team wasn't a 15- or 16-seed in the Big Dance. SWAC teams are just 1-8 in the opening round/First Four dating back to 2002, so Texas Southern will attempt to survive North Carolina Central on Wednesday night, in hopes of facing top-seeded Xavier.

 

[Greenbacks]

Speaking of anniversaries, it has been 20 years since Homer Drew and Valparaiso from the Mid-Continent Conference ran "Pacer" to beat Ole Miss at the buzzer. The Mid-Con eventually became the Summit League, but no matter the name, the league has just one NCAA tournament first-round win since then. That came in 2014, when 12th-seeded North Dakota State knocked off Oklahoma in OT. High-scoring Mike Daum and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits are back for a third straight year, as a No. 12 seed and likely as a popular upset pick. They will meet Ohio State in the first round.

 

[Greenbacks]

Heading back down memory lane, it was 10 years ago that No. 12 seed Western Kentucky made a run to the Sweet 16. In the modern era, only two times has a Sun Belt team advanced that far (WKU also did it in 1993). This conference has been competitive even when poorly seeded recently: No. 14 seed Georgia State won a game in 2015, No. 14 Louisiana played Creighton close in 2014 and No. 16 Western Kentucky put a scare into Kansas in 2013. Head coach Ron Hunter (healthy Achilles and all) and his Georgia State Panthers are back again as a 15-seed. Is more March magic in store?

 

[Greenbacks]

The West Coast Conference has won at least one first-round game each of the past 10 years, and it's almost all about Gonzaga. The Zags have won their first-round game nine straight years now. The rest of the conference has just five wins total in the past 20 years, not counting the First Four. Last year was the third time in conference history that two WCC teams won round of 64 games in the same year (also 2000 and 2010). That won't happen this year, as Saint Mary's was left out of the field, meaning Gonzaga is all alone to carry the conference once again.

 

[Greenbacks]

The Western Athletic Conference hasn't won a tournament game in 11 years, and losses the past three years have come by an average of 17 points per game. New Mexico State is representing the WAC for the sixth time in the past seven years, as the 12-seed in the Midwest Region. That's the WAC's best seed since 2011.

 

[Greenbacks]

Teams/Coaches

The Hurley brothers played against each other in the 1992 Sweet 16, when Bobby was the starting point guard at Duke and Dan a reserve guard at Seton Hall (Bobby and the Blue Devils won that game). This year, they are head coaches in the same NCAA tournament for the first time, Bobby in his second overall appearance (but his first with Arizona State) and Dan in his second straight trip with Rhode Island. Both have historical barriers to bust through at their respective schools.
This is the 40th NCAA tournament in which teams have been seeded, but in that span Arizona State has just six wins and only once have the Sun Devils won more than one game (Sweet 16 in 1995 as a No. 5 seed). Meanwhile, URI has just seven NCAA tourney wins in its history, with last year's first-round victory its first since the 1998 Rams made a surprise run to the Elite Eight as a No. 8 seed.
It would take some work, especially since Arizona State starts in the First Four as an 11-seed, but their paths would cross in the Sweet 16. I think it's safe to say both Hurleys have seen the bracket and are aware of that.

 

[Greenbacks]

Alabama

It's been 30 years since Avery Johnson was in the NCAA tournament as a player for Southern University. That season he set the single-season Division I record with 13.3 assists per game (which still stands, by the way). In both of his seasons at Southern, his Jaguars lost in the first round as a No. 15 seed. Now he has the Crimson Tide back in the Dance for the first time in six years and seeking their first tourney victory in 12 years. Only once in the past 26 years has Bama advanced past the first weekend; that was in 2004, when the Tide reached the Elite Eight as an 8-seed.

 

[Greenbacks]

Arizona

There's no question the Wildcats have enough talent to contend for the national championship. In order for that to happen, though, Sean Miller must get over his Elite Eight hump first. In 10 previous NCAA tournament appearances with Xavier and Arizona, Miller has reached the Sweet 16 seven times -- interestingly, as six different seeds -- including the Elite Eight four times. Arizona hasn't been to the Final Four since 2001, when it lost to Duke in the title game.

 

[Greenbacks]

Arkansas

The Razorbacks are a 7-seed in the East Region. They have won their first-round game in each of their past three trips (2008, 2015, 2017), but haven't advanced past the second round since their Sweet 16 run in 1996 as a No. 12 seed.

 

[Greenbacks]

Auburn

It's been a while since a hearty "War Eagle" has been shouted in the Big Dance, 15 years to be exact. One fun fact Tigers fans can hang their hat on is that Auburn has never lost a round of 64 game (7-0), and that's despite the fact that it was a 7-seed or worse in six of those seven games.
As a 4-seed, this year's team doesn't carry the same expectations as the 1999 squad, but it's as close as any other Tigers team has come. That year, high-flying Chris Porter led top-seeded Auburn to the Sweet 16 before being upset by Ohio State. Bruce Pearl's bunch is fun to watch and hopes to become the first team in school history to reach the Final Four.

 

[Greenbacks]

Butler

The Bulldogs have won 10 of their past 11 first-round games dating back to 2001 -- all while seeded fourth or worse -- and have never lost to a team seeded worse than they were ... in any round in school history. Last year, they earned their first-ever top-four seed and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since their back-to-back runs to the national title game in 2010 and 2011. This year, they are back in Cinderella mode as the No. 10 seed in the East Region.

 

[Greenbacks]

Cincinnati

As the No. 2 in the South, this is the highest the Bearcats have been seeded since 2002, well before Mick Cronin took over as head coach. Life as a high seed has been, let's say, upsetting for Cincinnati for more than the past two decades, though. The previous six times the Bearcats were a top-four seed -- all under now-West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins -- they lost in the second round each time and at least once as each seed. Needless to say, Cronin hopes to turn over a new leaf on this one.

Cincinnati As Top-Four Seed
Past Six Instances

	SEED	RESULT	LOST TO
2004	4	Lost in second round	Illinois (5)
2002	1	Lost in second round	UCLA (8)
2000	2	Lost in second round	Tulsa (7)
1999	3	Lost in second round	Temple (6)
1998	2	Lost in second round	West Virginia (10)
1997	3	Lost in second round	Iowa State (6)
** Opponent's seed in parentheses

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[Greenbacks]

Clemson

This is the first tournament appearance for the Tigers since 2011, and it has been 21 years since they last won a game in the round of 64. Rick Barnes, now the head coach at Tennessee, was the Clemson coach for that 1997 team that reached the Sweet 16.

 

[Greenbacks]

Creighton

In the modern era, not only have the Bluejays have yet to advance past the second round (0-6 in the round of 32), but they've lost all six games in that round by double figures. In fairness, they were at least five seeds lower than their opponent in five of those matchups, but in the one game they were the higher seed -- as a No. 3 versus No. 6 Baylor in 2014 -- they were blown out by 30. Greg McDermott hopes for a better fate this year.

 

[Greenbacks]

Duke

This is the 34th time Mike Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to the tournament. In an impressive 12 of the previous 33 trips, Duke has advanced to the Final Four, five of which ended with a championship. This year, Coach K's team earned a No. 2 seed, which hasn't treated the Blue Devils well in recent years, including last year when South Carolina upset them in the round of 32. In their past six appearances as a 2-seed -- dating back to 1997 -- they have lost in the first round once, second round three times and reached the Elite Eight only once (2013).

 

[Greenbacks]

Florida

While Duke has struggled recently as a 2-seed, the Gators have excelled, regardless of seed. In their past five trips to the Dance -- as a 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and 7-seed -- they have four Elite Eight appearances and one Final Four. In Mike White's first trip to the NCAA tournament as a head coach last year, Florida reached the Elite Eight before falling to conference foe South Carolina. This year, the Gators received a No. 6 seed.

 

[Greenbacks]

Gonzaga

Last year's runner-up is making its 20th straight NCAA tournament appearance. Gonzaga has won nine straight first-round games and is looking to reach the Sweet 16 four straight years for the first time in school history.

 

[Greenbacks]

Houston

Some of you reading this remember when the Cougars were among college basketball's elite. They made three consecutive Final Fours from 1982 to 1984, including back-to-back runner-up finishes in '83 and '84. Unfortunately, Houston hasn't won a single NCAA tournament game since then (0-4). In fact, this is only its second tourney appearance in the past 26 years. The No. 6 seed the Cougars received this year is their best since that 1984 team was a 2-seed.