By Craig Degel and Joel Flom
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 11, 1998

Arizona faces tough regional

For those of you who think Arizona's got the easy road to the Final Four - think again.

The West Region is packed with powerhouses set to topple Arizona's reign as NCAA Champion.

Seven Associated Press Top 25 teams dot the 16-team region, more than any other region in the Tournament. Following top seed and AP No. 4 Arizona, you have No. 2 seed Cincinnati (AP No. 9), three seed Utah (No. 7), four seed Maryland (No. 20), five seed Illinois (No. 22), six seed Arkansas (No. 17) and seven seed Temple, which was ranked 24th in the final regular season poll.

Then, there are the unranked teams that can put a scare into you.

"Tennessee's tremendously talented," Arizona head coach Lute Olson said of his team's possible second round opponent. "They have great guard play."

And they are coached by former Oregon head man Jerry Green. The Volunteers are seeded eighth and play No. 9 seed Illinois State tomorrow afternoon in Sacramento, Calif. Both Tennessee and Illinois State received 10 votes in the final poll placing them tied for 36th.

The other two games in the Wildcats' Sacramento sub region feature Illinois against No. 12 seed South Alabama - Arizona's first round victim last year - and Maryland versus No. 13 seed Utah State, which got two votes and tied for 40th.

Cincinnati, who has suffered numerous suspensions over the course of the year, finally seems to have its act together.

"I think (Cincinnati is) coming into the tournament playing very well," Olson said.

Midwest Region

It appears that No. 1 seed Kansas does not have to face too many hazards on its way to San Antonio. The highest ranked teams the Jayhawks could face are two seed Purdue (No. 11) and three seed Stanford (No. 10).

Other ranked teams in the region include four seed Mississippi (No. 13), five seed Texas Christian (No. 15) and nine seed Murray State (No. 25). The Racers broke into the final poll for the first time since 1971.

Kansas, however, does stand a good chance of beating itself. The Jayhawks played 37 games this year, more than any other team in the tournament. Fatigue could hit Kansas and its two AP First Team All-Americans, Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce, early. In addition, the Jayhawks traditionally have not taken advantage of their No. 1 seedings. Although Kansas has been to the Final Four three times in the past decade, the team has never been there as the No. 1 seed in its region.

Like any division, there are a few teams that could sneak up on an opponent. For the Midwest Region, these teams include seven seed St. John's, where senior Felipe Lopez is finally living up to some of the hype that has surrounded him since his freshman year, and six seed Clemson, which may be much better than their 18-13 record indicates.

East Region

The No. 1 seed has the top vote-getter for the AP First Team All-American list in junior Antawn Jamison and the exciting play of junior Vince Carter, yet its bench is not deep. The Tar Heels are also coming off a championship run in one of the toughest conferences in the country.

The East sports three teams ranked in the top 10, with two seed Connecticut (No. 6) and five seed Princeton (No. 8) accompanying the Tar Heels.

North Carolina has the possibility of facing a tough two seed in the Connecticut Huskies. The Huskies feature a Michael Dickerson-like slasher in Richard Hamilton, who has shown he can put up big numbers at any given moment, and solid play from freshman point guard Kahlid El-Amin.

Looking to offer an upset is Eastern Michigan and the biggest small guy in college, 5-foot-5-inch point guard Earl Boykins. They face the regular season Big Ten champs Michigan State.

South Region

Similar to Arizona, top seed Duke suffered a late season defeat to North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament final.

The Wildcats seem to be pulling for Duke to make it to the championship game.

"I really want to see Duke again," senior forward Bennett Davison said, referring to Arizona's 95-87 loss to the Blue Devils earlier this season.

However, the South Region is always topsy-turvy - Arizona went to the Final Four last season out of the region as the No. 4 seed.

Duke also has the disadvantage of drawing arguably the toughest two seed, last year's tournament runner-up, Kentucky. The Wildcats are hot entering the Big Dance after cruising to the Southeastern Conference tournament title.

As always, look to the upset in this region. Third-seeded Michigan is on a roll after winning the Big Ten tournament but don't forget about four seed New Mexico or six seed UCLA - an unlikely pick but not a dumb one.

"Just looking at the various brackets, everywhere you look you see a lot of good teams," Olson said. "I agree with the comments by Billy Packer that you start looking at five and six seeds in there and you start seeing some awfully good basketball teams."