8B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 11, 2002 0 michigandaily.com/Pizza House Challenge NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT 0 First Round March 14-15 Second Round March 1WIT Regiona2s March 21, 23 MaRcg2nal Second Round March 16-17 First Round March 14-15 1 Duke 16 Winthrop 8 NotrwUame 9 Charlotte Pick the most winners and receive a party with 10 pizzas from Pizza House Maryland 1 5 Indiana I Alcorn St./Siena 16 Wisconsin 8 St. John's 9 Marquette 5 Tulsa 12 Kentucky 4 Valparaiso 13 6 12 Utah 4 Southem Cal 13 UNC Wilmington 6 Califomia South East Texas Tech 6 11 Pennsylvania 3 Pittsburgh 14 CeN. Conn. State 7 Oklahoma State 10 Kept State 2 Alabama 15 Florida Atlantic O _ I Southern Illinois 11 Georgia 3 Murray State 14 0 North Carolina St. 7 1 Cincinnati -1r Michigan State 10 Connecticut 2 Hampton 15 Kansas 1 Holy Cross 16 Stanford 8 Western Kentucky 9 16 Boston Univesiry 8 UCLA 9 Mississippi 5 Miami (Fla.) 12 Missouri 4 Ohio State 13 Davidson 6 Gonzaga 11 Wyoming 3 Ouke 14 Cal-Santa Barbara West Florida 5 I I-4 Creighton 12 Illinois 4 k Au.. San Diego State 13 j IM__ '~61744 Hoau Se Midwest L- Texas 6 A 7 Xavier 10 Hawaii 2 Oklahoma 15 I inois- Chicago I -a I Mississippi State 3 McNeese State 14 Wake Forest 7 Pepperdine 10 Oregon 2 Montana 15 Boston College 11 To be eligible for the Pizza House prize, you must bring in your completed bracket to The Michigan Daily (420 Maynard Street) before the tournament begins Thursday morning. x~ri ~ s $.. n s a :. r' 4< . '. a ba- M. -1 ,a M.V +w 4~c t i i Your Name Total Points in Champlongilp g e E-mail Phone The first roUndames are worth one point, two in the second round, then three, four, five and six for the other rounds -- . _.-----A__. _.----------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ohio State turns back Iowa, leads Bi Ten's five ids Daly Spwts Editor Ohio State guard Hoban Savovic was the last Buckeye to vol- untarily siave his head for a team bonding ritual prior to the Big Ten Tournament, saying that he *as afraid of what his father would think. But after Savovic scored a caer high 27- points to help No. 17 Ohio State clinch' its BASKETBALL first ever Big Ten Tourwnment title with a 8I- Notebook 64 win over upstart Iowa, none of the hairless Buckeyes had any complaints. "We knew if we shaved our heads it was saying a lot," Ohio State senior captaiti Brian Brown said. "So we knew that if we shaved our heads and went out and lose the first game, people would say 'Oh, maybe they should have kept their hair.' "So we had to coMe out and play like shaved-head, bald guys. Ohio State (23-7) played like the Big Ten co-champ it was, scored the first nine points against the Hawkoyes and never turned back. Not even 21 porits'from tturiameht hero Luke Recker could help Iowa (19-15) reclaim the magic it had last season when it ran the table in the tournament to clinch an NCAA berth. While the Hawkeyes are heading for the NIT, Ohio State has earned a No. 4 seed in "March Madness" aid will play David- son in the first round. REcKINa su.: At halftime of Iowa's quarterfinal victory over Wisconsin, coach Ste* Alford wrote an inspirational message on the board in the Hawkeyes' lockerroom:'NIT or NCAA, you decide." Recker took the message to heart, and nearly carried the Hawkeyes to their second straight Big Ten Tournament title and a once-improbable NCAA Tournament berth. The Indiana native and former Hoosier dazzled the hometown crowd by nailing two straight game winning shots in the final seconds to defeat Wisconsin and his fornwe team, Indiana. While the barrage of bps resonating through Conseco Field- house was nothing new to Recker, it imade the game-winning shots that much more emotional for the formne Indiana Mr. Bas- ketball. 'The hate mail I teceived, the e-rn ils - nothing.life-threat- ening, but just the letter saying how bad ybu stink - is pretty tough," Recker said. "That's where the emotion came in and the tears came out. I can't describe to you what this feels like." Gonzaga gets snub from the committee The West Region is straight up stacked. While Kansas, Duke and Maryland got No. 1 seeds and relatively easy roads to the Final Four, almost every other good bas- ketball team in the country is play- ing out West. That regional boasts four champi- ons from the "Big Six" conferences Connecticut on Saturday night. Regardless, the selection commit- tee rewarded the seventh-ranked Panthers with two games in, you guessed it - PITTSBURGH. There really ought to be a rule that if your team is named after a city, you shouldn't play first round games there. - plus Gonzaga. The Bulldogs f were the only team to actually boo CBS' selection show cameras. Not only did No. 6 Gonzaga .get hosed with a No. 6 seed, it also could A A face PAC-10 Cham- p pion Arizona in & ' 9 r round two. After reaching the Elite Eight and start in Dallas. two Sweet Sixteen in the last three No team wa seasons, many people thought that ing in Boise,I the "'Zags" would finally get some N.M. But no te love from the NCAA, with a three or than 85 perce four seed. ing its color They were all wrong. either. "We discussed them a lot. They But as bada were a different team to seed," said tion and the ge North Carolina State Athletic Direc- handled, CBSd tor Lee Fowler, who served as chair- The netwo man on the selection committee, to everyone hosts CBS. "But I think this was their best big money ad fit into the 'S' curve." revealing thep That seed shouldn't sit well with they had to e: anyone outside of the committee. graphic policy. Gonzaga, at 29-3, certainly This nonse shouldn't be given the No. 2 seed yelling and scr that its ranking would dictate, but to cious bracket. say that it is in the same category as "I was goi other No. 6 seeds like Texas or Texas Kansas coach Tech is ridiculous. CBS after t Gonzaga and Arizona are joined announced th out west by Conference USA power- asked for his th house Cincinnati, Big 12 tourney Despite all t The NCAA is try- ing to minimize trav- el costs for the teams, but these games are supposed to be played on neu- tral courts. Pennsylvania is the same bracket as Pittsburgh, Illinois and Southern Illinois are playing in Chica- go, and Texas will nts to get stuck play- daho or Albuquerque eam should have more nt of the crowd wear- s in the tournament as the Gonzaga situa- eographic issues were did even worse. rk executives held age, airing a series of ds instead of simply pairings. In addition, xplain the new geo- nse had every fan eaming to see his pre- ng to take a nap," Roy Williams told he station finally e pairings and then houghts. he whining and com- Ohio State players, Brian Brown, bottom left, Boban Savovic, right, and Terence Dials, top right, celebrate with the championship trophy after defeating Iowa to win the Big Ten Tournament. Bottom-feeders no more As always, the first round of the NCAA Tournament provides the biggest excitement and upsets of the season. So we take a look at what Thursday and Friday matchups may put teams like last year's Hampton squad - which upset Iowa State last year as a No. 15 seed - on the map. No. 5 indiana vs. No. 12 Utah, South Region: Keeping true with a tradition that former Indiana coach Bobby Knight started, the Hoosiers have been notorious for their early-round exits the past few seasons, including last year's loss to Kent State. No. 6 California vs. No.11 Pennsylvania, South Region: The marketers are already drooling over a possible second-round game between No. 3 Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania, and California is forced to travel to Pennsylvania for the closest thing to a home game for the Quakers. No. 4 Kentucky vs. No. 13 Valparlso, East Region: After missing last season's tournament due to an upset loss to Southern Utah, the Crusaders are looking to make another impact in their sev- enth trip to the dance in eight years. Ah 1