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Looking forward to Sunday
Updated: Sunday March 04, 2001 11:48 AM
Sports Illustrated staff writer Seth Davis chatted with CNNSI.com about the goings-on in the college basketball universe this week: CNNSI.com: The game of the week is undoubtedly Duke at North Carolina on Sunday. The Blue Devils had another exciting finish at Wake Forest this past weekend while Carolina struggled at Virginia. Who needs to win this game more? Seth Davis: It kind of depends on your perspective. Obviously North Carolina has lost two of its last three and the Tar Heels really need a good win on their own home court. From Duke's perspective, having lost the earlier meeting in Cameron on a controversial call there at the end, maybe the Blue Devils feel there's some payback to be had. As usual, there is a lot at stake here, and not just the ACC regular-season title. I think the winner will emerge with the inside track to having the No. 1 seed in the East. The key to this game is who wins the battle up front. In the first meeting Brendan Haywood really dominated Carlos Boozer inside. Mike Kzyzewski has been trying to get Casey Sanders into the rotation. This would be a great stage for Sanders to have a breakout game since Boozer won't play. And if there's not enough at stake here, you also have a national player of the year race that's really going down to the wire among Shane Battier, Jason Williams and Joseph Forte. So if one of those three wants to make the case for being player of the year, Sunday's a great time to try and do it. CNNSI.com: You mentioned the fight for the No. 1 seeds. Which other teams are jockeying for those spots? Davis: It seemed like a pretty clear picture about a week ago, but a lot of these teams have gotten knocked off. Obviously, between Duke and North Carolina, whichever one of those teams wins the ACC tournament, I think will be No. 1 in the East. The other will probably be No. 1 in the South. Same thing with Michigan State and Illinois out in the Big Ten -- whichever team wins that league tournament will be No. 1 in the Midwest. If Stanford wins the Pac-10, they'll not only be No. 1 in the West but No.1 overall in the tournament, which is important because that means the weakest No. 2 seed will be placed in the region. But if any of those teams falter, you've got kind of a scramble. If Iowa State wins the Big 12 tournament, the Cyclones might be able to move up as a No. 1. If UCLA wins the Pac-10, the Bruins would have a strong case to be No. 1 in the West. And here's a dark horse: you've got Florida and Kentucky in the SEC. Those two teams play each other this Sunday. If the winner of that game goes on to win the SEC tournament, I think they could be No. 1 in the South if Duke or North Carolina stumble down the stretch. It's going to be pretty interesting. CNNSI.com: Player injuries can really throw off the selection committee. Cincinnati lost Kenyon Martin last year in the Conference USA tournament. How does the committee take this into account? Where do you see this coming into play this year? Davis: Injuries are noted in the nitty-gritty report each committee member receives when they go through the selection process. What the committee has to ask is what will a team be taking into the NCAA tournament if it's different from the regular season. For example, right now Iowa is playing without Luke Recker and the Hawkeyes have really been in a tailspin, losing five of seven since he's been out. They're hoping to get him back for the Big Ten tournament. It'll be very important for them to establish not only that he's going to play but also that he's going to be effective. There's a similar situation with Missouri in the Big 12. The Tigers thought they were going to lose Kareem Rush for the whole season with a broken thumb. Now he's coming back -- he dressed for the game against Texas Monday night and should be playing over the weekend -- so that's something the committee will have to consider if it's close for Missouri. And Utah is an interesting case. They've won seven games in a row because they have Chris Burgess healthy once again at the center spot. Plus, they've been without Rick Majerus all season long. If they lose in the Mountain West tournament, it could be close for them. I think you could say that the Utes are a better team now than their win-loss record would indicate. There's a lot of information the committee is going to have to juggle at the last minute. Sports Illustrated staff writer Seth Davis covers college basketball for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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