March Madness: UAB and Clemson are in the NCAA Tournament
By Jason Lisk
UAB BLAZERS
Conference: Conference USA, at-large (22-8)
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Famous Alum: Regina Benjamin, Surgeon General, and Roddy White of the Atlanta Falcons
Highest Scorer: Steve Mitchell (1,867 points)
They’re Back! UAB is in the tournament for the first time under coach Mike Davis. The last appearances were from 2004-2006 with Mike Anderson, including a win over #1 seed Kentucky to get to the Sweet 16 in 2004. In the 1980’s, the Blazers were a perennial tournament team, and my first memory of watching Missouri in the tournament was of a 1986 first round loss to UAB (of course, Missouri always lost in the first round then).
Resume: They were ranked reasonably high by the RPI, but their quality wins were questioned. They beat fellow “first four” participant Virginia Commonwealth, and UTEP in triple OT. They lost to Duke by 21, Georgia, Arizona State, and Memphis twice, along with a loss in the first round of the conference tourney to East Carolina that many thought put them out.
Slow Going: In a complete reversal from the Anderson days, the Blazers are one of the slowest paced teams in the country under Davis. They play with a very limited bench and will rely heavily on 5’8″ senior Aaron Johnson and swingman Jamarr Sanders. Their strength is defense, where they allow only 31% on three point shots.
All-Important Rankings: 31 (RPI), 56 (Pomeroy), 53 (Sagarin)
Seed: #12 seed vs. Clemson in “first four” game, winner to play #5 seed West Virginia in the East.
CLEMSON TIGERS
Conference: Atlantic Coast, at-large (21-11)
Location: Clemson, South Carolina
Famous Alum: Strom Thurmond; U.S. Soccer players Oguchi Onyewu and Stuart Holden
Highest Scorer: Elden Campbell (1,880 points)
They’re Back! This is Clemson’s fourth straight appearance, and they have lost in the first round the last three years. They’ve made 10 appearances, and have made it past the second round three times. The most memorable was in 1990, when a very good team with Elden Campbell and Dale Davis lost on a memorable buzzer beater to Connecticut and Tate George.
Resume: wins over Florida State, Virginia Tech, Boston College (2x), Wofford; losses to Michigan, Old Dominion, Florida State, North Carolina (3x) and Duke
Defensive Battle: Clemson is one of the better defensive teams in the tournament, but struggles sometimes to score the ball. They’ll match diminutive point guards, with 5’9″ Andre Young getting to go with a counterpart his size. The rest of the team has good size, and will look to Jerai Grant to attack the Blazers inside.
All-Important Rankings: 57 (RPI), 24 (Pomeroy), 42 (Sagarin)
Seed: #12 seed vs. UAB in “first four” game, winner to play #5 seed West Virginia in the East.
Others with their dance ticket in hand:
Indiana State
Belmont
Morehead State
UNC Asheville
Old Dominion
St. Peter’s
Wofford
Oakland
Gonzaga
Butler
Northern Colorado
Bucknell
Long Island
at larges:
[photo via Getty]