COLUMN: A few musings on the NCAAs

From Adam Steinmetz's "Wide Open," Fall '95 He argues that it would relieve the pressure on coaches and players to get into the tournament. It would take away the mysterious selection process. It would also give every player the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament. On one point his argument is certainly valid. The pressure on coaches to make the Big Dance is tremendous. The selection committee's decision might cost a guy like St. Joseph's coach John Griffin his job. But a watered down tournament would take away the accomplishment of making the tournament. It would rob the regular season of what little meaning it now contains. And in a sense, every team is already in the Tournament. Conference tournaments provide almost every team the chance to make the NCAA Tournament. Some have taken advantage. Florida International is the freak show of this year's NCAA carnival, a school with an 11-18 record, a coach who is resigning at year's end, and a name that sounds more like an airport than a university. But Florida International deserves to be in the Tournament. They played by the rules. They did not come up with the idea of conference tournaments. Money did. The Ivy League should take a bow for making its regular season count for something. Besides, the Tournament works beautifully the way it is now. The carnival starts Thursday. Sixty-four attractions from 31 states and the District of Columbia. The East Region, though, has a theme -- Big Country. Literally. The four top seeds all have dominating centers. Fourth-seeded Oklahoma State has 7-foot, 292-pound Bryant "Big Country" Reeves.You want country. On his first airplane flight, Reeves heard that gum helped your ears -- so he promptly stuck a piece in his ear. The three top seeds -- Wake Forest, UMass and Villanova start Tim Duncan, Jason Lawson and Marcus Camby (remember him) respectively. Each of the top four teams also has a second superstar (Randolph Childress, Kerry Kittles, Lou Roe and Oklahoma State's Randy Rutherford) to compliment its pivot threat. So don't make any guaranteed reservations in Seattle. Look for UMass to beat Wake Forest and the dazzling Randolph "Give me the ball and get the #@%* out of the way" Childress in the regional finals. Arkansas gets the cakewalk in the Midwest. Reaction to this bracket. Whoo. Pig Suey. Look for Colgate to give Kansas a major scare in the first round. But then Kansas will wake up and meet Arkansas in the regional finals. The rest of the region is depleted. Virginia has lost Cory Alexander with a broken ankle, and Arizona might be without Damon Stoudamire. The Hogs will be back in the Final Four. The Southeast has a Stackhouse. And Jerry will lead his team to the Final Four. But the tournament champion will come out of the West. It will not be UCLA. Maryland has all the ingredients of a tournament champion: superstar Joe Smith, a defensive pest in Johnny Rhodes, a clutch free-throw shooter in Duane Simpkins, and the best name in Exree Hipp. The Terps lack a senior, but last year they went to the Sweet Sixteen as a 10 seed by beating UMass. They will end the Minutemen's season again this year in one semifinal. In the other semifinal, Arkansas and North Carolina will play a double-overtime thriller with Nolan Richardson and Dean Smith rumbling. The Hogs will win on a Scotty Thurman three-pointer. Then Maryland will beat Arkansas in the finals, 82-77. But, hey, if you disagree, you have your own brackets to fill out. And that is the real fun of this thing. Sixty-four teams. Sixty-three games. Everybody being in it would make the office pool too much of a hassle. So keep your brackets handy and get ready for the best three weeks in sports. Adam Steinmetz is a Wharton senior from West Palm Beach, Fla., and a sports writer for The Daily Pennsylvanian. Wide Open appears alternate Tuesdays.