No home-court advantage in regionals

The NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament isn’t likely to have a top seed with a big home-court advantage in this year’s regionals.

We’ve seen teams such as Duke and Syracuse playing close to home cooking over the years.

That scenario could have resulted again this season with the East Regional in Syracuse. SU, which wasn’t headed for a top seed anyway, took itself out of the equation by putting the team on a self-imposed probation that made them ineligible for the tournament.

A cynic might say that was an easy decision in a year when the Orange might not even have qualified for the Big Dance. They won’t even have the option of being embarrassed in the NIT the ACC Tournament, for which they’re also ineligible.

The other regionals are distant from the homes of other perennial contenders. The Midwest Regional is in Cleveland, the South in Houston and the West in Los Angeles.

There is one team that could win the tournament without having to board an airplane.

That’s top-ranked Kentucky, which should be able to win anywhere short of the NBA’s Western Conference.

Assuming the Wildcats would go in the Midwest, they’d open NCAA play in Louisville, move on to Cleveland and play in the Final Four even closer to home in Indianapolis.

In the most recent polls, Gonzaga, Virginia and Duke followed Kentucky. Gonzaga would be the natural choice as the No. 1 seed in a West Regional woefully short of top teams. Virginia would be likely to be the East’s top seed. Though Duke would be playing in its natural South Regional, the Blue Devils would be about 1,000 miles from home.

Based on the current polls, the regions could stack up like this:

East – 1. Virginia, 2. Villanova (playing on a familiar Carrier Dome court), 3. North Carolina, 4. West Virginia or Maryland.

South – 1. Duke, 2. Kansas, 3. Iowa State, 4. Northern Iowa or West Virginia.

Midwest – 1. Kentucky, 2. Wisconsin, 3. Louisville or Kansas, 4. Notre Dame.

West – 1. Gonzaga, 2. Arizona, 3. Utah, 4. Wichita State or Northern Iowa.

There’s still a long way to go. So those regional lineups could change a lot, but it’s still not likely that a clear hometown favorite will be hosting.

Notes on Virginia-UNC

Virginia beat the North Carolina Tar Heels at their own game Monday night.

The ACC leading Cavaliers (20-1 overall, 8-1 in conference) rallied from a six-point deficit to win the road game 75-64.

Third-ranked Virginia was coming off its first loss, to No. 4 Duke before taking on the No. 12 Tar Heels. A rugged stretch of schedule will continue for UVa Saturday against No. 9 Louisville.

UNC (17-6, 7-3) had broken away from a defensive struggle where neither team scored in the first 2 minutes by beating the Cavaliers’ zone and getting the ball inside.

When Joel Jones scored for a 16-10 lead, North Carolina already had scored 10 points in the paint.

By halftime, which Kennedy Meeks ended with a tip-in to put the Tar Heels back in the lead at 33-32, they had scored 18 points inside.

North Carolina scored 16 more points in the paint in the second half, but Virginia put in 24 from short range. Those earned the Cavaliers a 40-34 advantage for the game.

“The defense tightened up,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett told ESPN’s Allison Williams. “Our guys played the way we need to play, and that’s blue-collar play.”

UVa’s three starting guards were the leading scorers, but Anthony Gill came off the bench to help up front with 13 points and a team-high 7 rebounds.

Malcolm Brogdon scored 17 points. Justin Anderson’s 16 included three 3-pointers, and London Parrantes added 15 points.

Marcus Paige led UNC with 15, but 10 of those came after Virginia had built an 18-point lead at 66-48. Playing inside, Brice Johnson had 14 points and 8 rebounds, and Meeks added 11 and 7.

Meeks was playing after waking up with a 101-degree fever. J.P. Tokoto struggled, missing all three field goal attempts and scoring one point in 30 minutes.

The Tar Heels will visit unranked Boston College Saturday.

Belichick, Patriots one move ahead in chess game

You've seen the last-minute interception that clinched the Patriots' big game 49 victory -- if not live, then in incessant replays.
And you've seen or heard the second guessing of Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.
Why would Seattle pass with 20 seconds left, the ball on New England's 1 yard line and Marshawn Lynch in the backfield?
As the teams lined up, I was thinking that the Seahawks would be swarming around Lynch so much that a pass could be open.
Carroll might have been thinking the same thing when he called for the pass. But he wasn't expecting that New England's Bill Belichick might be one step ahead of him.
Belichick was like the customer in the AT&T commercial who one-ups Lily in appreciation for appreciation of appreciation by saying merely, "I appreciate that." By the the time Lily recovers with "ahhhhh," it's too late. The point has been made.
The Patriots were not too late.
In a post-game interview, Malcolm Butler, the rookie who made the interception, said when he saw receivers stacked on the right end of the formation, he was looking for the pick play designed to get Ricardo Lockette open.
Why would Butler be looking for that? Had the Patriots spied on Seattle practices?
No, it was probably just good old-fashioned scouting.
Were there examples of pick plays the Seahawks used this season to score on short passes in similar situations?
On Sept. 21, Seattle had the ball on Denver's 5 with 23 seconds left in the first half. There was a stack and a third receiver on the left end, with Lynch split out wide on the right. Tight end Zach Miller ran downfield, Lynch slanted across his backside, the deep defender was late getting to him and Russell Wilson hit Lynch for a touchdown.