Rising Above The Ranked
Some of college basketball's best ran into trouble Friday, and the fallout from several key losses will undoubtedly be felt on Sunday when the field for the NCAA Tournament is announced.
No. 4 Ohio State, which could have solidified its chances of being seeded No. 1 in the tournament with a strong showing in the Big Ten conference tournament, was upset by Penn State. The loss is especially damaging since it prevents the Buckeyes from capitalizing on the losses suffered by top-ranked Cincinnati and No. 2 Stanford Thursday.
The eighth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers, also in position to improve their standing in the eyes of the selection committee, couldn't get it done, falling to a South Carolina team that entered the Southeastern Conference tournament with a sub-.500 record.
The Fighting Illini of Illinois, ranked No.25 as they entered a contentious Big Ten Conference tournament, may have leapfrogged No. 18 Indiana by virtue of their defeat of the Hoosiers in an opening-round game.
Auburn, left reeling after the suspension of star Chris Porter, got bad news Friday when the school learned that the NCAA had rejected Auburns's appeal of Porter's suspension for accepting $2,500 to help his mother. With the rejection of the the appeal, Porter's collegiate basketball career is over.
The Tigers showed some grit later in the day, however. They sent No. 11 Florida home to Gainesville early, upsetting the Gators in an SEC quarterfinal game.
And in yet another SEC tournament shocker, Arkansas dispatched Kentucky in relatively easy fashion. This leaves 10th-ranked LSU as the only ranked team in the semifinals.
The team's that stand to benefit from all this activity are current No.3 Duke/A>, No. 5 Michigan State, sixth-ranked Temple, and No. 7 Iowa State, all of which are still alive in conference tournament play.
No. 9 Arizona, which can clinch the Pac-10's automatic bid with a win Saturday, also stands an outside chance of getting a No. 1 seed, depending on how deeply the selection committe frowns on Cincinnati after factoring in the loss of Kenyon Martin and Stanford, which lost twice to the Wildcats this season.
Produced by John Esterbrook