INDIANAPOLIS - Saint Joseph's hoped a 27-1 record and strong schedule would quiet the critics.
Not a chance.
Despite a 20-point loss to end their regular season, the Hawks grabbed a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday to join Kentucky, Duke and Stanford atop the brackets.
"The body of work was honored," Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli said.
Martelli lashed out at CBS commentator Billy Packer for questioning whether the Hawks deserved to be a top-seeded team, calling him a "jackass."
"He called us out on national TV," Martelli said. "That committee goes into a room and studies it and he's smarter than the committee?"
The NCAA selection committee gave the overall top spot to Kentucky in the St. Louis Region, followed by Duke in Atlanta, Stanford in Phoenix and Saint Joseph's in East Rutherford, N.J.
The St. Louis and East Rutherford winners will meet in the national semifinals.
Committee chairman Bob Bowlsby said Saint Joseph's earned its No. 1 seed because of its schedule. He said the Atlantic 10 team played the nation's toughest nonconference schedule.
"They didn't just play a good schedule, but the No. 1 schedule, and I think that's worth something," he said.
Still, there were questions.
Bowlsby acknowledged the committee debated the effect of the Hawks' blowout loss to Xavier in the Atlantic 10 tournament before deciding to keep them as a top seed. He said as many as nine others were being considered.
Oklahoma State was one that could have replaced Saint Joseph's, but the Cowboys' Big 12 championship game Sunday, a victory over 11th-ranked Texas, began too late to be a factor in the selection.
The tournament begins Tuesday night with the play-in game in Dayton, Ohio, between Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Florida A&M (14-16) and Patriot League champion Lehigh (20-10). That winner will play on Friday in Columbus, Ohio, against Kentucky (26-4).
FRESHMAN LIFTS LEHIGH: A conference championship and an end to a 16-year NCAA Tournament drought rested in the hands of a freshman guard.
Jose Olivero didn't let Lehigh down.
Olivero hit a leaning jumper with 3.9 seconds left and the Mountain Hawks earned an NCAA Tournament bid with a 59-57 victory over American in the Patriot League title game in Bethlehem, Pa.
Tournament MVP Austen Rowland had 14 points and Jason Mgebroff 13 for Lehigh, which won the tournament for the first time. The NCAA Tournament bid is its first since 1988.
"Jose's a very mature basketball player. He's made big plays for us all year," coach Billy Taylor said. "The team has confidence in him and I told him we all feel he's going to make that shot if he gets a look."
Lehigh led by six with 1:22 left before Andres Rodriguez made a 3-pointer, then a layup and a free throw on the next possession to tie.
Taylor elected not to call his final timeout, leaving the game and the final play up to Olivero. With the defense focusing on Rowland, the freshman dribbled around Jason Thomas and pulled up for the winning shot amid three defenders. A halfcourt heave by the Eagles' Matej Cresnik sailed left.
RESPECT AT LAST: Gonzaga finally has a seed to fit its ranking and record.
The Bulldogs drew the No. 2 seed in the St. Louis Region, the highest for a school that has made a habit out of defeating bigger opponents.
"We're very humbled by the seed," coach Mark Few said. "I was happy people finally viewed us the way we view ourselves."
Gonzaga made a spectacular run to the region finals in 1999 and advanced past the first round in four of the past five years, making it to the round of 16 in 2000 and 2001.
The selection committee seemed immune. Despite impressive regular-season records and tough nonconference schedules, Gonzaga couldn't get anything higher than a sixth seed.
Gonzaga didn't give the selection committee much choice this year. The Bulldogs are 27-2 with victories over Missouri, Georgia, George Washington, Maryland and Washington, and they have a 20-game win streak.
BREATHE EASY, COACH: Kevin Stallings finally can relax.
Vanderbilt earned its first NCAA Tournament berth in his five seasons as coach, surviving a situation reminiscent of his first season in 2000 when the Commodores were snubbed despite the same 8-8 SEC record.
"I saw the neatest thing that I've ever seen in all my years in college athletics when our name came up on the screen in my living room," Stallings said. "The reaction was completely joyous and overwhelming. It was really a special scene. I wish I had taped it."
STILL THE CHAMPS: There have been plenty of reminders at every home game, but Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim hasn't spoken to his Orangemen about last season.
That's about to change.
"We haven't talked all year about being the defending champions, but we will talk about it this week," Boeheim said after Syracuse was seeded fifth in the Phoenix Region. "It's something our guys take a lot of pride in. We'll be ready to play."
The No. 19 Orangemen play Brigham Young on Thursday in Denver.
