Colleges

USF won't be dancing

Despite a 20-11 record, the Bulls are left out. FSU gets in as a No. 10 seed.

By GREG AUMAN
Published March 13, 2007

TAMPA - In the same room a year ago, the Bulls jumped and screamed, hugged and celebrated their first trip to the NCAA Tournament.

On Monday night, watching the same selection show, USF found the other extreme, watching in awkward silence as 64 other teams had their name called, relegating the Bulls to the hollow consolation of the Women's NIT.

"I don't understand it," coach Jose Fernandez said. "I felt better than last year. Last year, we were RPI-rated 42 going in. You go in whatever we were this morning, 31, 32, you think you're in for sure. ... A lot of people would be excited about going to the NIT and playing in a postseason tournament. ... I'm not."

In Tallahassee, there was far better news for Florida State, which earned its third consecutive NCAA berth as a No. 10 seed, playing Old Dominion on Saturday in Stanford, Calif.

"We're really excited. Old Dominion is a program that has great tradition, great coaching, and they've played a really tough schedule outside of their conference, so they're going to be a tough matchup for us," coach Sue Semrau said.

USF (20-11, 9-7 in the Big East) had been confident of landing an at-large berth, despite losing six of their final eight games. The Bulls had won back-to-back late games against another bubble team in Seton Hall, including the team's first win in the Big East tournament, thinking that made the Bulls the eighth Big East team worthy of an NCAA berth.

"We put it in the hands of a committee. We didn't play ourselves into the tournament," Fernandez said. "But I think what we did schedulingwise and throughout the year was enough to get us in. I had very high expectations of this team. It's disappointing, without a doubt. It's a step back."

Two of three experts on ESPN.com named USF as the "biggest snub" by the selection committee. Selection chair Judy Southard said USF was one of nine teams debated for the final at-large berth.

"They were one of the teams on the board all the way down to the very last ballot," Southard said. "The choices we had in front of us, the teams so closely mirrored one another, it made for really, really tough decisions."

Southard pointed to USF's 2-10 record against teams in the RPI top 50 and a 5-11 record against teams in the top 100.

The Big East team that took USF's place looked to be DePaul, whose RPI was 29 spots below the Bulls', with a worse overall record and league record. But the Blue Demons beat USF in Chicago last month, reminding the Bulls that any one loss can prove to be costly.

"Chances looked pretty good we were going to go," senior guard Tristen Webb said. "It wasn't for sure, but chances were good. It's one of those things in life that you have to roll with it."

Senior Jessica Dickson, USF's all-time leading scorer, said: "It's pretty tough, especially for T-Webb, because she didn't get the chance to play last year. I don't know what to say right now."

USF awaited word on an opponent and date late Monday as the WNIT field was to be announced.

Meanwhile, the Seminoles face ODU (24-8), which played host to Duke and Tennessee, both No. 1 seeds, as well as No. 5 seeded Middle Tennessee State. The Monarchs beat Rutgers, the No. 4 seed in the Greensboro Region and the No. 15-ranked team in the AP poll. Beginning with that game, they won 21 of 22, including their last 12.

The Seminoles (22-9), who finished in a three-way tie for third in the ACC (10-4), didn't have that kind of nonconference schedule.

"We beat the teams we were supposed to during the year, but we didn't get the big win," Semrau said, referring to losses to Duke, North Carolina and Maryland and a narrow loss against Georgia (a No. 3 seed) in FSU's marquee matchups, "so the seeding wasn't a surprise."

The Seminoles have won their NCAA opener in each of their past four appearances but haven't won a second game. Last year, they lost to Stanford 88-70, the team that looms as the likely second-round opponent. The Cardinal is the No. 2 seed.

Times staff writer Brian Landman contributed to this report.

up next

NCAA women

No. 10 FSU vs. No. 7 Old Dominion, 2 p.m. Saturday, Fresno Region

Full bracket, 6C

NCAA men

No. 1 Florida vs. No. 16 Jackson St., 9:50 p.m. Friday*, Midwest Region

Full bracket, 7C

*Start time approximate

Inside

FSU men prepare to host Toledo tonight in NIT. 8C

[Last modified March 13, 2007, 00:13:19]