Wood joins select group of coaches
By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
March 16, 2004
Par for the course, Kentucky once again leads the Southeastern Conference into the NCAA tournament.
The Wildcats received the overall No. 1 seed and the top spot in the St. Louis Regional on Sunday, as six teams from the SEC earned berths in the tournament.
Kentucky (26-4) secured the overall No. 1 thanks to its 89-73 thrashing of Florida in the SEC tournament game, and the Wildcats were helped out by Duke's 95-87 overtime loss to Maryland in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship game.
Kentucky will play the winner of today's play-in game between Lehigh and Florida A&M. The Wildcats tip off play in the tournament at 6:10 p.m. Friday in Columbus, Ohio.
History also held up for the SEC by the number of teams that reached the tournament.
Kentucky is joined by Mississippi State University, a No. 2 seed in the Atlanta Regional, Florida, a No. 5 seed in the East Rutherford, N.J., Regional, Vanderbilt, a No. 6 seed in the Phoenix Regional, Alabama, a No. 8 seed in Phoenix, and South Carolina, a 10th seed in East Rutherford.
Not every coach in the SEC share Stansbury view that historically the conference was not going to get more than six teams in the tournament.
The SEC along with the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East and Conference USA got six teams into the tournament. The Atlantic 10 and Big 12 each had four chosen.
Only one team Eastern Washington, the Big Sky tournament champion is making its first appearance in the tournament.
The Bulldogs (25-3) will meet No. 15-seed Monmouth (21-11) in at 6:10 p.m. Friday in Orlando, Fla.
MSU enters the 2004 tournament in its best position in program history at No. 2. The Bulldogs previous best was a No. 3 seed, which they received in 2002 and 2003.
Florida (20-10) will play No. 12-seed Manhattan (24-5) at 11:20 a.m. on Thursday in Raleigh, N.C.
The Gators, who finished second in the SEC Eastern Division, won six of their last eight games, with both of the team's losses coming at the hands of Kentucky.
Vanderbilt (21-9) meets No. 11-seed Western Michigan (26-4) in Orlando, Fla., on Friday, following No. 3-seed North Carolina State's game with Louisiana-Lafayette, which is seeded 14th. N.C. State's and Louisiana-Lafayette are set to tip off at 11:15 a.m.
The Commodores scored wins over Ole Miss and MSU in the SEC tournament before being eliminated by the Gators.
Alabama (17-12) will take on No. 9-seed Southern Illinois (25-4) at 1:40 p.m. Thursday in Seattle.
The Crimson Tide finished second in the SEC Western Division, and they have won five of their last seven games, including a 77-73 win over MSU on Feb. 21 at Humphrey Coliseum.
South Carolina (23-10) will meet No. 7-seed Memphis (21-7) at 11:30 a.m. Friday in Kansas City, Mo.
The Gamecocks defeated Arkansas and LSU in the SEC tournament before being eliminated by Kentucky, but they closed the regular season losing four of their last five games.
