WASHINGTON — Tennessee-Chattanooga, Coppin State and the College of Charleston have a long way to go to catch North Carolina and Dean Smith, who became the leaders in college basketball's all-time coaching victories by winning NCAA tournament first- and second-round games this past weekend.
But that monumental achievement was nearly overshadowed by the efforts of unheralded teams such as Tennessee-Chattanooga. The Moccasins, champions of the Southern Conference, beat third-seeded Georgia and sixth-seeded Illinois to become just the second No. 14 seed to advance to the round of 16.
Coppin State became just the third No. 15 seed and the first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference team to win an NCAA tournament game, routing second-seeded South Carolina, 78-65. The Eagles then nearly became the first No. 15 seed to win a second-round game, falling short against Texas, 82-81.
"They went all out with reckless abandon," Texas guard Al Coleman said before his team played the Eagles. "It didn't matter to them that they were playing South Carolina."
Other lower seeds also made strong showings, including No. 12 College of Charleston, another first-round winner (over Maryland) and narrow second-round loser; No. 16 Fairfield, which played Smith and North Carolina virtually even before losing, 82-74; No. 15 Murray State, which played Duke to the final seconds in the first round; No. 14 Old Dominion, which did the same thing against New Mexico; and No. 12 seeds Princeton and Valparaiso, who respectively gave California and Boston College extremely difficult games.
Following his team's 73-70 escape from Murray State, Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said part of the reason for the early-round upsets and close calls is the timing of the start of the NCAAs -- that players from smaller leagues aren't worn down from the nightly battles in leagues such as the Atlantic Coast and Big Ten conferences.
But perhaps at least as germane is Krzyzewski's acknowledgment that players such as Murray State guard Vincent Rainey or Tennessee-Chattanooga's Johnny Taylor -- the Southern Conference player of the year -- could excel anywhere.
"You can't tell me that Vincent Rainey couldn't start for us," Krzyzewski said. "And if you get one player like that who can set an aggressive tone, then it becomes an entirely different team."
