SMU and Cincinnati enter the NCAA Championship as two of the hottest teams in the nation. But the Mustangs and Bearcats are still out to prove the doubters wrong
by Dick Weiss
HARTFORD, Conn.-- The two best teams in The American played for the tournament championship here Sunday.
SMU defeated Cincinnati, 71-56, to win its second tournament championship in three years at the XL Center.
Since both the Mustangs (30-4), who have won 16 straight games and 26 of their last 27, and the Bearcats (29-5) were nationally ranked and assured of spots in the NCAA tournament, there was nothing really to play for except pride and cutting down the nets.
“I've been telling people how good they are for a long time,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said of the Mustangs. “That's a credit to them, their talent, their execution, so I give them all the credit in the world. They were just the better team today.”
SMU, which shot 50 percent, put four players-- Sterling Brown, Semi Ojeleye, Ben Moore and Jeremy Foster-- in double figures and limited the Bearcats to 31.1-percent shooting.
Now that the celebration is over, the real work begins
The American, the second youngest league in Division I in terms of minutes played by its personnel, is looking to polish its image by winning games in the first weekend of play and sending one or both teams to the Sweet 16 the following week. The last time a current team from The American did that was UConn, which won the national championship in 2014 as a No. 7 seed and it has been an uphill climb from there.
These are good teams.
But the selection committee did not do The American any favors.
SMU, which has won 16 straight games and 26 of 27, is arguably the hottest team in the country. But the Mustangs were given a No. 6 seed and will play the winner of the Providence-USC game Friday in Tulsa.
If the Ponies win, they will draw the winner of Baylor-New Mexico Sunday. Cincinnati also got a No. 6 seed and will play the winner of the Kansas State-Wake Forest game Friday at Sacramento. If the Bearcats win, they will play the winner of the UCLA-Kent State game Sunday.
“SMU won 30 games, we won 29,” said Cronin. “I think it's pretty obvious that nobody was impressed. I don't know what to say.”
SMU coach Tim Jankovich took a global approach.
“I could really start bitching and whining,” Jankovich said. “I really could and I don't blame a lot of coaches for doing that because you always feel your team deserves better. But you know what the truth is? I don't care at all. I could care less what the number is. They're just silly numbers. The committee tries to do its best. They're trying to assess everybody. It's a hard job. I'm thrilled we're playing on Friday. That's my biggest thing. I thought that was going to be really really important. We're the last game in the country today, if I'm not mistaken, and we're a long way from being home.
“I wanted a Friday game. So you can have the number. I wanted that extra day.”
This will be the Mustangs' second trip to the tournament in three years. They were good enough to play in the dance last year but they were declared ineligible for postseason play last year by the NCAA.
“We're just grateful,” Sterling Brown said. “We fought every game. Our confidence is very high. We just go out there and do what we do. We're jelling on and off the floor and it's showing. I feel like we're going to make a good run in the tournament. We've got high goals and we've been achieving them since the start of the season.”
At least SMU will not have to travel far for its sub-regional game.
Cincinnati is another story. Even though the Bearcats have been to the tournament seven straight years, this is the third time in four years they have been sent to a Pacific-time-zone site.
“A couple of my best friends in the world live on the West Coast, so maybe that's a good thing,” Cronin said. “They're going to be able to come to the game. Here's the downside for us, and this is not just us. Three of the last four years, my players’ families -- Troy Caupin, Kevin Johnson and Zach Tolbert go to the tournament, they're in Spokane twice and Sacramento once. That's really not easy for their families to be able to get to those games. That's a big thing. But other than that, we don't believe in excuses. So that won't be played about at all by our team.”
Hopefully for The American, the league, which received four bids last year, will become more visible to the committee again in the future. Cincinnati returns four starters. SMU has three, including forward Semi Ojeleye, the league's Player of the Year. UCF, with its towering 7-6 center Tacko Fall and talented guard B.J. Taylor, has NCAA aspirations in Johnny Dawkins' second year; and UConn, Temple, Houston and Memphis and Tulsa should all be in the mix.
But for now, It will be up to SMU and Cincinnati to carry the torch and prove they are better than many people think.