Three Dog Night told us “One” was the loneliest number, but when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, it’s the most coveted number.
Get a No.1 seed and you’re all but guaranteed of a first-round win and an easier road to the Final Four.
“Just by the nature of it, it is going to make the four games – in this case to get to St. Louis – they are really difficult,” said Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun.
“If you can have one less tougher game, that just starts putting the percentages on your side. You are going to have to play well.”
No top-seeded team has ever lost a first-round game.
Whatever pressures of pitfalls you might think accompany the No. 1 seed are far exceeded by the advantages, say coaches who have been in that position.
In the case of Illinois, the No. 1 overall seed in this year’s Big Dance, which begins tomorrow night, No. 1 has never looked better.
The Illini might have to fight traffic as much as opponents on their way to St. Louis. They open play Thursday against FDU in Indianapolis, a two-hour car ride from Illinois’ Champaign campus.
If Illinois wins its first two games in Indy, it advances to the regional final in Chicago.
That’s another two-hour car ride. And if the Illini get to St. Louis, their fans will really have to suck it up. It’s three hours to the gateway of the West.
“It’s set up perfect for us,” forward Nick Smith told the Chicago Sun-Times.
“We saw it setting up like this back in October, and we got the little triangle. If we get 15,000 or 20,000 people to show up in Indianapolis and 20,000 to show up in Chicago, that could be a real big advantage.
“If we just play our best, I think things will work out for us.”
Things could work out for North Carolina, Duke and Washington, the other No. 1 seeds, as well.
The Tar Heels and Blue Devils will play their first- and second-round games in Charlotte.
If successful, Carolina, which opens Friday against the winner of the Oakland-Alabama A&M play-in game, would advance to Syracuse; Duke, which takes on Delaware State on Friday, would head to Austin.
Neither Roy Williams nor Mike Krzyzewski had any concerns about overconfidence or their players taking the “home court” advantage for granted.
“I’d rather be rich,” Coach K said in a recent visit to New York when asked about any disadvantages of being a No. 1 seed.
“Let me decide what private school to send my kid to or to what charity I want to make a donation. [The No. 1 seed] is a good problem to have.”
For Washington, it’s a problem the Huskies have never faced before. In fact, their highest previous seed was a No. 5.
Yet after beating Arizona twice – the second time in the Pac-10 tournament championship game – the Huskies vaulted ahead of Wake Forest, Kansas and Kentucky and into the No. 1 seed in Albuquerque.
Washington begins play Thursday against Montana.
“Now there’s no more talking, no more asking for respect,” forward Mike Jensen said in Seattle.
“Now it’s time to go to work. We need to prove we’re worthy and deserve to be a No. 1 seed.”
At 32-1, Illinois deserved the No.1 seed. The Illini may not have guaranteed reservations in St. Louis, but they know the road ahead of them like a veteran trucker.
“We’re eating at the Beef House; we already have that planned,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said, referring to a restaurant in Covington, Ind., just across the Illinois state line and an Illini favorite.
“You hope you have a bit of an advantage being close to home.”
At least you know what’s on the menu.
NCAA Tournament staff picks
MIKE VACCARO
FINAL FOUR
Illinois
Louisville
Kansas
Duke
FINALS
Louisville
Duke
CHAMPION
Louisville
PAUL SCHWARTZ
FINAL FOUR
Oklahoma State
Wake Forest
North Carolina
Oklahoma
FINALS
Wake Forest
North Carolina
CHAMPION
North Carolina
STEVE SERBY
FINAL FOUR
Oklahoma State
West Virginia
Villanova
Syracuse
FINALS
Oklahoma State
Syracuse
CHAMPION
Oklahoma State
BRIAN LEWIS
FINAL FOUR
Oklahoma State
Louisville
North Carolina
Syracuse
FINALS
Oklahoma State
North Carolina
CHAMPION
North Carolina
MARK CANNIZZARO
FINAL FOUR
Illinois
Louisville
Florida
Syracuse
FINALS
Louisville
Florida
CHAMPION
Louisville
