After spending most of the last week in Albuquerque, the Utah basketball team was fully expecting to spend next week in the Duke City again as the No. 4 seed in the NCAA West Region.
Sunday afternoon the Utes received their No. 4 seed as expected. But - surprise! - they are headed to the Midwest Region, where they'll meet Canisius Thursday at Dallas' Reunion Arena.It marks the second straight year the Utes have earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, but this year the Utes hope to go further than the second round, where they lost last year.
If the Utes get by Canisius, a liberal arts college in Buffalo, N.Y., of about 5,000 students, they'll face the winner of the Iowa State-California game. After that, the No. 1 team in the country, Kentucky, looms.
Shortly after the seedings were announced, Utah coach Rick Majerus acknowledged he knew little about Canisius. He had no complaints about his own team's seeding in the tournament.
"I think a No. 4 seed is very fair for us," said Majerus. "I would have been a little disappointed with a No. 5, and with a 3 seed they might have been throwing us a bone."
Majerus said he is familiar with Canisius center Michael Meeks, whom he would have coached if he'd accepted the Canadian Olympic team coaching job last year. Meeks averaged 16.6 points and 6.9 rebounds for the the Golden Griffins, who lost Darrell Barley, their top scorer, just before the Metro Atlantic tournament. Barley is unlikely for the NCAAs.
Last year, Canisius made it to the semifinals of the NIT tournament and returned four starters. It was only fifth in the MAAC this year before rallying to win the conference tournament. This will be its first NCAA appearance in 39 years.
Ute players are excited about the NCAA tournament and have already put their disappointing last-minute loss to New Mexico Saturday night behind them."I thought we'd stay out West, most likely as a fourth seed, but I'm excited to be headed to Dallas," said senior Mark Rydalch, who admitted he was tired of going to Albuquerque. "I think we're in a great spot and have a chance to play Kentucky. That would be a lot of fun."
"We got a four (seed) last year and a four this year, and we're a lot better team. So I think we're going to go pretty far," said Brandon Jessie.
"This will be better than going back East somewhere because a lot of our fans will be able able to go to Texas," said Keith Van Horn. "I don't know a whole lot about (Canisius), but I'm sure in the next two days they'll be like my best friends."
Majerus might have rather gone to Milwaukee, his old hometown, for a subregional or Albuquerque, where his team has had a lot of success, but he's happy with Dallas.
"I know Dallas real well," said Majerus. "I know where to eat there and hoping we're staying two or three days."