A crowd gathered at John Paul Jones Arena on the University of Virginia campus Sunday night. Seats were sold in advanced, and the community knew of the significance the night. Many had been waiting for the evening since October.
So, on a night the NCAA tournament bracket was announced, Fleetwood Mac took the stage. The men’s basketball team? It gathered with family and friends at the school’s Darden School of Business to learn how its 29-3 record would be viewed by the tournament committee, where it would be seeded and who its first opponent would be.
“Being the fine academic school that we are, we watched the selection show in the Darden School of Business,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “That’s how we do it here, see. We don’t go into our arena. … No. We would have been in there but I think Fleetwood Mac has a little more pull than the selection show.”
The team set up in a lecture hall, ate, learned their tournament fate, then had a meeting. Virginia’s recent stumbles, losing two of its last three, kicked it down to a No. 2 seed. The Cavaliers will face No. 15 seed Belmont on Friday in Charlotte, North Carolina as part of the East Region. Villanova is the top seed in the region. If the seeds hold, Virginia would have to beat No. 7 seed Michigan State, No. 3 seed Oklahoma and Villanova to reach the Final Four after winning its opener.
Bennett said it was foolish to look ahead. He was itching to prepare for a well-honed Belmont team that runs a crisp motion offense which coach Rick Byrd has used for decades. The Bruins have made the tournament in seven of the last 10 seasons. Byrd is one of 11 active coaches to win more than 600 college basketball games. He won his 700th Jan. 15 of this season. He’s been at Belmont for 29 years — almost as long as Fleetwood Mac has been touring.
“I’ve met him and have the utmost respect,” Bennett said. “Anybody who has lasted as long as he has and done it, I admire.”
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That Virginia ended up a two seed startled some. Duke, which was the only team to beat Virginia in John Paul Jones Arena this season, remained a No. 1 seed despite also losing in the semifinals of the ACC tournament. Virginia ended up the fifth overall seed in the tournament. Losing two of its last three games produced the poorest stretch of an otherwise dominant season. The tournament committee subsequently penalized the Cavaliers.
“Ranking, seeding, all those things, I think it really is for the fans,” Bennett said. “I get matchups are important and all that stuff. But we’ve been around this long enough we don’t worry too much about that stuff at all. Again, this is a great opportunity. The fact that we lost a tough one at Louisville, the fact we lost a tough one certainly in the ACC tournament, yeah, we wish would have played a little better. But, we are ready for the challenges ahead.”
Virginia Cavaliers
Seed: No. 2 in East Region
Record: 29-3, 16-2 ACC
Bid: At-large
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Last appearance: 2014, Lost in the Sweet 16, 61-59, to Michigan State
First opponent: No. 15 Belmont (22-10)
Others in region: No. 1 Villanova; No. 3 Oklahoma; No. 4 Louisville;
No. 5 Michigan State,
Top players: Junior guard Malcolm Brogdon (13.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg), junior forward Justin Anderson (12.3 ppg, 46.9 percent from 3-point range), senior forward Darion Atkins (ACC Defensive Player of the Year)
Strengths: The Cavaliers are No. 1 in the country in points allowed (50.8). Their traps of the post often cause problems for the opposition. Brogdon is arguably the best on-ball defender in the country. Atkins was the defensive player of the year in the conference for a team that had multiple candidates for the award.
Weaknesses: Scoring has been a problem for Virginia since Anderson fractured a finger on his shooting hand Feb. 7. He had surgery the next day and returned for the ACC Tournament, where he was ineffective. In the two games since returning, Anderson is 0-for-6 from the field.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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