Some things never change

The LJWorld continues to report on our former coach.

Roy continues his annual summer "aw shucks, I suck at golf" comments.

Finally, rumors have it that Roy's back has been ailing him for a couple of years due to a big load of guilt on his shoulders. Doctors say the guilt can not ever be removed.-- Mic


Tar Heels coach battling bad back
Posted Saturday, June 24, 2006

North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams disclosed at his annual summertime news conference that he is having back and leg pain caused by sciatica.
The former Kansas University coach told Carolina media members he may need back surgery.
The Winston-Salem Journal reports Williams has had 10 appointments with a chiropractor, eight with an acupuncturist and has taken three epidural shots.
"And I can't break 80," Williams said of his golf game. "I've got a bulging disk that is pinching the sciatic nerve. It's very painful at times. Down the road there's probably going to have to be some surgery but I think with the medical people we have here I can push that way down the road.
"My golf game's worse — I think I'll go down in history as having the best reputation and the worst game of any golfer ever."

It's the offseason: Revisiting KU's 4 seed

I'm a part of a Jayhawk message group and we're having a debate/discussion on whether we deserved better than a 4 seed in last year's NCAA tournament.

My contention is that we did given the fact that we were co-conference champs and conference tourney champs who beat Texas (who as you recall was given a 2 seed) in UT's own backyard. Not to mention the fact that we were, what, 9-1, in the previously all-important "last 10 games" that the committee apparently looks so closely at.

Check out the info below provided by a couple of people on the message group. It further illustrates the point that the committee screwed KU by giving them a four seed going into the tournament.

And I know, I know. We lost to Bradley, so maybe the committee was right, blah, blah, blah. I think we've pounded that horse into the ground.

The point is, if the committee gave the Hawks what they deserved based on their performance, then we would have never faced Bradley, who, btw, also benefitted from the selection committee's ignorance (see below)

Anyway, a little something Jayhawk to discuss in this already too long offseason.

Mic


Mic wrote:> I wonder how many teams in major conferences have shared their conference title and won their conference championship and ended up with a 4 or lower seed.

ANSWER: Two. The only other one was Ohio State in 2002. They also received a#4 seed after sharing the Big 10 title with Illinois, Indiana andWisconsin (all 11-5), then winning their tournament. Illinois was also a #4 seed, Indiana was a #5 and Wisconsin a #8.Here are the other major conference co-champs who won their tournamentsince seeding began.1979 : North Carolina (9-3 ACC), #1 seed1980 : Georgetown (5-2? Big East), #3 seed 1982 : North Carolina (12-2 ACC), #1 seed1985 : Georgia Tech (9-5 ACC), #2 seed1986 : St. John's (14-2 Big East), #1 seed1987 : Georgetown (12-4 Big East), #1 seed1990 : Connecticut (12-4 Big East), #1 seed 1990 : Arizona (15-3 Pac 10), #2 seed1995 : Wake Forest (12-4 ACC), #1 seed2000 : Michigan State (13-3 Big 10), #1 seed2001 : Duke (13-3 ACC), #1 seed2001 : Kentucky (12-4 SEC), #2 seed2002 : Connecticut (13-3 Big East), #2 seed 2003 : Pittsburgh (13-3 Big East), #2 seedKU was the first Big 12 (or Big 8) co-champ who won the post-seasontournament. The outright Big 12 champs who also won the tournamentwere:1997 : KU (15-1), #1 seed 1998 : KU (15-1), #1 seed2000 : ISU (14-2), #2 seed2004 : OSU (14-2), #2 seedThe only other Big 12 champ who received worse than a #3 seed was UT in1999 (13-3, #7 seed). UT in '99 and KU in '06 are good examples of teams which improved greatly over the course of the season, but weredropped in the seeding due to their slow starts.BTW, KU won the '99 tournament and received a higher seed than UT (#6)despite finishing only 11-5 (tied for 2nd) in the Big 12.

In retrospect, what may have been a "worse" seeding than KU getting a #4 seed was the fact that Bradley got a #13 seed. Clearly from their performance in the tournament they were much better than a #13 seed and they had a much higher RPI than any of the other #13 seeds. In fact, they had a higher RPI than #5 seed Washington, #6 seed Indiana, #7 seed Georgetown and #6 seed West Virginia. There were actually 14 at large teams with lower RPIs than Bradley and yet Bradley was seeded below all of them. IMO, this was the more egregious error on the committee's part. I certainly don't think we would have lost to Air Force, Iona or Pacific (the other 13 seeds).