The Tigers will play South Carolina in Kansas City, Mo., Fridayin the first round of the NCAA tournament. Despite returning to theBig Dance for the second-straight year, the Tigers haven't won aNCAA game since 1995.
Memphis is coming off one of its worst performances of theseason, a 72-61 loss to Saint Louis in the second round on theConference USA Tournament in Cincinnati.
Memphis coach John Calipari said his players are still trying tofigure out exactly what went wrong.
"I think they (the players) are still in a little shock aboutwhat happened in Cincinnati (C-USA Tournament). We're still tryingto get them to figure it out and to be truthful about whathappened. You can't just say, 'I played awful' and know it.Everyone knows it. You have to say, 'Why did it happen? Whathappened between (the final regular season game at) Cincinnati andthe conference tournament? Where was the fire? Where was theenergy?'"
No seven-seed has advanced to the Final Four since the fieldexpanded to 64 teams. The Tigers were a seven-seed last year whenthey lost to Arizona State in the first round.
The Daily Helmsman asked two U of M students what they thought.Can the Tigers shake their tournament woes? Do you think Calipariwill come under fire if the Tigers get bounced in the first roundagain?
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Peter Johnson, sophomore business managementmajor Good things are happening for sports in Memphis. If O.G. (ArthurBarclay) snags 10 rebounds, we'll win. No, fans would be upset with a loss anyway, but they'llbounce back for next season. |
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Michael Atkinson, junior communications major Unfortunately, I think they're going to lose. Just look back.They lost in the first round last year. No, I think that as a whole, he's a good coach. As far astheir season, they've done pretty well. Julia Weeks photos |
