D'Amato: Middle Tennessee planting seed of excellence
That No. 12 seeding fits Middle Tennessee State like a size extra-small sweater on Bobby Knight. The NCAA Tournament selection committee got this one wrong, but ask the Blue Raiders if they care.
They know how good they are. They are underrated underdogs, a mid-major with major aspirations.
Last year’s colossal first-round upset of No. 2 Michigan State put Middle Tennessee on the map. Before that, few would have associated Murfreesboro with basketball excellence. Perhaps that’s still the case.
But the Blue Raiders have a chance to open more eyes Saturday when they face No. 4 Butler in a second-round game at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Hanging in the balance is a spot in the Sweet 16.
There was a lot of talk about Milwaukee getting the most lackluster “pod” in the tournament – thanks for coming Winthrop, Vermont and Nevada – but Middle Tennessee-Butler promises to be as entertaining as any second round game.
Blue Raiders coach Kermit Davis has painstakingly built his program using Butler – the former mid-major that is now a power in the Big East and among the nation’s most respected programs – as his model. It’s taken 15 years, but Middle Tennessee is oh-so-close to a breakthrough.
“To be on the same footing as those guys and just what they’ve done with sustainability is something that we’re sure striving for,” Davis said. “We’re not there yet by any means. We’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us.”
RELATED: Fouls a fear for Purdue big men
RELATED: 5-foot-10 Tyler Lewis a big part of Butler's success
BRACKETS: Bracket Challenge | Updated printable bracket
SCOREBOARD: Live NCAA Tournament scores, box scores
MORE COVERAGE: NCAA Tournament section
If you saw Middle Tennessee’s first-round victory over No. 5 Minnesota, you know how hard the Blue Raiders play. Sure, every team plays hard in March, but the Raiders’ physicality and toughness is something to behold.
“I think it’s from our practices,” said forward Reggie Upshaw. “Especially early in the year, we do a lot of rebounding drills, a lot of 2-on-1 rebounding drills, box-out drills. Just all the physical stuff you see in our games today really started in early, early November.”
One would expect Butler coach Chris Holtmann to heap praise on the Blue Raiders, and he did, calling them a “Final Four-caliber team” and “as good as any team we’ve played in the second round in my tenure.”
Middle Tennessee went 30-4 and even in Conference USA that grabs your attention. Only two teams, Gonzaga and Villanova, won more games.
So what's with that No. 12 seeding?
“It wasn’t a disappointment because we were glad to be in the tournament,” Davis said. “But it kind of alarmed us going forward that, you know, we were ranked in the coaches’ poll 25th and RPIs like 35. Everybody says you need to play a good nonconference strength of schedule. (Ours) was 18th. We won 30 games.
“So what alarmed us was, what do we have to do next year or the year after?”
Alumni, fans, bettors and bracketologists make a big deal of the seedings but when you get right down to it, the national champion has to win six games against good teams every year.
On Saturday night, Middle Tennessee will try to make it two down, four to go.