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Neighboring schools
create TV traffic jam
From The Associated
Press
with Bonesville.net staff contributions
For the first time in 16
years, all three schools from North Carolina's Triangle region are but
three wins away from the NCAA title game, forcing the state's television
stations to make creative arrangements to cover all the bases.
Reaching the round of 16
is nothing new for Duke and North Carolina, two programs that have a
total of six national championships between them. North Carolina State?
That's a different story.
Hobbled by various
injuries during the regular season, the Wolfpack stumbled to a
seventh-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference and needed a pair
of victories in the conference tournament just to secure an at-large
bid. The selection committee did them no favors, either, giving them a
No. 10 seed in the Syracuse Regional.
N.C. State survived two
close games in Worcester, MA, to reach the regional semifinals for the
first time since 1989. That's also the last time the three teams all
made it that far — until now.
The Blue Devils are there
for the eighth straight year and the Tar Heels snapped a five-year
drought with two easy victories in Charlotte. The result is that each of
the three schools, separated by about 30 miles, is two games away from a
trip to the Final Four.
``It's hard to talk
briefly about that because everybody around here is so proud of it,''
North Carolina coach Roy Williams said Tuesday. ``I'm very proud of the
fact I'm involved in a league that's been that successful, yet we all
know we're one game away from none of us being in the next round. There
is a lot of pride here, there's no question.''
Considering the strength
of the ACC this season, perhaps it's only fitting that it's so well
represented in the NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels finished first in the
regular season, followed by Wake Forest and Duke, and those three teams
each were solid contenders to make a run to a national title.
The Demon Deacons lost in
double overtime to surprising West Virginia in the second round, but
N.C. State made up for that upset with one of its own, beating
second-seeded Connecticut in the final seconds on a three-point play by
Julius Hodge. If the Wolfpack can win one more game, they would play
North Carolina in the regional final.
Quite a change from early
February, after a three-game losing streak dropped N.C. State to 3-7 in
the ACC.
``In the middle of the
season, not everything was perfect,'' Hodge said. ``Now, the bandwagon
is crazy. Everybody is on the bandwagon.''
Duke and North Carolina
kept tabs on each other in Charlotte, playing in the same arena on the
opening weekend for the first time since 1979, and they also closely
followed the Wolfpack. After the Blue Devils beat Mississippi State in
the second round of the Austin Regional, coach Mike Krzyzewski took time
publicly to congratulate N.C. State coach Herb Sendek.
``I'm really excited, of
course, for us,'' Coach K said. ``I talked to Roy and said it would be
great for both of our teams to make it. But the guy I'm really happy for
is Herb. We should all just say, 'Thank you,' for the great college
basketball we have in this region.''
Sendek, who faced
rumblings of discontent on Internet message boards and sports talk radio
during the regular season, denied feeling vindicated by the success of
this past weekend. He has N.C. State in the tournament for the fourth
straight year, the longest run since the late 1980s.
``I'm busy coaching our
team,'' Sendek said. ``I've been grateful all along for the people who
have given us their unwavering support.''
With all three teams
playing Friday, TV stations around the state were scrambling this week
to make sure each game was covered. The Wolfpack and the Blue Devils
start their games 17 minutes apart, so CBS affiliates were forced to
look for options.
Greenville station WNCT is
taking a unique approach to seeing that both games are carried, said
sports director Brian Bailey. The affiliate will televise the N.C.
State-Wisconsin game over the analogue airwaves on Channel 9 and will
beam the Duke-Michigan State game over its digital signal on Channel
9-1.
In Charlotte, WBTV will
air the Duke game, and the N.C. State game will be carried by UPN
affiliate WJZY, which has a news partnership with WBTV.
The Raleigh CBS affiliate,
WRAL, is located across the street from the N.C. State campus, and it
will show the Wolfpack's game. WRAZ, a Fox affiliate owned by the same
company, will show the Duke game.
``I think it's great,''
North Carolina guard Rashad McCants said. ``It's great for the state and
the programs, I think it's just beautiful for the recruiting. I think
Tobacco Road has always been very good and the state of North Carolina
alone has probably been the heart of basketball for many years.''
Page updated:
02/23/07 10:41 AM
©2005
The Associated Press. Bonesville.net contributed to this report. All
rights rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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