Tough to call Memphis an underdog

SAN ANTONIO - Underrated? Unappreciated? Don't Memphis and Ohio State, who will play each other this afternoon in the NCAA South Regional final, have the same 33-3 record?

Then why do the Tigers feel as if they're the ugly ducklings of this bracket? Or is their coach, John Calipari, merely blowing some smoke everyone's way, just because?

"We might be the first Cinderella that's been a No. 2 seed in the history of the tournament," the Memphis coach said yesterday, fewer than 24 hours after his team won its 24th straight game, by a point on two late free throws over Texas A & M and 25,000 or so Aggie supporters. "The only guys picking us picked the Germans in World War II . . .

"Can we win one more? We're the only ones who've been saying 'yes.' Our team and our city. I'm just trying to lay it out there, from everything I'm hearing and seeing. I wonder if it's hope or opinion. We're not in a BCS league. So we're not one of the schools that's supposed to be doing this. And we do it with an unorthodox style. We come out and shoot crazy shots.

"But I kind of enjoy it."

Kind of?

"OK, I really enjoy it," he said with a smile.

Sounds like the makings of a pretty good conspiracy theory.

"Do you think CBS wanted George Mason [in the Final Four last year]?" Calipari asked. "I've got no problem [with the NCAA]. Everyone said we'd be a three or four seed. But they looked at it and let basketball people make the decision. And they said, 'No way.' We were actually one of the [high] two seeds. I think they got it right. They've been fair to us. More than fair."

Just shows you have to know where to pick your scuffles.

"Honestly, people watch us," he continued. "We keep the TVs on. They see us really get after it. We unleash [our players] to do that. There was a poll where we got like 400,000 hits, when they asked which team people most wanted to see. Florida got like 180,000 and UCLA like 90,000.

"I'm sure the chamber of commerce was mad [we won]. I don't blame them. There were A & M people everywhere. It was incredible. But that became like a monkey on their back. That thing shifted. The pressure was on them to win. That's kind of on Ohio State now."

Fair enough. Until, of course, you stop and remember that the top-ranked Buckeyes, who have won 20 in a row, could easily have been home by now wondering when center Greg Oden was going to officially declare himself ping-pong ball-worthy.

In last Saturday's second round, Ohio State trailed Xavier by nine with 3 minutes to go. And won in overtime, after tying the game on a three-pointer at the buzzer. On Thursday, the Buckeyes trailed Tennessee by 17 at halftime. They won by one in regulation, on a late foul shot and a subsequent block by Oden at the horn.

So is it destiny, or a fluke?

"We're trying to finish a mission," said coach Thad Matta. "At this stage, the winning streaks or where you're ranked, all that stuff really goes right out the window. In my mind, our team is just trying to get ready to get the job done. We've shown all year long that we're two really good teams. Now we're going head-to-head. That's the way it should be."

The Buckeyes have definitely not flown under any radar. They were supposed to at least get to the final weekend from the time practice began. That doesn't mean it happens. Matta took a seventh seed, Xavier, to the Elite Eight in 2004 and nearly beat Duke. This is different. Calipari is right. And he should know. In 1995, he took Massachusetts to a regional final as a second seed and lost to top-seeded Oklahoma State. The following year, his Minutemen got back there and beat a Georgetown team that had four future pros, including Allen Iverson.

"The second time, we expected to win," he said. "I don't know if we're going to win [this one], but we've been in this game. I think you need to be there first, and experience it. Then you understand it's just a ballgame. You treat it like it's a scrimmage and you're better off." *