OH GOOD GRIEF: March Madness under way for high school, college teams

By Ed Greif / sports@crossville-chronicle.com

The Madness is on; I mean March Madness for both high school and college.

The 2010 Farm Bureau Insurance of Tennessee basketball championships get underway Wednesday in Murfreesboro, while the boys tournament opens on March 17.

The Walker Valley Lady Mustangs (32-2) represent District 5AAA and Region 3AAA in the "big dance," as they face Morristown West (32-1) on Thursday.

Other teams in Class AAA are Memphis Overton (29-3), Oak Ridge (28-5), Riverdale (27-2), Mt. Juliet (32-1), Clarksville (30-4) and Memphis Central (26-3).

McMinn Central (30-2), which played Stone Memorial twice during the regular season, plays Greeneville (25-8) on Thursday in Class AA. Other teams are CPA (32-4), Gibson County (32-1), Polk County (28-5), South Greene (25-6), Lewis County (27-6) and Westview (26-8).

In Class A, Jackson County (29-5) represents the Upper Cumberland area, as they play Coalfield (23-5). Other teams are North Greene (20-13), Middleton (29-2), CSAS (27-6), Scotts Hill (28-5), Moore County (26-7) and Wayne County (22-9).

A notable absentee is Clarkrange, which was eliminated in regional play.

Qualifiers for the boys state tournament are: Class AA — Oliver Springs, Harriman, Chattanooga Grace, CSAS, Wayne County, Clarksville Academy, Westwood and Humboldt; Class AA — Fulton, Carter, Howard, Tyner, Marshall County, Maplewood, Liberty and Bolivar; and Class AAA — Bearden, Dobyns-Bennett, Siegel, Columbia, Beech, Northeast, Melrose and White Station.

Harriman is making its first return to the state tournament, since winning the state title in 1995, when former UT quarterback Jeremaine Copeland was on the team. Yours truly was in the house when Copeland and company brought the championship back to Harriman.

Copeland was injured in the Class AA football championship game against David Lipscomb in December of 1994, but came back to guide his team to the 1995 Class AA hoop title, beating Sweetwater, 63-59, in the championship game.

Former Cleveland and Tennessee player Aaron Green was a member of that Sweetwater team.

Columbia and Siegel eliminated both Region 3AAA representatives, Cleveland and Ooltewah, respectively, Monday in the boys sectionals or substate.

Tyner, which lost twice to Stone Memorial during the regular season, and Knox Fulton are both in the Class AA field.

One of my teammates at UT-Chattanooga, Walter (Moose) McGary, has his Howard team in the Class AA field.

The boys brackets will be drawn later this week.

I would like to see the TSSAA change the region playoff system. Allow the higher seeds to host region games all the way through the playoffs.

In this year's first round, CCHS hosted Bradley Central, Cookeville hosted McMinn County, Cleveland hosted Warren County and Ooltewah hosted White County.

For example, instead of having the semi-finals at Warren County, CCHS should have hosted Ooltewah and Cleveland hosted McMinn County.

Cleveland defeated Ooltewah in the championship game at McMinn County High School, with permission from the TSSAA.

I suspect there will be some discussion of that during the district and region meetings later this month.

If two number one seeds are in the championship game, either rotate the championship between the two districts — in even number years at the even numbered district (6AAA) and in odd numbered years at the odd number district (5AAA) or at a neutral site.

This would be true for the girls as well. This would work well for regions where teams have to cross time zones, like Districts 5AAA and 6AAA for region competition. In Class AAA, five districts are in the eastern time zone and the other 11 in the central time zone.

Because of snow last week, Region 3AAA girls championship game between Cleveland and Walker Valley was played at Bradley Central, while the Cleveland-Ooltewah boys championship game was played at McMinn County, with permission from the TSSAA.

The region winners now host runners-up for substate games, with those winners advancing to the state tournament in Murfreesboro.

This would mean more money for everyone involved.

In some districts, the highest seeds host first round games, before going to a central site for the semi-finals, consolation and championships.

In District 6AAA, Warren County hosted both games between the fourth- and fifth-seeded teams, before hosting the tournament semi-finals, consolation and finals.

••••

The original "March Madness" is under way with conference tournaments, both men and women.

Earning tickets for the "big dance" from the Volunteer State are the UT Lady Vols (SEC), Chattanooga (SoCon), ETSU (Atlanta Sun) and Austin Peay (OVC). MTSU played Arkansas-Little Rock Tuesday afternoon for the Sun Belt Tournament championship and a ticket to the NCAA women's tournament.

Lady Moc Coach Wes Moore has three familiar names on his roster — Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs), Erin Helton (Cookeville) and Michelle Davis (Cleveland). Helton and Davis both played against CCHS during their high school careers.

Former Lady Jet Heather Dykes played for Moore and was a part of previous SoCon regular season and tournament championship teams at UTC.

The ETSU men won the Atlantic Sun for a berth in the big show.

ESPN's bracketologist Joe Linardi has projected Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Florida for the men's tournament. Mississippi State and Ole Miss must have a good run in the SEC Tournament to earn berths.

I think the SEC needs to change the seeding for the men's tournament. The teams with the four best records should earn first-round byes. For example, they should be Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Florida, with Mississippi State and Ole Miss, the next two.

All 16 teams from the Big East are playing in that tournament, with four teams getting double first-round byes. A lower seed will have to win four or five games in a row to win the tournament.

Linardi is projected six or more teams from the Big East to make it to the big dance.

••••

With spring just around the corner, the spring sports teams from both CCHS and Stone Memorial are preparing for their regular season openers next week.

The schedules all be published by the end of the week, with team photos and previews coming in other editions of the paper.

(Ed Greif is the Chronicle sports editor and his column appears periodically.)

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