Woodling: Three teams from Big 12 could land top-4 seeds

Clattering merrily on the keyboard while wondering if Kansas University and Bill Self will wind up in the same NCAA Tournament bracket with Illinois or North Carolina, or both. …

If you believe in the RPIs — and the NCAA relies heavily on its own undivulged Rating Percentage Index — then the difference among the top three teams in the Big 12 Conference is minimal.

In this week’s RPIs posted by a handful of sites, Oklahoma State was 10th, Texas 11th and Kansas 12th. In other words, if the RPI were all-encompassing, each of the three Big 12 schools would be No. 3 seeds when the NCAA Tournament pairings are announced Sunday night.

That won’t happen, but don’t be surprised if O-State is a No. 2 seed, Texas a No. 3 and Kansas a No. 4 unless one or more stub their toes in this weekend’s conference tournament in Dallas.

By stubbing, I mean losing a quarterfinal game. Once into the Saturday semifinals, a win or a loss is insignificant.

Michigan State concocted an innovative four-team men’s basketball tournament — North Carolina, Air Force and Navy were the others — that would have been played in November on an aircraft carrier. The NCAA approved the notion and ESPN planned to televise it, but the U.S. Navy balked at providing the venue.

Thus disappeared the opportunity for the coach of a losing team to utter: “We couldn’t hit the ocean from an aircraft carrier.”

Back in the late 20th Century when Georgetown’s men’s basketball team was a national power, everybody wondered what a Hoya was. Now the team that baffles the masses is IUPUI — the only five-letter palindrome in American university-dom.

IUPUI stands for Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. Fort Wayne also has one, but that school goes by IPFW instead of IUPUFW, probably because people would confuse it with a bad Scrabble hand otherwise.

Have you noticed how J.R. Giddens has developed into one of the Big 12’s most deadly three-point shooters?

During the non-conference portion of KU’s schedule, the freshman from Oklahoma City made just 32 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. Yet in the 16 conference contests, Giddens shot a blistering 44.8 percent.

In the last five games, Giddens has made nearly 50 percent (16 of 33).

  • How wide is the gulf between KU’s regulars and the reserves? In shooting, the gap could almost be measured in light years.

During the 16 conference games, the eight Jayhawks with the most minutes shot 48.7 percent from the field. The other eight shot a combined — gulp –15 percent. Bryant Nash unaccountably missed all 17 of his shots during conference play while Jeff Hawkins cashed only two of 16 attempts. …

  • Those of you who have been wondering about the $12 million in gifts specified for the renovation of Allen Fieldhouse and the construction of an adjacent Hall of Fame may be interested to know that the Ward family of Russell Stover Candies contributed, according to sources, about $7 million with the remainder coming from anonymous benefactors. …

  • With all the controversy about a priority points system for Allen Fieldhouse, will the KU Athletic Corp. have the courage to raise men’s basketball ticket prices for the 2004-2005 season?

This season’s tickets cost $35, $32 and $30 depending on location. That was for a 16-game home schedule, but AD Lew Perkins wants to boost that number to 20 or 21 next season.

Reportedly, the KUAC is mulling as much as a $5 spike in those ticket prices.

  • It’s early, of course, but the only Big 12 Conference player listed as a potential first-round selection in mock-ups of June’s NBA Draft is Tony Allen of Oklahoma State and Allen is cubby-holed close to the bottom. No KU players are listed in either the first or second rounds. …

  • Which will be constructed first — the southeast portion of the South Lawrence Trafficway or a new Kansas City basketball venue to replace aging Kemper Arena? One is dead in the wetlands, the other dead in the water.