Despite history, little guys dream big

Fairleigh Dickinson coach Tom Green was going over potential NCAA Tournament matchups, daydreaming about his Knights playing Wake Forest. Or Washington. Maybe even North Carolina.

Daydreaming? Sounds more like a nightmare. And 16th-seeded FDU wound up even worse than Green imagined, facing the biggest seed of them all, overall No. 1 Illinois on Thursday.

“Realistically, we know what a long shot it is,” Green said Monday. “It’s a huge challenge, to say the least.”

That’s life for the NCAA Tournament’s little guys. Getting a bid gives small schools like Fairleigh Dickinson, Richmond and Coppin State publicity and national exposure they’d never get otherwise. But teams seeded 15th and 16th don’t get much of a chance to enjoy the limelight, usually gone by the end of the first round in a blowout to one of college basketball’s powerhouses.

“I told our players earlier in the week … we’re going to have to upset somebody,” said Travis Ford, whose 15th-seeded Eastern Kentucky squad goes up against No. 2 seed Kentucky on Thursday.

“We’re going to be an underdog, I can guarantee you that.”

No 16th seed has ever beaten a No. 1 since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, and only four No. 15s have upended a second seed. Richmond beat Syracuse, 73-69, in 1991, Santa Clara upended Arizona, 64-61, in 1993, Coppin State stunned South Carolina, 78-65, in 1997, and Hampton surprised Iowa State in 2001.

But those few upsets are enough to give every small school hope, no matter how faint.

“It’s happened four times for a reason. Because it’s possible,” said Michael Haney, a forward for Eastern Kentucky.

Haney isn’t delusional, just optimistic. Those 15th seeds that pulled off the upsets were just like his team and the others that were hard at work Monday, preparing to play behemoths like Illinois, Duke, Oklahoma State and Connecticut.

OK, so Santa Clara had Steve Nash when the Broncos knocked off No. 2 Arizona in 1993. But these schools have guys who can play, too. Haney ranks fifth in the country in field-goal percentage, shooting a blistering 63 percent, while Obie Trotter of Alabama A&M — the ultimate sacrificial seed as one of the teams in the play-in game — leads the country in steals.

Besides, the law of averages says a No. 16 has to beat a No. 1 one of these days. Western Carolina came close in 1996, missing two shots in the closing seconds to fall to Purdue by a mere two points, 73-71. In 1989, two No. 1s got scares from the lowly 16 seeds. Georgetown edged Princeton 50-49, but the Hoyas needed two blocks by Alonzo Mourning in the final six seconds. Oklahoma escaped with a 72-71 win after East Tennessee State missed a shot at the buzzer.

“It goes back to the saying, ‘Respect everyone, but fear no one,”‘ Ford said.