ShareThisIt remains to be seen whether the University of Memphis will have the best team at the NCAA West Regional this week in Glendale, Ariz. But when it comes to playing -- literally and figuratively -- on the big stage of the Sweet 16, the Tigers are miles ahead of the competition.
Among the four teams left in the West, there are just seven players with significant experience in regional semifinal games. While two of them play for No. 1 seed Connecticut, the other five will be on the floor for Memphis as it tries to defeat No. 3 seed Missouri on Thursday night.
"I hope it's our advantage," coach John Calipari said.
It's hard to say how much experience factors into NCAA performance, but the Tigers believe there's something to be gained from their comfort level with everything that will happen once they arrive in Arizona.
While the pageantry and activity surrounding the first weekend of tournament play can be overwhelming, it goes up another notch for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. On Wednesday, players will encounter more media than they've ever seen. And on Thursday, the intensity of every possession will have a different feel.
Just being used to the routine and atmosphere of a regional could help the Tigers as they try to advance to win their 14th NCAA game over the last four years.
"I feel like we know what to expect," junior guard Doneal Mack said. "We know what the game tempo is going to be. You can't stop on any possession. Every possession matters now. It's one-and-done now. I think we have a lot of experienced guys who have been there before, and I think we're going to come into the game with the right mentality."
Even the arena itself will be a unique experience for every team but Memphis. University of Phoenix Stadium, the home of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals, seats 63,400 for football but will be configured to accommodate a smaller crowd for basketball.
The Tigers have played in expansive football stadiums three times during recent NCAA runs, including two trips to San Antonio's Alamodome and last season's South Regional in Houston's Reliant Stadium.
"We liked it. We played well," Calipari said. "Let's play. I wanted them to set up that way and play in the Liberty Bowl (in Memphis)."
In Houston last year, the NCAA set up the playing court on a raised stage and placed it smack on the 50-yard line of the football field. While the court in Glendale will once again be on a stage, a seating chart on the stadium's Web site shows that it will be set up in one end zone, more like the setup at last year's Final Four.
"It means a lot for the simple fact that we've played teams like Michigan State and a lot of great teams on this level where it's win or go home and in arenas where there's 70,000 people and the floor's up a little bit," senior guard Antonio Anderson said.
Teams won't have much opportunity to get used to the rims and the shooting backdrop in Glendale, which can differ significantly from a normal basketball venue.
"You see much more," Mack said. "When you're looking at the rim, there's a lot of space behind that rim, and it plays into a factor especially when you haven't played in a football arena before. The first year, it kind of got to me. We played Texas A&M in front of 30,000, and you see those people in the crowd, and it's crazy at first. But once you've been there before, you know what to expect."
The same can't be said for the teams standing in the way of Memphis' second consecutive trip to the Final Four. UConn was upset in the first round last season and didn't make the 2007 postseason. In 2006, the Huskies played in an Elite Eight when current seniors Craig Austrie and Jeff Adrien were freshmen coming off the bench. No. 5 seed Purdue, which will face UConn in the first game Thursday night, has been a second-round team each of the last two seasons.
Missouri (30-6) is playing in its first Sweet 16 since 2002, but Memphis doesn't expect the other Tigers to be satisfied with that.
"They're very good," Calipari said. "They play very hard, very physical, body on body, hands all over you, they reach for balls, go after every ball, loose balls and loose ball rebounds. They play very aggressive offensively. They're one of the last 16 standing; they've got to be good."
(See Dan Wolken's blog at gomemphistigers.com.)
(Dan Wolken writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.)
