It’s that time of the year again, when Mr. Eight Ball is summoned for duty. The 8-ball has laid low this year, making very few appearances on GolfweekTV, but insists that he is ready to improve his lowly 18-of-24 showing for last year’s NCAA women’s regional picks. If you give him the chance, he will remind you of 2006, when he was 21 of 24.
This year, he avoided all attempts at small talk, instead wanting to get right down to the business of redeeming himself.
In years past, we had to spell everything out for Mr. Eight Ball. For example, where each regional was, the teams participating at each site and the dates, but this year was different. He brought along a laptop, and seemed to know every question about this year’s May 8-10 regionals before he was asked.
• He insisted we start with the
East Regional, to be played at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga..
We even had to slow him down a bit and explain that the dynamics had changed slightly. We still had three regionals with 21 teams in each, with the top eight advancing to the national championship in Albuquerque, N.M., May 20-23 , but allocations no longer had been given according to which part of the country a school was located. Teams had been selected for postseason play simply based on their records during the season.
Mr. Eight Ball responded by saying: “No kidding. Where do you think I have been – living in a box?”
Since he seemed to know so much, we had one simple question before we got to the picks: “What did you think of the NCAA Committee’s job this year?”
Mr. Eight Ball: “They did an outstanding job of selecting the field and placing teams around the country to create balanced regions.”
Who knew the 8-Ball knew so many words?
It was on to the picks, beginning with the East, where the seeds appear like they may hold form. Before any shakes could be made, Mr. Eight Ball shouted:
“Duke,
Florida and
Georgia will move on!”
Then it was time for the first question regarding a team’s fate: “Auburn’s spring was a little off for its standards. Should we be concerned the Tigers will miss the finals?”
Answer: “Very doubtful.”
So 10th-ranked
Auburn will qualify, and based on recent form (nearly knocking Duke off at the ACC Championship), we also will give
Virginia a pass.
Again, Mr. Eight Ball blurted out a few more East predictions before being asked.
Wake Forest will be in the top 8, he said, adding that the Demon Deacons are one of the most underrated squads in the country.
With two spots left, it got a little tougher. Mr. Eight Ball let us know that he had narrowed his list to five teams – Tennessee, New Mexico, Vanderbilt, Louisville and Furman – for the last two spots.
He informed us that he likes New Mexico’s talent and feels the Lobos should need little motivation since the finals are on their home course. Those not familiar with Eight Ball probably aren’t aware of his obsession with Tennessee – his cell-phone ring tone is “Rocky Top” – but he is having trouble with the Lady Vols’ spring – no finishes better than ninth in five starts. Vanderbilt has the ability, but he is not convinced the Commodores can just flip on the switch. And when it comes to Furman and Louisville, he just had gut feelings.
With him settled on
New Mexico, it was time to ask some questions to find out which team would get the final spot.
Tennessee? Answer: “Better not tell you now.” He obviously is having problems picking against his heart.
Vanderbilt? Answer: “My reply is no.”
Furman? Answer: “Don't count on it.”
Louisville: “Reply hazy, try again.”
The writing is on the wall. Mr. Eight Ball won’t directly tell us that Tennessee is a no, meaning he wants to tell us that
Louisville is in.
• Quickly moving the focus to the
Central Regional at the University of Texas Golf Course in Austin, Texas, Mr. Eight Ball gave us what he called a few no-brainers to advance:
UCLA,
Purdue,
Denver and
Kent State.
We wondered why
Alabama was not in the “no-brainer” group, so we asked the question: “Will Alabama advance to the national championship?”
Answer: “Most likely.” Definitely not a no-brainer, but good enough for us. The Crimson Tide moves on.
Three spots left, and he lets us know that
Notre Dame is a little bit better than everyone thinks or at least good enough to grab one of the eight spots.
He thinks this region could be a real battle for the final two spots and instructed us to start asking the questions.
What about LSU? Answer: “Don't count on it.”
Pepperdine? Answer: “Concentrate and ask again.”
Texas A&M: Answer: “Outlook not so good.”
He was not 100 percent comfortable with
Pepperdine, but felt that with Taylor Karle, who could win the individual title, they would save enough shots on the demanding track to move on.
With one spot left, I reminded Mr. Eight Ball that Nebraska was in this regional as the No. 17 seed. Why was that important? A few years ago, he correctly picked the 15th-seeded Cornhuskers to advance from the Central. He slowly turned his laptop around and showed us his screensaver . . . the Nebraska logo. However, he did not see Albuquerque in Nebraska’s future.
What about Texas, the home team? Answer: “Cannot predict now.”
That’s because he thought Texas A&M might miss, but couldn’t bring himself to arrive at that decision after the Aggies’ play at Arizona State (fourth) and the Big 12 Championship (second). He already had narrowed it to the two Texas schools after figuring the other Central contenders would come up short. He stated that Florida State would not get it done this year and that TCU might lack momentum after a sluggish spring.
After not giving us a straight answer with the Longhorns (this was like pulling teeth), we asked: “Will Texas A&M advance? Answer: “Signs point to yes.”
A&M it is.
• Moving on to Sacramento, Calif., where the
West Regional will be played at Lincoln Hills Golf Club.
Mr. Eight Ball usually doesn’t offer up winners, but in this case he let us know that
USC’s recent victory at the Pac-10 Championship and move to No. 1 in the
Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings would be supported with a regional victory. He felt
Oklahoma State (seeded fifth) should have been the No. 2 seed and said the Cowgirls would easily advance.
He went on to say this regional likely will have the most upsets of higher seeds and has the deepest pool of lower-seeded teams that could advance, even telling us that a team as deep as No. 18 UC Irvine could make it.
Question: Does that mean we will see a Cinderella story from this regional? Answer: “As I see it, yes.”
For the remaining six picks, he said
Arizona State,
Arkansas and
California would move on. That’s where it started to get difficult, but he also liked
Arizona to sneak through.
What about Stanford’s streak of 19 consecutive trips to the NCAA Championship? Will the eighth-seeded Cardinal make it 20 in a row this year? Answer: “Outlook not so good.”
And what about No. 7 seed Michigan State? Answer: “Don't count on it.”
Instead, he selected
Tulsa, the No. 10 seed, to advance, then chose No. 15 seed
Oregon as the surprise pick to grab the final spot.
Still not in the mood for small talk, Mr. Eight Ball and his laptop quickly rolled away, saying he would return next week for a look at the men’s regionals.
Posted: 5/6/2008
print
email
discuss
