Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Earns No. 9 Seed in NCAA Tournament, Will Battle Arkansas in First Round
3/12/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 12, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Armed with a school-record 26 wins and a Patriot League championship, the Bucknell men's basketball team was slotted as a No. 9 seed and will face No. 8 Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Dallas, Texas. Tip-off will be 12:30 p.m. Eastern (11:30 a.m. in Dallas).
The Bison (26-4) became the highest-seeded tournament team in school and Patriot League history. In three previous NCAA appearances they had not been seeded higher than 14th, that coming last year when Bucknell upset third-seeded Kansas in the first round. The highest previous seed for a Patriot League team was 13 for Holy Cross in 1993. Ironically, that year Holy Cross' first-round opponent was Arkansas, which dealt the Crusaders a 94-64 first-round setback.
"To be given a 9 seed, the highest ever for a team from the Patriot League, shows that our program earned the respect of the selection committee and college basketball followers across the country," said head coach Pat Flannery. "To be honest, we don't know a whole lot yet about Arkansas, other than that they played very good basketball down the stretch, but our staff is going to get to work very quickly and we'll be prepared and ready to play our best on Friday in Dallas."
This will be the first-ever meeting between Bucknell and Arkansas, but it will be the second time the Bison have traveled to Dallas for the NCAA Tournament. In 1989, Bucknell lost to Syracuse 104-81 at Reunion Arena.
The Bison are bracketed in the Oakland Regional, and the winner of the Bucknell-Arkansas game will face the winner of No. 1 Memphis and No. 16 Oral Roberts. Other first-round pairings in the Oakland Regional are Pitt-Kent State, Kansas-Bradley, Indiana-San Diego State, Gonzaga-Xavier, Marquette-Alabama and UCLA-Belmont.
Other first-round games in Dallas are from the Atlanta Regional: California-N.C. State and Texas-Penn.
"Winning a league title on our home floor, in front of our Bison `family,' is truly something I will always remember," said Flannery. "Every college basketball player's goal is to play in the NCAA Tournament, and we are honored to be a part of it again."
Arkansas enters the NCAA Tournament with a 22-9 overall mark, 10-4 in the Southeastern Conference. The Razorbacks' four SEC losses came by a combined 10 points, and their loss to Florida in the second round of the SEC Tournament came by just three points. Arkansas, which has won six of its last seven games, also boasts non-league wins over Kansas, Missouri, Missouri State and Texas Tech.
The Razorbacks are led by Ronnie Brewer at 18.5 points per game, while Jonathon Modica averages 16.0 ppg. As a team, Arkansas scores 74.3 ppg while allowing 65.1.
Handy Links:
NCAA Tournament Bracket
NCAA Basketball Site
Arkansas Athletics Site
Memphis Athletics Site
Oral Roberts Athletics Site
Dallas Visitors Bureau
