Keno, Unplugged

We got hosed.

Sour grapes? Perhaps. Small Man Syndrome? Maybe.

The fact remains that we won our conference by 2 games, dominated our conference tournament with an average margin of victory of 20 points, and only lost four games all season. As a reward for our efforts, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee gifted us with a #5 seed in the toughest bracket in the tournament. Consider:

• Western Kentucky, our first opponent, is one of the hottest teams in the country. They've gone 17-1 down the stretch and finished with one fewer win (27) than we did. Two of their losses came at Gonzaga (by 3 points) and at Tennessee (by 6 points). Sounds like the best 12-seed in the tourney.

• If we get past WKU, we have to play UConn, a college basketball factory. They played in the toughest (or second-toughest) conference in the country, and finished 14-2 down the stretch. They got a 4-seed, despite finishing below us in both polls.

• The #1 and #2 seeds in our bracket are the toughest of any bracket. UCLA is the sexy pick to win it all, and Duke is Duke.

It would have been nice to be a little closer to home for one of our games; something the committee only takes into consideration for the top-4 seeds in each region. Instead, our first two games are in Florida and the next two are in California. I'm not sure you can get any farther away from Des Moines than either of those two sites. Considering we have fewer than 3,000 undergrads at our university, you'd think the Selection Committee would throw us a bone and let us play in Omaha, Denver, or Little Rock. Somewhere closer than the 1,400 miles away.

I know what you're going to say. "Keno, you were picked to finish second-to-last in a weak conference. Just be grateful and enjoy the ride." To which I say - you're probably right. So many things have gone our way this year, I shouldn't complain about our seeding. We've got it made right now. Our walk-on guard is the talk of the country. ESPN.com keeps slurping us. I'm in the running for national coach of the year. Emmenecker is the national Academic All-American player of the year.

In the meantime, I'll keep telling people that I have no idea how we were so successful. I'll preach the values of intelligent players, non-scholarship athletes, and hard-nosed defense. I won't complain that our dream season could come to a screeching halt because the selection committee isn't interested in accommodating the comparatively small checkbooks of mid-majors. I'll enjoy the ride and take the high road along the way...just know that deep down inside, I'll always feel we got hosed.

Keno Davis