University of Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins would not publicly say what sort of seed his team might receive in the NCAA Tournament, because he does not like to be publicly wrong, and this is kind of an elusive process.
Huggins does not mind being publicly funny, though, so this was his answer when asked: ''I just hope we didn't strike a deal to go to Boise.''
He will most likely be in Idaho next December to play Boise State, which was part of what UC promised in exchange for its football team being invited to the Humanitarian Bowl. Do not expect Huggins or his Bearcats to be there this weekend.
After the bracket is released this evening at 6:30, the most likely of the eight first-round tournament sites to be gifted with UC's presence is Hartford, Conn., which is part of the East Regional.
Huggins privately has said he believes UC can get a No. 2 seed. The No. 14-ranked Bearcats are in competition with a half-dozen or so other teams for the last second seed.
As a likely choice for either the final No. 2 seed or the first No. 3, Huggins, Bobby Brannen and Kenyon Martin could be placed in the East with the tournament's No. 1 overall seed, the winner between Duke and North Carolina in today's ACC tournament final.
Although Kentucky could make a strong case for a No. 1, the four top seeds remain fairly well established: Duke, Carolina, Kansas and Arizona, which struggled in its weekend road trip to Los Angeles.
UK stands as a solid No. 2 along with Connecticut, and Purdue played its way into their company with its overwhelming win against Illinois.
That leaves one spot open, and several teams eager to fill it, chief among them UC (26-5), South Carolina (23-6), New Mexico (23-6), Stanford (24-4) and Michigan (22-8). The Bearcats can make a compelling case to be rated above the other four.
UC has more victories than all but eight major-conference teams. It swept the regular-season and tournament championships of a top-nine conference.
The Bearcats' RPI rank was 17 before its victory Saturday in the Conference USA title game over UNC Charlotte. A lot of folks have figured that automatically puts them in position to receive a No. 4 or No. 5 seed.
The committee has made greater use of wire-service poll rankings in seeding, though, and No. 14 UC is likely to climb toward the top 10 in the final regular-season poll.
The RPI serves as a guide for the selection committee and also helps provide a database for the comparison of teams in selection and seeding.
The committee examines how teams do against those with high rankings and low rankings, and UC fares reasonably well in this breakdown, as well.
The Bearcats may be weighed down by their nine wins in the bottom half of the RPI, but there are only six teams with more wins against Top 100 teams than UC's 16. The Bearcats are 7-4 against Top 50 teams, 3-2 against the top 25.
South Carolina defeated UC, but has a 2-5 mark against the top 25. New Mexico has not finished as strongly as UC, which is 9-1 in its past 10 games.
Michigan has eight losses, some of them to middling opponents - Bradley for instance, which is not rated in the top 100.
The reason UC should wind up in Hartford is what the NCAA calls the ''S'' curve. That involves trying to balance the field by rating the teams first through 64th, then doing what is possible to give those teams at the top the advantage of the easiest possible road.
''If they give us a two seed, we're happy,'' said Bearcats center Kenyon Martin. ''If they give us a three, we're happy. Whoever they put in front of us, we're going to have to go and guard.''
UC got what it deserved Paul Daugherty column
Notebook: Schedule to be addressed
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