University of Memphis Advances
to NCAA Championship Tourney
IRVING, Texas - Conference USA tournament champion Memphis
received an automatic berth, and Southern Miss earned an at-large
berth to the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.
The Tigers, who will be making their 24th trip to the NCAA
Championship, are the No. 8 seed in the West Region. Southern Miss
is making its first NCAA appearance since 1991 and will be the No. 9
seed in the East Region.
Memphis (26-8) will face No. 9 seed Saint Louis (25-7) on Friday,
March 16, in Columbus, Ohio. Memphis is making its eighth NCAA
Championship appearance in the last 10 seasons. The Tigers also won
the C-USA regular season crown with a 13-3 league record.
The Tigers have a 32-23 record in NCAA Tournament play. In its
history, Memphis has made three Final Four appearances (1973, 1985,
2008), six Elite Eights and 11 Sweet Sixteens.
It is Memphis' second-consecutive NCAA Championship appearance under
third-year head coach Josh Pastner. In last year's NCAA Tournament,
the No. 12 seed Tigers dropped a narrow 77-75 decision to No. 5 seed
Arizona in the West Region second round. This is Pastner's 15th trip
to the NCAA Championship in his 16 seasons in college basketball as
a player, staff member, assistant coach and head coach. During his
time at Arizona, Pastner was a part of 12-straight trips to the NCAA
Tournament (1997-2008), including the 1997 NCAA championship squad.
He was an assistant on the Memphis staff when the Tigers advanced to
the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 2009.
Southern Miss (25-8) will meet No. 9 seed Kansas State in the second
round in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Thursday, March 15. This is the third
overall appearance for Southern Miss. Southern Miss and Kansas State
have met six times before, with each team winning three games.
Head coach Larry Eustachy, the 2012 C-USA Gene Bartow Coach of the
Year, also returns to the NCAA Championship for the first time since
2001. It is his fourth appearance overall but first with the Golden
Eagles. During his five-year career at Iowa State prior to arriving
in Hattiesburg, he led the Cyclones to back-to-back NCAA appearances
in 2000 and 2001. Eustachy was named the 2000 AP National Coach of
the Year and led ISU to the Elite Eight that season. He also led
Utah State to the 1998 NCAA Championship.
All NCAA games will be televised on CBS, TBS, Turner and truTV as
well as on NCAA March Madness on Demand. Game times will be
announced later.
