With 80/1 odds to win the NCAA Tournament, Georgia Tech trails some 30-plus teams — including their first opponent Loyola Chicago (4 p.m., Friday on TBS) and likely opponent, the region’s top-seeded Illinois, should they advance — as bracket-busting favorites.
The good
Despite being the underdogs (now +3.5) Friday, the ACC Tournament champs, seeded 9th, have momentum — 8 straight wins — and NCAA mojo. The 9s are the only lower seed with an overall winning record in the tournament (72-of-140, .514).
The bad
Only four teams seeded No. 6 or lower have won the national championship since the first brackets of 1979. Those four teams are:
• No. 6 N.C. State in 1983
• No. 8 Villanova in 1985
• No. 6 Kansas in 1988
• No. 7 Connecticut in 2014
Only Villanova arrived at the Tournament with a complete roster. The Yellow Jackets will be without one individual — who tested positive for COVID — to start the tournament.
1-in-9 coaches ...
Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner was a member of Arizona’s 1997 championship squad. He did not, however, record playing time as the Wildcats toppled three No. 1 seeds en route to the title.
Pastner played in three tournament games in subsequent years. He is one of nine coaches in this year’s tournament field to have been on an NCAA title winner as a player:
- Steve Alford (Nevada) - Indiana, 1987
- Kenny Blakeney (Howard) - Duke, 1992
- Juan Dixon (Coppin State) - Maryland, 2002
- Patrick Ewing (Georgetown) - Georgetown, 1984
- Bobby Hurley (Arizona State) - Duke, 1991 and 1992
- Steve Masiello (Manhattan) - Kentucky, 1998
- Wes Miller (UNC Greensboro) - North Carolina, 2005
- Josh Pastner (Georgia Tech) - Arizona, 1997
- Mark Pope (BYU) - Kentucky, 1996
Pastner, in the tournament with the Yellow Jackets for the first time in five seasons as coach, is 2-4 in previous trips with Memphis.
Loyola’s Porter Moser, too, played in the tournament. A guard for four seasons at Creighton (1986-1990), Moser was a starter on the team that reached the 1989 NCAA tournament under coach Tony Barone. Moser led the Ramblers to a Final Four appearance in 2018.
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