Strange: American tale: It will have to be huge

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - American University is a sporting afterthought in its hometown. That's assuming it's a thought at all.

But today is American's day to step to the plate. It fits a rock into its slingshot and gives it a whirl against Tennessee in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Every now and then, these rocks do connect.

Bucknell once shocked the college basketball world for a day. George Mason shocked it for three weeks.

Bucknell, which upset Kansas three years ago in an opening-round game, hails from American's conference, the Patriot League.

George Mason, which made a stunning run to the Final Four two years ago, is American's neighbor in the nation's capital.

"We can use schools like Bucknell and George Mason as examples of what can happen if you go into the tournament and play your style of basketball with confidence and believe you can win,'' American guard Garrison Carr said Thursday.

"But we really want to be American and make a name for ourselves.''

Knocking off Tennessee would certainly accomplish that mission.

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl is living proof. His Sweet 16 run at Wisconsin-Milwaukee three years ago was his ticket to the big-time.

Today, he represents the big-time in the form of a No. 2 seed, a team that was (briefly) ranked No. 1 in the nation last month. He was asked Thursday which role he prefers, David or Goliath.

"I like Goliath,'' Pearl responded, "because Goliath has better players. Bigger rocks. More guns.''

He's right. Tennessee wins any match-up with American, be it players, rocks or guns.

The Vols will also enjoy superior fan support in the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Arena. Tournament experience, that's another check in Tennessee's column considering this is American's debut.

American's counterpunches are two-fold.

One, the Eagles have the nothing-to-lose posture. They're playing with house money and could care less what seed they got from the selection committee.

"We were going to be an underdog regardless of a 16, 15, 14,'' said American coach Jeff Jones. "We're thrilled to be a part of it and all the peripheral stuff doesn't really affect that.''

Two, American hopes to level the court with a deliberate tempo, a ploy that worked when the Eagles upset Maryland on its home court in December.

Tennessee averages 83 points a game, American, 65.1. The Eagles won the Patriot League tournament championship 52-46 over Colgate.

A year ago, the Vols' NCAA draw paired them with another underdog, Long Beach State. It couldn't have been a better match. Long Beach loved to run and UT obliged with a 121-86 rout.

Today's challenge will be at the other end of the spectrum.

When Tennessee encourages American to hurry up - and the Vols will - the Eagles are determined to resist temptation.

"We've got to understand the difference between great opportunities and fool's gold,'' said Jones.

Jones, like Pearl, is in the opposite role today than he was earlier in his career. As a player in the Final Four with Virginia and later as coach at Virginia, he was cast as Goliath.

Today, he's in David's camp, warming up his slingshot.

It's harder, though, to hit a fast-moving target.

"We've got to keep in mind a slower pace game is more to our suiting,'' said Jones. "And that's much easier said than done.''

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.