Like a Wild Cat, Smith Lands on His Feet

SAN JOSE

Having been on the wrong end of two big upsets early in each of the last two NCAA tournaments, it was understandable that someone would ask Kansas Coach Bill Self if he would savor his team's 61-58 victory over Southern Illinois in Thursday night's West Region semifinal. The frown hinted at Self's answer even before he began to speak.

"Nawwww," he said. "We don't savor around here. At Kansas, you don't savor very long."

The blue bloods of college basketball, which certainly include Kansas, don't savor any victory short of the Final Four because their fans and sometimes even their top administrators feel their traditions virtually entitle them to long tournament runs.

No school in the country feels as certain it should win all the time as much as Kentucky, which led to Tubby Smith's departure earlier Thursday, a story bigger in some ways than the evening of round-of-16 tournament play. Asked his reaction to the news Smith was leaving Kentucky for Minnesota, Self said: "I was shocked. Tubby is as good for our profession as any coach, period. It's sad that winning 77 percent, playing the toughest schedule in America, isn't good enough. I truly hope he made this decision, and it wasn't made for him."

Self would have felt some intense heat had he and the top-seeded Jayhawks lost here to the Salukis. The folks back home don't want to hear of their boys losing to some undecorated program such as Southern Illinois, especially having lost to Bucknell and Bradley the last two years early in the tournament. Danny Manning, the Kansas assistant coach who led the Jayhawks to the school's most recent national championship, in 1988, knows the pressure firsthand of playing for one of the royals.

"There would have been some people back home," he said afterward, "who wouldn't have understood losing to a team from a conference they don't consider as good as ours."

That's how it goes in Lawrence, Kan., and Lexington, Ky. They want and expect banners. And absent at least a Final Four every few years, somebody might get run out of town. One more victory here this weekend may keep the wolves off Self for a few more years. Smith didn't get this far, though, and as a result has found refuge in Minneapolis.

For those of us who became tired of the Tubby-bashing, it was great to see him pull off such a fabulous spin move and find a place where a coach of his stature will be appreciated, probably even liked -- where alumni and fans won't turn up their nose at winning 20 games and going to the NCAA tournament. How great it must feel, after being told for the better part of eight years that you're not wanted, to tell Big Blue you don't want them. I'd tell him congratulations on getting out of Lexington with an NCAA championship, his money ($1.5 million) and his dignity.

The nerve of the Kentucky people is stunning, how they think any season that doesn't end with a Final Four trip is utter failure and a reason to roast the coach like a marshmallow.

Kentucky doesn't get all the best players. It can't. Neither can UCLA or Kansas, two schools playing here whose fans are actually offended that a George Mason or, for that matter, a Florida could somehow take their presumed spot in the Final Four.

So it's wonderful to see Smith, whether he was on the way out or not, trump Kentucky's arrogance. Had he been dismissed, it would have been the second-dumbest firing this year, right up there with the San Diego Chargers showing Marty Schottenheimer the door after going 14-2.

There are blue bloods in every sport, pro and college. Look how childishly George Steinbrenner behaves every September that the Yankees aren't in the World Series, as if Ruth and Gehrig are still hitting third and fourth. And as bad as the Yankees are, the old-school college football powers are worse. Notre Dame, Alabama, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Ohio State -- did I leave anybody out? -- all act as if the other Division I programs are there to serve at their pleasure.

But Kentucky and Kansas basketball are pressure enough. Manning played in one and has visited the other.

"It makes for an unbelievable experience in atmosphere," he said, pausing before uttering the inevitable, "But . . . but there's a little stress that comes with all that atmosphere."

Tubby Smith, pushed in that direction or not, decided he didn't need to experience it anymore.

Self, still trying to deliver a championship to the folks back home, will come back for more Saturday afternoon, against UCLA. The winner just might stop to savor. The loser will feel the heat.