Third time’s the charm is more than just an expression when it comes to the NCAA Tournament.
Upstate underdogs Cornell and Siena are both making their third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament this season and both are capable of making it to the second week, former Vermont coach Tom Brennan said.
“The big thing for Cornell and Siena is having been there twice in a row, and Siena even has an advantage because they won a game both years,” said Brennan, who coached Vermont to a first-round upset of Syracuse in the 2005 tournament.
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“It sounds incomprehensible, but both those teams could make it to the Sweet 16.”
The New York hopefuls start their tournaments today, with 12th-seeded Cornell going against No. 5 Temple in an East Regional game and 13th-seeded Siena facing Purdue in a South Region game. While Siena has one win in both tournament appearances, Cornell has yet to get over the first-round hump. But their top three scorers — Ryan Wittman, Jeff Foote, Louis Dale — are all seniors who know what the Big Dance is all about.
“The first time we were out of sorts,” said Brennan, whose Vermont team was buried by Arizona in its first trip to the tournament, then handled by Connecticut the following season before knocking off Syracuse in its third try.
“The second year, I noticed a tremendous difference in my team. They were no longer a bunch of scared kids. By the third year, we were totally legit, we were really good and ready for business.”
Siena has had no such problems with wins over Vanderbilt in 2008 and Ohio State in 2009 before falling in the second round of each tournament. Siena will be dependent on the senior leadership of Alex Franklin, Edwin Ubiles and Ronald Moore to try to elevate them not only past Purdue, but into the Sweet 16.
“Siena might have more pressure on them than any
13 seed in history,” said Brennan, who now hosts a radio show in Vermont.
“Purdue is a much different team without Robbie Hummel and if they get past [the Boilermakers], then they play the winner of Texas A&M/Utah State and those are not teams you would be like, ‘Oh my God, Siena has no shot.”
Brennan admits his mistake was putting too much emphasis on just winning one game in the tournament, which made it difficult for Vermont to keep it going and the Catamounts lost to Michigan State in the second round. His message now would be much different.
“We earned the right to be here, let’s get back to work and keep playing till someone sends us home,” Brennan said.
Brennan’s former team finds itself in another first-round matchup with Syracuse, only this time the Orange is a No. 1 seed, not a No. 4, and Vermont is a No. 16, not a No. 13.