SEATTLE
No one knew where Kelly Graves was, late for his own news conference. He wasn't answering his phone. Staffers were asking everyone if they'd seen Graves, the Gonzaga head coach, yesterday afternoon.
And where was Graves? Stuck outside the interview room, being held up by a security guard because Graves lacked the proper identification.
"Obviously, we're not all that well known.... It kind of puts you in your place," Graves said.
Despite unprecedented success, this little incident only added to Graves' belief that his seventh-seeded Bulldogs (27-4) remain unknown and are actually the underdogs tonight against No. 10 seed North Carolina (19-11) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Graves would like you to ignore the Bulldogs' resume: their fifth straight West Coast Conference regular-season title, their third conference tourney crown in four years and their 18-game win streak with the closest game decided by 10 points.
With a program such as North Carolina on the other side, Graves said it doesn't matter.
"North Carolina is such a storied program. They go into NCAA Tournaments expecting to get to Final Fours. We're not there yet," he said. "We've certainly made great strides over the last decade, but we haven't proven ourselves long term. Until we do that ... that's what we have to carry with us. And I think it's something at our university, on the men's side and our side, it's something we've carried well."
From a name standpoint, there aren't many more eye-catching first-round matchups than the Tar Heels and Bulldogs, who meet in tonight's late game. The early matchup has second-seeded Texas A&M (25-7), rolling after winning nine of 10 and the Big 12 Tournament title, facing 15th-seeded Portland State (18-14).
For Gonzaga, all this is similar to a year ago. They were sent to Seattle as a No. 12 seed for the 2009 tournament, set to face bigger and stronger Xavier in the first round. Gonzaga beat Xavier 74-59 before falling to fourth-seeded Pittsburgh 65-60 in the second round, a game not decided until the final few seconds.
The Bulldogs still feel like that lightly regarded No. 12 seed. The only difference this time is they'll be the ones wearing the home white jerseys in front of what's expected to be a pro-Bulldogs crowd just a five-hour drive from campus.
"There is still a little familiarity behind playing here at this time of year," said Gonzaga forward Heather Bowman. "But this is still definitely a different situation for us."
See a "10" next to North Carolina's seeding is certainly different for everyone associated with the Tar Heels program. It's the lowest NCAA seed in the program's history, although the Tar Heels will take it after dropping eight of their final 11 to put their NCAA hopes in jeopardy.
It's a young team Coach Sylvia Hatchell brings into the tournament, part of the reason North Carolina's season enjoyed the highs of beating Duke, a No. 2 seed, but also the lows of a 41-point loss to Connecticut.
Of the six ACC teams in the tourney, the Tar Heels are the lowest seed.
"The seeding doesn't really matter at this point," North Carolina guard Italee Lucas said. "We pretty much are just coming out to play hard and hopefully get the upset."
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