Dayton's impressive tradition runs deep

Posted: 03/27/2014 12:01:00 AM MDT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - To folks here in the Deep South, 11th-seeded Dayton seems to be viewed as a little team from a little conference that must be absolutely thrilled - if not overwhelmed - to be playing with the big boys in the Sweet 16 of the men's NCAA Tournament.

If those people only knew, Flyers senior guard Vee Sanford said.

'We have a great tradition,' Sanford said Wednesday. 'We sell out just about every game, 13,000 or more. I think that's what people don't realize. You hear, 'Dayton, Ohio' and you wonder where that is. But if you come to any of our home games, you'll be blown away by how great our crowds are.'

The Flyers (25-10), the lowest seed remaining in the tournament, face 10-seeded Stanford (23-12) on Thursday (5:15 p.m., KCNC-4) at the FedEx Forum, with the winner advancing to the regional final Saturday.

Dayton, a Catholic school with an enrollment of 7,700, should not be viewed as an unknown school from an unknown conference. The Atlantic 10 ranked sixth this season in league RPI power ranking, ahead of the Southeastern Conference (seventh), which has Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee in the Sweet 16, and the American Athletic Conference (eighth), which features Louisville, Connecticut and Cincinnati.

And then there's the Flyers' tradition. It's impressive.

Dayton reached the national championship game in 1967, losing to UCLA and 7-foot-1 foot sophomore Lew Alcindor, who, of course, later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. During the 1974 NCAA Tournament, Dayton took UCLA's Bill Walton-led Final Four team to triple overtime before losing, 111-100. This is Dayton's 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, though its first in five years.

'There's a really rich history with this program,' Dayton senior forward Devin Oliver said. 'Unfortunately, it's taken us this long to get back to where we should be every year. But it's a very proud program.'

In the past seven years, Dayton is 24-11 against programs in BCS conferences.

'These (Dayton) kids are used to playing at a high level,' Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. 'They're very good.'

Dayton employs a balanced attack, a deep rotation (up to nine players) and likes to play at a fast pace.

The Flyers went 9-of-16 from 3-point range in an upset of Syracuse to reach the Sweet 16. And, there's something else: Dayton coach Archie Miller expects a huge contingent of Flyers fans in the FedEx Forum.

The NCAA recognizes the rabid support for basketball in the Dayton area and schedules the 'First Four' playoff games for the UD Arena each year.

'Dayton is an unbelievable place to coach basketball,' Miller said, 'and I really think it may be one of the best places to play basketball because you're just the show. The community and the program, they live off one another. Sometimes, 20-, 30-, 40-year season-ticket holders run up to you in the grocery store and you can be 0-8. ... It's a little bit of a double-edged sword. Because if you're doing well, the fans in Dayton make you feel like you're doing better than you really are.

'You may show up and eight cakes and 19 boxes of cookies are going to be in your office or in the locker room after you get a great win.'

While the Flyers might be an unexpected member of the Sweet 16, they have a rich basketball tradition

NCAA Tournament appearances: 15

Final Four: 1967 (lost to UCLA in championship game)

Elite Eight: 1967, 1984

Sweet 16: 1967, 1974, 1984, 2014

NIT championships: 1962, 1968, 2010

NIT runner-up: 1951, 1952, 1955, 1956, 1958

All-time record: 1,534-1,062 (.589)

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