The story of the awful hotel accommodations received by Southern Illinois University during the 2002 NCAA tourney are legendary -- one assistant coach became seriously ill, and the team refused to eat on the premises. Seeded number 4 this year, their hotel is certainly better -- and the NCAA has worked hard to try to equalize accommodations somewhat.

At about 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Southern Illinois University assistant basketball coach Brad Korn walked into the upper echelon of college basketball. Three doormen greeted his team at its swank hotel, The Columbus, before the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. Plush white couches sat on mahogany paneled wood in the lobby. Limestone columns framed the front desk.

In his previous five trips to the tournament, Korn rarely enjoyed such luxuries. For the most part, he had arrived as a player or coach with lowly regarded Southern Illinois teams and stayed at lowly regarded hotels. In 2002, the NCAA assigned Korn's 11th-seeded Salukis to a hotel in Syracuse, N.Y., with moldy showers, unkempt beds and filthy curtains. The property was sold in a bankruptcy auction several months later.

This year, Southern Illinois was seeded fourth -- and the lodging arrangements matched the team's elevated status.

In the NCAA tournament, where you stand determines where you sleep at night: to the best teams go the best hotels. About three months ago, NCAA officials visited the eight cities hosting the first two rounds of the tournament, toured hotels and, with input from local host committees, ranked the facilities based on quality and location. The NCAA then assigned the best-seeded teams to the most prestigious hotels. In general, elite teams ended up at downtown Marriotts; small-conference underdogs sometimes settled for small historic hotels or airport area chains.

Go Salukis!

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