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Texas A&M Aggies
1. Battle of the Brazos. Texas A&M's rivalry with Baylor is called "The Battle of the Brazos," as the team's campuses sit 90 miles apart, near the Brazos River. The teams have been playing each other since 1914, but no year has been as eventful as this one. The fun started with a five-overtime thriller in College Station, with Baylor emerging with a 116-110 victory. The game wasn't shown on TV, but ESPN Classic later rebroadcast it using footage from A&M's in-arena cameras andaudio from the radio broadcast. In the rematch, Baylor fans ended the game by throwing plastic soda bottles onto the floor after the Aggies' Donald Sloan capped a 71-57 blowout with an off-the-glass dunk dubbed by Aggie fans as "The Baptism." More »
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Villanova Wildcats
1. I Got A Name. As if it wasn't rare enough to find one young African-American with the name Corey, Coach Wright went out and found two: freshman guards Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher, both McDonald's All-Americans in high school. Each has shown tremendous promise in their limited time on the court (Stokes is an 89percent free-throw shooter, and Fisher is third on the team in points and steals per game). Not since the days of Mssrs. Feldman and Haim has such untapped, dual-Corey-based potential lay waiting to be sprung upon an unsuspecting America. More »
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South Alabama Jaguars
1. It's the Jags baby... The University of South Alabama will be coming to a television near you this March. I'm guessing most of you are surprised that such a school exists. USA is a small school located in the Mobile area. That's pretty much as far south as you go in Alabama. Last year, they enrolled a little over 14,000 students (undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral), so it is indeed small. USA calls the Sun Belt Conference home, along with other teams like Florida International and Troy. However... this is a team that you shouldn't simply dismiss and it won't be their first time in the Tourney. In 1989, the Jaguars took out Alabama in the first round, and lost to Michigan in the second. Who won the whole shebang in 1989? That's right, Michigan. They also made a first round exit in 1991. The coach and the program have been there before, and they may turn some heads this year. More on that in a bit... More »
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Virginia Tech Hokies
1. Nobody saw this coming. The Hokies came into this season having lost All-ACC guards Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon in addition to their only real capable low post offensive threat, Coleman Collins. Those three were the heart and soul of a Hokies team that went 22-12 overall and 10-6 in the ACC, including a sweep of UNC and a win at Duke. (Ed. Note: And a tourney win over our Illini.) Key returning players from last year were three-point sniper A.D. Vassallo and highlight dunk artist Deron Washington (URL#1). While these two were good in 2007, nobody expected anything from the Hokies this season, especially the ACC media, who pegged them for a respectable tenth place. Instead of settling for the NIT, Seth Greenberg has pulled out a minor miracle and his boys have their dancing shoes ready. More »
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Duke Blue Devils
1. It's Pronounced "SHY-er fah-SAY." Photos of it are center (and roommate) Brian Zoubek's desktop background. "Weird," says guard Gerald Henderson. "It's just weird." They're referring, of course, to the infamous (Jon) Scheyer Face, found on the mug of Duke's sixth man. Judging only by his expressions, Scheyer passes a basketball like Al Swearengen passes his kidney stones. Still, at least he always looks like he's trying out there. Scheyerfacing is a fond pastime of opposing ACC fans, largely because PhotoShop doesn't require basic literacy to use. Two of my personal favorites are here. In other news referencing famous pictures of Duke hoopsters, here's your annual Reggie Love update. More »
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Memphis Tigers
1. The Plush Club. The Tigers' late-night exploits at 380 Beale St led Coach John Calipari to institute an 11 p.m. curfew and no-nightclub policy. The first incident at the Plush Club happened in the early morning hours of September 2, 2007, when forward Shawn Taggart and shooting guard Jeff Robinson were charged with disorderly conduct and inciting a riot. The police report suggests that it was actually forward Joey Dorsey who got things going when he climbed up on the bar and "made it rain" (just whose money he was throwing is still undetermined). Dorsey had already left the scene before 20 police cars arrived to disperse the crowd. Charges against Taggart and Robinson were later dismissed. Despite Calipari's no-nightclub policy, Robert Dozier was involved in a second incident at the Plush Club on February 3rd. After an initial confrontation with ex-girlfriend LaParis Woods, Dozier followed her out of the club in his car before both pulled over and continued their argument on a downtown street corner. It was there that Dozier allegedly slapped her twice. Woods, a stripper at The Gold Club in East Memphis, has not filed charges but did take out a restraining order against Dozier. Dozier's current girlfriend, Andrea Brown, followed suit and took out a restraining order of her own against Woods, who allegedly had threatened her at the Plush Club and went to Brown's apartment later that night where she continued her tirade and warned, "I'll be back." Calipari, always the strict disciplinarian, suspended Dozier for one game, not for the alleged assault, but for breaking curfew. One particularly creative fan in Birmingham blacked out her eye for the Tigers' game the following week at UAB and wore a shirt that read "I dated Dozier." This is featured prominently in one of the greatest photos of the college basketball season. Backup forward Pierre Niles' blue-sleeved hand can be seen slapping someone resembling Larry the Cable Guy, though no disciplinary action was taken against Niles following the melee. More »
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Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers
1. Fun facts about your Mount St. Mary's University Mountaineers. Mount St. Mary's University was founded in 1808, making it the oldest independent Catholic college in the United States. It's located in Emmitsburg, a tiny mountain town in Central Maryland just south of the Mason-Dixon Line. The Mount (and yes, that's really what they call it) has been co-educational since 1972 and has seen a sharp spike in impure thoughts in the ensuing decades. According to my friend John, a 2002 grad, a popular saying around campus is, "Mount. It's not just a school. It's a verb." Basketball-wise, the most famous alumnus is former Bullets, 76ers, and Bucks guard Fred "Mad Dog" Carter. The Mount (18-14) gained the third tournament berth in school history by winning the Northeast Conference tournament. Strong efforts from the Mountaineer bench powered the team down the stretch, as the reserves notched at least 39 points in each of their last three games.2. Hooked on a Phelan. If you have any familiarity with the Mountaineers, it's probably because of their former coach, the legendary Jim Phelan. He coached at the Mount for his entire 49-year career before retiring in 2003 with 830 wins (fourth all-time) in an NCAA-record 1,321 games. He guided his teams to 16 Division II tournament appearances, reaching the Final Four five times and winning it all in 1962. Phelan has received the honor of having the Mount's home court named for him; the NEC Coach of the Year award and the collegeinsider.com National Coach of the Year award also now bear his name. His trademark was an ever-present bow tie, and he kept a set of ninja throwing stars in his breast pocket, which he used to intimidate referees and gain favorable calls for his team. I may have just lied to you.
3. They Don't Burn Couches in Emmitsburg. The Baltimore Sun's recap of the NEC tournament final in Fairfield, CT notes that an unspecified number of Mountaineers fans celebrated the victory by storming the court post-game and ... throwing confetti. The reporter fails to describe the manner in which the fans threw the confetti. Were they tossing it in the air and letting it rain gently down? Or were they firing it at the Sacred Heart players and fans in an aggressive and taunting fashion? Personally, I approve of the injection of small-time whimsy into what is becoming an overdone and unimaginative expression of euphoria by college hoops fans. But I suppose Storming The Floor will have the final ruling on the matter. — Kevin Brotzman
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Davidson Wildcats
1. The freight. Here is some basic info you might hear over the next few days. Davidson has the nation's longest winning streak at 22 games. The Wildcats won the Southern Conference for the third year in a row, have won their past 36 conference games and 46 of the past 47. More »
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Purdue Boilermakers
1. The Baby Boilers Grew Up Before Our Eyes. At the beginning of the season we were positive we were watching an NIT Purdue team .. .or maybe a 12-seed, 19-win Purdue team. As the preconference season began, we looked genius as the Boilers struggled versus the "always tough" Lipscomb. Then the wheels looked like they were coming off as the Baby Boilers lost to Missouri (on the road), Iowa State (neutral site) and finally, Wofford at Mackey Arena. That painful night stuck out for Purdue fans, but also stuck in the minds of voters as the season progressed. This youthful Purdue team lost to Michigan State in East Lansing, but then went on an 11-game tear with two wins over the now Big Ten Champ Wisconsin Badgers, as well as a nationally-televised win over Sparty. The road win v. Wisconsin and home win v. MSU marked the first time Purdue had ever beaten two top-10 teams in a week in the history of the program. This team that at one point was the only in the nation that had four starting freshman grew up quickly. In fact, it could be said that these babies "became men" right before our eyes ... their voices got deeper and fur even began to grow where there was none before .. .nevermind. Point is this group of players, comprised mostly of freshman and sophomores achieved the highest national ranking in the past ten years getting up to 15th. Frosh Robbie Hummel played biggest on the biggest stages as he thrived versus Wisky, MSU & IU. He averaged in the high-teens along with nearly ten rebounds in those contest and he wasn't afraid of taking the important shot. Also, E'Twaun Moore, the jewel of this highly-touted class, came out of his shell at around the midpoint of the Big Ten season; he ended being the leading scorer for the team. Chris Kramer had the unenviable task of guarding Eric Gordon, Drew Neitzel, Jamar Butler and others, but shut down many of these scorers for ten to twenty minutes at a time, fighting knee and wrist injuries all along. Matt Painter showed that he's one of the best coaches in a coaching-rich conference by blending the right line-ups at the right times and game-planning to overcome Purdue's experience discrepancy as the season progressed. So what's the prognosis? Well, this is a darned good Purdue team, much better than we thought they'd be. While statistically they aren't the best-shooting team, they have been extremely smart with the ball and don't turn it over much. And they play hard-nosed, high-energy defense for 40 minutes each game, plus they shoot free throws well. It's said that guard play is important in the NCAA tournament - if this is the case, Purdue could get as deep as the round of eight...but what they have in guards, they simply do not have underneath. Purdue's bigs will struggle against a team with an experienced, skilled PF/C...But this team has the potential to make a lot of noise, if they play the right team. More »
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Georgetown Hoyas
1. How It Got Here. Founded in 1789 by John Carroll, Georgetown was part of a larger educational effort by the Pope's "Team America" approach to help educate young Catholics in post-Revolutionary War America. Carroll went out to start out other universities, including his namesake in Cleveland, Ohio. The blue and gray clad Hoyas colors were so chosen when the university decided to honor the service of its civil war veterans. Though the school was active in football at the turn of the century (where its motto, "Hoya Saxa!" was coined), the last fifty years the school's sporting prowess has been decidedly basketball related. Ex-NFL commish Paul Tagliabue was a member of the squad in 1962 and former Illinois representative Henry Hyde led the team to the NCAA tournament final in 1943. But those were sporadic successes until the arrival of John Thompson (II) in 1972. The Hoyas made their first tournament under JTII three years later. By 1979, they were tournament regulars. By the mid-80s, the basketball team had most of America fearing for their lives. More »
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Arkansas Razorbacks
1. Record Breaker. New coach John Pelphrey set the record for most wins by a first year head coach at Arkansas with 20 when the Hogs beat Auburn at home to finish the regular season. That isn't a minor feat when you realize two of the best coaches in history coached at Arkansas, Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson. They had 17 and 12 wins in their first seasons, respectively. The record was held by Eugene Lambert who led his first team to a 19-7 record during the 1942-43 season. Pelphrey also broke the 100-win barrier with that victory. More »
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Kent State Golden Flashes
1. The Original Bracket Buster. Before there was George Mason, there was Kent State. Back in 2002 the Golden Flashes, behind three stud senior guards (Trevor Huffman, Andrew Mitchell and current FIBA scoring-record holder Demetric Shaw) and current NFL all-pro tight end Antonio Gates (who was an All-American in hoops at Kent and had not played football since high school when he signed with the Chargers), set the standard for Cinderellas when they made it all the way to the Elite Eight before falling to eventual national runner-up Indiana. Kent State took out three nationally ranked foes- Alabama, Oklahoma State and Pitt, not to mention several office pool brackets- on its way to the regional finals and top-12 national ranking. More »
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Connecticut Huskies
1. Our Little Baby's All Growns Up! Since the Huskies won their second national championship in 2004, UConn fans haven't had that much to cheer about. In 2004-05, the Huskies couldn't rebound from the loss of Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon, sleepwalked through the season and got knocked out by NC State in the second round of the NCAAs. In the 2005-06 Elite Eight, despite a rotation featuring five future NBA draft picks, UConn played the role of Michigan to George Mason's Appalachian State. Last season, after a mass exodus to the NBA, UConn was the youngest team in the country (its roster included five sophomores, eight freshmen and zero upperclassmen), and it showed; the team lost 11 out of its last 15 games and didn't even garner an NIT bid despite winning 17 games. Without any significant changes to the roster, fans were not optimistic that this season would be much different, and this skepticism appeared to be justified by several close early-season losses to ranked teams. But following a loss to Providence on January 17, the young Huskies matured overnight, and proceeded to knock off 10 straight opponents, often in dramatic fashion. Interestingly, eight of those wins came after the program suspended guards Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins. (Dyson, who led the team in scoring — and apparently was a big fan of Funyuns and the movie Friday — at the time of his suspension, has struggled since returning in late February.) The team has benefited from the major improvement of 6'2" point guard AJ Price, whose career did not begin until last season after being initially delayed by a brain hemorrhage and then a brain fart (he was involved in a laptop theft). Price has raised his game this year, averaging 15 points and six assists per game. Other standouts include 6'6" junior bruiser Jeff Adrien (15 points and nine rebounds per game) and the Tanzanian Devil, 7'3" sophomore center Hasheem Thabeet (10 points, 8 rebounds and 4.5 blocks per game). Price and Adrien were named to the All-Big East First Team and Thabeet was voted the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. More »
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Washington State Cougars
1. A Dingo Ate your Jumper Allowing only 56 points per game (good for third in the nation) in 07-08, this version of the Cougars are one that stifles on the defensive end. And assembling this team of defensive aficionados was an interesting and far flung task for the Coaches Bennett. Not one player who stepped on the court for the Cougs this year resides in the Evergreen State. And only one current Washingtonian is listed on the active roster (freshman Charlie Ernquist). In fact the Cougars recruiting base ranges from Belgrade to Auckland, and everywhere in between. Part of this can be attributed to the basketball globetrotting past of Coach/Female Forbidden Fruit Fantasy, Tony Bennett. Bennett spent three years with the Charlotte Hornets, and then played and coached in New Zealand for the North Harbor Kings until 1998. His international connections have been key in building this team, "The further away we went, the better chance we had of getting someone" Said Bennett. This was basically the tactful way of saying "it's pretty hard to sell the middle of nowhere." More »
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West Virginia Mountaineers
1. Next Year, Buy Us Presents. West Virginia has played 99 illustrious years of basketball, compiling an impressive 61.4 percent winning percentage and a trip to the 1959 NCAA title game. WVU hasn't been as lucky with several opponents, however, owning overall losing records against Steubenville Athletic Club, Smith Skating Rink and the Parkersburg (W.Va.) YMCA. Though, in our defense, both losses to the Parkersburg YMCA came on the road. More »
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Portland State Vikings
1. Ok, so what's the deal with P. State? After 12 years in the NCAA hinterlands, your Portland State Vikings are ready for their national media close-up. Why do I say "your" Portland State Vikings? Because, inevitably in the run up to the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament game next week you will be inundated with stories (and a likely CBS video montage) about the plucky Big Sky champions and by the time you're done hearing about the Vikings pint-sized point guard and the school that couldn't even get respect in its home town you're going to want to drop everything, buy a Jerry Glanville mask and move to Portland. It's the largest public university in Oregon (bigger than Oregon and Oregon State) and is nestled in downtown Portland in the lovely Park Blocks. Pretty much everyone and their mother in Portland has at one time or another taken a class there, but few claim the commuter campus as their school. (We call it PSU, not P-State, Nittany this, Lions!). More »
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