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."

2. The Triforce. The team is built around seniors Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver and Robbie Cowgill. All three have been deemed to have a "intramural" look to them, but don't be fooled, they're all skilled ballers. Weaver is a sinewy 6-6 athlete who can play any position from the 1 to the 3. He leads the team in no offensive category, but contributes with feints through the lane, creating shots for teammates. But where Weaver gets his accolades is as a shutdown perimeter defender. Second in the Pac-10 in steals, he's become a Jay Bilas favorite, who rendered this wondrous nugget "he's not a shooter, but he's a winner." Talk on Jay: talk on. Low, the team's leading scorer and 3-time Hawaii High School Player of the Year, committed to WSU without ever seeing the campus. I could see this happening going from Pullman to Hawaii, but Hawaii to Pullman? That's how much Low trusted the Bennett's coaching philosophy. And last but not least fan favorite and Pac 10 Scholar athlete of the year, Robbie Cowgill. The laid-back Cowgill has been called a "glue-guy" and is always around the ball, creating opportunities with hustle. When WSU has a fever, it's usually cured by more Cowgill. Explore that space Robbie!

3. Basket-wha!? The Pullman sports landscape has been dominated over the years by the whiz of footballs flying through the air, as well as irrational thoughts of a Mike Price return. Due to this dominance of football, basketball has traditionally been the oft forgotten runt of men's revenue sports. In some respects it still is; currently the Cougars play their games in the "Beasley Performance Arts Coliseum" (which has banners to honor NIT appearances). To avoid being lumped in with trade shows and productions of Oklahoma, the Cougar basketball team plays its games on "Friel Court." Confusing. It's also hurts your reputation as a basketball school when your three most famous former players are a Gatorade commercial staple/MJ poster boy (Craig Ehlo), a mediocre rapper/former G-Unit member who got kicked out before ever playing a minute (The Game, who might in fact be working me into a diss track right now), and Florida Marlins lefty Mark Hendrickson, who was drafted into the NBA with the 76ers in the late 90's, and is now working as a human testament to the benefits of being able to throw a baseball left handed. But with every win against traditional Pac-10 powerhouses, and every report of Tony Bennett going to a bigger school for a much bigger salary, the student body seems to sense exactly how special this team is. — Brian Tesch

WINTHROP EAGLES

Get to Know Winthrop. Winthrop University is a public school in Rock Hill, SC, across the state line from Charlotte. It's considered to be the best academic university in the state of South Carolina and one of the best public universities in the southeastern United States. Winthrop gets its name from former Massachusetts senator and congressman Robert C. Winthrop, who was the university's first major donor in the 1880s.

Winthrop hails from the mighty Big South Conference, which has been a one-bid basketball conference for its entire existence. The Eagles have dominated the recent history of the conference, making eight of the last 10 NCAA tournaments despite only one previous appearance in school history. They owe their unprecedented level of basketball success in the last decade to Gregg Marshall, who was the head coach for seven of those tourney bids. Marshall said a few years ago that he was too happy at Winthrop to leave for another job. Until, of course, he left Winthrop for another job as head coach at Wichita State. The team is now coached by longtime assistant Randy Peele. Aside form basketball, Winthrop athletics is known for its world-class Frisbee golf course. Winthrop's logo is actually one of your grandmother's toenail clippings. It's a well studied exact replica, right down to the yellow-red fungus.

Why Winthrop will bust your bracket

1. Michael Jenkins. The Kinston, NC senior leads the team with 14.3 points per game. He may be an undersized 2 guard, but he can create space for his shots, he's very effective at using screens, and can blow up for 30+ points in a game if you let him.
2. Perimeter defense. The Eagles guards play aggressively on defense, leading the Big South with 8.3 steals per game. If their opponent's point is liable to turn the ball over, or just has a bad day, Winthrop could send his team packing.
3. Depth. Considering that Winthrop is a small university in a one-bid conference, their bench is surprisingly good. The Eagles have nine players who clock at least 10 minutes per game, and the team gets about 18 points per game off the bench.
4. Experience. While this team lost some if its best players from last year (most notably Australian forward Craig Bradshaw), Winthrop return four seniors and six upperclassmen. Seniors compose the entirety of Winthrop's aforementioned backcourt.
5. For DeAndre Adams. Adams, a 5-8 point guard who played in all of Winthrop's games last season, died from complications of a car accident in May of 2007. Both the team and Winthrop fans have dedicated this season to his memory.

Why Winthrop will lose in the first round
1. Free throw shooting. The Eagles are one of the worst free throw shooting teams in college basketball, shooting only 59.5% from the line this season. Any chance of victory the Eagles would be in a very close game, and in these circumstances missed free throws could betray them.
2. Inconsistency. Even when Winthrop plays well, players like Jenkins don't always deliver consistently great performances. In five of the Eagles' seven losses, for example, Jenkins had been held to less than ten points. Winthrop has no chance of winning if players like Jenkins, Taj McCullough, and Chris Gaynor suddenly go cold.
3. No more surprises. By now, any team who draws the Eagles will be keen for the upset, and will have enough game film through the last few years to plan an effective strategy. — Mike White

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Winthrop hails from the mighty Big South Conference, which has been a one-bid basketball conference for its entire existence. The Eagles have dominated the recent history of the conference, making eight of the last 10 NCAA tournaments despite only one previous appearance in school history. They owe their unprecedented level of basketball success in the last decade to Gregg Marshall, who was the head coach for seven of those tourney bids. Marshall said a few years ago that he was too happy at Winthrop to leave for another job. Until, of course, he left Winthrop for another job as head coach at Wichita State. The team is now coached by longtime assistant Randy Peele. Aside form basketball, Winthrop athletics is known for its world-class Frisbee golf course. Winthrop's logo is actually one of your grandmother's toenail clippings. It's a well studied exact replica, right down to the yellow-red fungus.

Why Winthrop will bust your bracket

1. Michael Jenkins. The Kinston, NC senior leads the team with 14.3 points per game. He may be an undersized 2 guard, but he can create space for his shots, he's very effective at using screens, and can blow up for 30+ points in a game if you let him.
2. Perimeter defense. The Eagles guards play aggressively on defense, leading the Big South with 8.3 steals per game. If their opponent's point is liable to turn the ball over, or just has a bad day, Winthrop could send his team packing.
3. Depth. Considering that Winthrop is a small university in a one-bid conference, their bench is surprisingly good. The Eagles have nine players who clock at least 10 minutes per game, and the team gets about 18 points per game off the bench.
4. Experience. While this team lost some if its best players from last year (most notably Australian forward Craig Bradshaw), Winthrop return four seniors and six upperclassmen. Seniors compose the entirety of Winthrop's aforementioned backcourt.
5. For DeAndre Adams. Adams, a 5-8 point guard who played in all of Winthrop's games last season, died from complications of a car accident in May of 2007. Both the team and Winthrop fans have dedicated this season to his memory.

Why Winthrop will lose in the first round
1. Free throw shooting. The Eagles are one of the worst free throw shooting teams in college basketball, shooting only 59.5% from the line this season. Any chance of victory the Eagles would be in a very close game, and in these circumstances missed free throws could betray them.
2. Inconsistency. Even when Winthrop plays well, players like Jenkins don't always deliver consistently great performances. In five of the Eagles' seven losses, for example, Jenkins had been held to less than ten points. Winthrop has no chance of winning if players like Jenkins, Taj McCullough, and Chris Gaynor suddenly go cold.
3. No more surprises. By now, any team who draws the Eagles will be keen for the upset, and will have enough game film through the last few years to plan an effective strategy. — Mike White

NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH

1. The benefits of weed. When the Irish's starting point guard Kyle McAlarney was indefinitely suspended for having pot in the front seat of his car in late December, freshman guard Tory Jackson was immediately thrust into the starting spot. Although he still lacks K-Mac's consistency from behind both lines, Jackson's evolved into a very capable dynamo at the one position, scoring 34 points, dishing out 13 assists and pulling in 16 rebounds in back-to-back home wins over DePaul and Marquette. It's no wonder Jackson's a natural distributor; the Saginaw native is one of 15 siblings.

2. From downtown South Bend. Irish gunner Colin Falls has taken a majority of his shots from behind the 3-point arc (214 out of his 271 field goal attempts this season have been from long distance), but it's still quite an accomplishment to become the career 3-point leader in the history of both Notre Dame and the Big East conference. Falls ended his senior Big East regular season with 189 threes, six more than Gerry McNamara. His record seems even more valuable when you consider that his Orange counterpart was in school for nine years.

3. Not in our church. Walking into the Joyce Center, you wouldn't think it a basketball stronghold, but the Irish and Leprechaun Legion student section completed an 18-0 home campaign that extended their home winning streak to 20 games. It's a good thing Mike Brey's team was so consistent in South Bend, considering their road losses included St. Johns (RPI 130), South Florida (RPI 182, defeated them by 24 at home) and DePaul (defeated by 24 at home as well). If you're wondering how they play without a partisan crowd, the Irish were 1-1 at neutral sites, defeating Maryland in DC and losing by two to Butler. — Rakes Of Mallow

WINTHROP EAGLES

1. Some Winthrop Firsts. 1886: Winthrop first opens its doors.
1972: Winthrop goes co-ed and allows its first males to enroll.
August 20, 1977, 10:00 am: Freshman, and future actress Andie MacDowell first steps foot on campus.
August 20, 1977, 10:01 am: The few pioneering men who broke the gender barrier see MacDowell and call their friends, telling them that Winthrop is exactly how they pictured going to a former all-girls school would be.
August 20, 1977, 10:05 am: The men's dreams are dashed when MacDowell is asked out on and subsequently accepts a dinner date with the school's president.
1999: Basketball team makes first NCAA Tournament.
2003: I hook with a Winthrop girl for the first time.
2007: First Top 25 basketball ranking in school history.

2. Are you feeling lucky? Having once been an all-girls college, Winthrop stills maintains a 3:1 girl-to-guy ratio. For the guys on campus, this creates a law of supply and demand that just can't be topped. And if you get tired of that you can always try and win a car. Every year at a home basketball game, the fans make paper airplanes and throw them toward a car at mid-court with its windows open. First plane in wins the car. The best thing is that people actually win.

3. Nice Pants. When you think about the coaches that you've had in your lifetime, "high fashion" isn't typically the first phrase that pops into your head. Unfortunately a grown man in a t-shirt tucked into some high-riding shorts with socks pulled over his calves might be. Or even a guy in perma-sweats might be a more accurate depiction. Not so for Winthrop. Every year before they play in the tournament, Coach Marshall takes his coaching staff to a tailor in Charleston, S.C., where they are all fitted for custom made suits. With this being the seventh time in nine years that they will be going to The Dance, that makes for a solid wardrobe selection. — John Redcorn

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2. Are you feeling lucky? Having once been an all-girls college, Winthrop stills maintains a 3:1 girl-to-guy ratio. For the guys on campus, this creates a law of supply and demand that just can't be topped. And if you get tired of that you can always try and win a car. Every year at a home basketball game, the fans make paper airplanes and throw them toward a car at mid-court with its windows open. First plane in wins the car. The best thing is that people actually win.

3. Nice Pants. When you think about the coaches that you've had in your lifetime, "high fashion" isn't typically the first phrase that pops into your head. Unfortunately a grown man in a t-shirt tucked into some high-riding shorts with socks pulled over his calves might be. Or even a guy in perma-sweats might be a more accurate depiction. Not so for Winthrop. Every year before they play in the tournament, Coach Marshall takes his coaching staff to a tailor in Charleston, S.C., where they are all fitted for custom made suits. With this being the seventh time in nine years that they will be going to The Dance, that makes for a solid wardrobe selection. — John Redcorn

TENNESSEE

1. Bruce Pearl = Hulk Hogan. After the Vols' huge win at Rupp Arena over Kentucky, Pearl instructed his players to act like they'd "been there before." And then ripped his shirt off, in what forward Dane Bradshaw described as "wrestler style," in the locker room. It's possible he's insane. He openly aspires to be the most hated coach in the league, and he was thrown out of his son's high school hoops game for heckling the ref. Not to mention sweating through an entire suit at Florida, which wasn't so much insane as revolting. Even if Deadspin sees Pearl as nWo-era Hogan-as-heel (which may be fitting, considering Hulk's nWo partner, Kevin Nash, was a Vol), we see anyone who, in his first season, coaches a team picked to finish fifth of six in the SEC East to the championship as a Andre the Giant-body-slamming Hulkster.

2. Vols Have Disco Fever. The glory days of Vols hoops were back in the go-go 70s, when coach Ray Mears wore blindingly orange jackets and Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld headlined the swaggering Bernie & Ernie Show. That's really the only time the Vols were ever any good at all (there's a reason the men play on a court bearing the Lady Vols coach's oversized signature). So how to get things back on track? Have the coach bring back the garish sportscoat (with the tasteful addition of orange suspenders) and have point guard C.J. Watson wear a Bernie throwback in an actual game. We weren't aware you could pretend you were someone else in NCAA-sanctioned play, but there you have it. The Vols lost that game, but that was because Allan Houston was in attendance for the first time since leaving the Vols, and Allan Houston is an expert at losing. He's retired and still helping the Knicks lose. Or maybe that's all Isiah's doing.

3. Vols Do The Damndest Things. It's well-publicized that two Vols were recently suspended for crack possession. Putting aside the unquestionable draconian-ism of drug laws criminalizing the smoking of large quantities of rock-form cocaine in an illegally parked car, it's clear the Vols have some characters. Like Jemere Hendrix. You may remember young Jemere for being thrown off the team after throwing a punch at a football player and then fleeing (with the football player in hot pursuit) on a golf cart driven by an assistant hoops coach. Or maybe for subsequently showing up at a game wearing a white Hanes tee on which, in black Sharpie, he'd written: "MY APoLogy. I'M Sorry Team. I'M Sorry Fans. I'M Sorry Coach Pearl. I'M Sorry Mike Hamilton. I am My Brother's KEEPER." And then all his teammates' numbers. Which is just awesome. — Houston Goddard

WINTHROP

1. Gregg Marshall Is The Best Coach You've Never Heard Of. Marshall has compiled a 165-77 record in eight seasons and made Winthrop a dominant force in the Big South. In his first three seasons, he led the Eagles to a threepeat in regular season conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances. Success like this usually means a future coaching job in the SEC or Big East, right? Well, Marshall recently signed a contract extension that will keep him at Winthrop through 2015, giving you an idea of how much the university invests in the program and its coach. All six of Winthrop s appearances (including this year's) have happened under Marshall s tenure.

2. But ... Winthrop Has Never Won An NCAA Tournament Game. In fact, no Big South team has ever gotten higher than a 14 seed from the selection committee. This year the Eagles finished 23-7 and won both the Big South regular and tournament titles. They also start five veterans, all who helped to give Gonzaga a run for its money in the first round of last year s tournament. In other words, another lousy seed.

3. Winthrop University ... The Harvard Of The South! Well, if Harvard were a public school. The Princeton Review ranks Winthrop as one of the south s top public universities, offering a variety of degrees in the liberal arts. A quick scan through their music s Web page tells me they most likely kick Notre Dame s butt in music and many other fine arts areas, meaning my family could have saved $20,000 a year by sending me to Winthrop instead of Notre Dame and making me eight times the musician I am today. I'd probably have a better sex life, too. — Brandon Hollihan

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2. But ... Winthrop Has Never Won An NCAA Tournament Game. In fact, no Big South team has ever gotten higher than a 14 seed from the selection committee. This year the Eagles finished 23-7 and won both the Big South regular and tournament titles. They also start five veterans, all who helped to give Gonzaga a run for its money in the first round of last year s tournament. In other words, another lousy seed.

3. Winthrop University ... The Harvard Of The South! Well, if Harvard were a public school. The Princeton Review ranks Winthrop as one of the south s top public universities, offering a variety of degrees in the liberal arts. A quick scan through their music s Web page tells me they most likely kick Notre Dame s butt in music and many other fine arts areas, meaning my family could have saved $20,000 a year by sending me to Winthrop instead of Notre Dame and making me eight times the musician I am today. I'd probably have a better sex life, too. — Brandon Hollihan