Boston College Golden Eagles

1. All The News That Is Fit To Print. Think you're going out on a limb by picking BC as your dark horse? The New York Times already beat you to the punch. The Old Grey Lady picked BC to win it all back last fall. Good news since the Times' Midas Touch worked so well on past winners like John Kerry, Martha Burk and Jayson Blair.

2. Sowing Oats Leads To Oates Starting. Despite being arguably the least-talented big man in coach Al Skinner s rotation, John Oates started at center for all of BC's regular season games this year. Oates' best attribute was his ability to stay out of trouble this offseason ... something his counterparts Akida McLain and Sean Williams couldn't do. While all are individually limited, together they combine to form a serviceable center, averaging approximately nine points, eight rebounds, two blocks and 426 fouls a game.

3. Don't Hate BC Because Of The Sports Reporters. On a blog dedicated to exposing jerky columnists, BC must be viewed like one of those Al Qaeda training camps. The Jesuit school is the alma mater of Bob Ryan and Mike Lupica. If BC does well this March, both will surely jump on the bandwagon in time for their Sunday morning chat fest. Don t worry, though; by April they ll be ready to steer ESPN's focus back to 24/7 Yankees-Red Sox talk. — Bill Maloney