NCAA Pants Party: Syracuse Vs. Texas A&M

Syracuse Orange (23-11) vs. Texas A&M Aggies (21-8). When: Thursday, 9:40 p.m. ET Where: Jacksonville, Fla.

SYRACUSE

1. The Real Slim Shady. Tattooed Orange frosh Eric Devendorf was born in Bay City, Mich., about 115 miles north of Detroit. He guards the perimeter in Syracuse's standard 2-3 while talking trash, which draws comparisons to some other white guy from Motown. Growing up, players labeled the 6-foot-4 combo guard with the killer left hand as "Roundball Eminem," and after arriving at Syracuse students began calling Devendorf "8 Mile." Devendorf played prep ball at hoops factory Oak Hill Academy in Virginia and could have played at the Carrier Dome with fellow Oak Hill graduate Carmelo Anthony, had 'Melo elected to graduate.

2. Orange-Tainted Bias. If you thought Fox News Channel is guilty of media bias, think about the Orange-tainted media. Syracuse's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications churns out a plethora of sports journalists. Marv Albert? YES! Bob Costas won't give you tidbits about various countries during the Olympics broadcasts, but he doesn t have a problem with chatting about his time at the 'Cuse. Sean McDonough, Mike Tirico even Graham Bensinger - the teenage student mastermind behind the infamous T.O. interview - are among those who bleed Orange. And that's only the on-air "talent."

3. "I Think 'D.C.' Means 'Disturbed Child.'" That's what Charles Barkley said of former Syracuse star Derrick Coleman. Booze may have prevented D.C. from fulfilling his potential in the NBA, as the No. 1 draft by the Nets in 1990, but the retired Coleman has gone on to start a hip hop label called OnPoint Recordings. Coleman wore the fabled No. 44, only reserved for select Syracuse athletes, including legendary running backs Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and more recently John Wallace, who led the then-Orangemen to the Final Four in 1996. — Ashok Selvam

TEXAS A&M

1. Texas A&M Has No Cheerleaders. The Aggie Dictionary will inform you that the school has no cheerleaders, but they do have a dance team, none of whom are particularly good looking. 2. The Coach Is Dull. Head coach Billy Gillispie has his own Web site, where you can learn such things as "Billy Gillispie's website is the most boring, useless place on Earth." 3. The Elephant Walk. By consulting the Aggie Dictionary again, we learned that graduating A&M seniors do something called The Elephant Walk: "Marks the transition of the graduating senior class handing down its role as leaders to the incoming senior class. The seniors wander through campus like old elephants that leave the herd to die. The seniors usefulness to the student body "dies" the day of Elephant Walk." At Ohio State, where we went, people just got drunk. But then, we only made it to second quarter of freshman year, and our biggest accomplishment was throwing a mattress off the roof of our fraternity house. — The Cavalier

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