Southern Illinois Salukis

1. Watch Yo Mouth. Among many famous alums - Dennis Franz, Shawn Colvin, Bob Odenkirk, John Belushi (though it's up for debate whether or not he actually attended a class) - without a doubt the coolest Saluki grad is Richard Roundtree, best known as SHAFT. In addition to being the private dick who gets all the chicks, Roundtree played football for SIU and was treated for breast cancer in 1993.

2. These Guys Are Unusually Smart. SIU is not necessarily known for its academic excellence - it's more known for its parties - but the basketball team is wiping the floor with the student body, at least in the classroom. Star guard Jamaal Tatum is an honors student like fellow starters Matt Shaw and Bryan Mullins. Tatum's father is a professor, but not as impressive a professor as the father of reserve center Kobby Acquah, whose dad is the head of the physics department at the University of the Cape Coast in Ghana.

3. The President Should Have Been Governor. SIU's president is Glenn Poshard, who lost a brutal and close gubernatorial race with former Illinois Gov. George Ryan in 1998. Had he won, the state of Illinois would have been much better off; Ryan proved to be an impressively corrupt public official and was ultimately convicted of 18 federal public corruption convictions and sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail (he's somehow avoiding prison so far on appeal, because he's white and old). — Will Leitch