preview-capsules Page 5 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Oregon Ducks
1. Not that Aaron Brooks. From the same school that gave the sports world another Jaison Williams (current WR) and Steve Smith (former CB), comes current point guard and Pac-10 Player of the Year candidate Aaron Brooks. He can't throw 50-yard backward passes, but highlights before this season includ...
North Texas Mean Green
1. Green Eagle. Although we all know UNT as the Mean Green, the school mascot is actually Scrappy the eagle. And Scrappy he is. In 1974 (back during Vietnam, when college students used to protest war in between bong hits), the school scrapped "Scrappy" because the flower children thought his name wa...
Illinois Fighting Illini
1. Breaking The Social Contract. In a season that was riddled with repeated freak injuries and the thank-God-we-might-not-have-to-talk-about-the-Chief-anymore madness, the most bizarre story was the late-season car crash involving guard Jamar Smith and center Brian Carlwell. In case you've been fort...
Kentucky Wildcats
1. Roc-A-Fella. After many of his made baskets, Kentucky starting point guard Ramel Bradley uses his hands to make a diamond symbol to the crowd. According to Bradley, the symbol is an ode to his fellow Brooklyn native Jay-Z and represents Roc-A-Fella records and the Dynasty of Kentucky basketball. ...
Arkansas Razorbacks
1. The Name. The team was originally known as the Arkansas Cardinals until 1909, when football coach Hugo Bezdek declared that his team played like a bunch of "wild band of razorback hogs." The nickname stuck and became official before the 1910 season. The "hog call" of "Woo Pig Sooey!" came around ...
North Carolina Tar Heels
1. What's in a nickname? Monikers flow in a locker room like coffee in a diner. You're more than familiar with Carolina's first-team All-American, Tyler "Psycho T" Hansbrough. But can you recall the only player strong enough to hold Hansbrough in check this season? That would be unsung senior Dewey ...
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 g...
Holy Cross Crusaders
1. Before Chief Wahoo, there was Chief Sockalexis. Roughly 12 years before Jim Thorpe became the most famous Native American athlete ever, a Penobscot Indian named Louis Sockalexis was starring in football, track and baseball at College of the Holy Cross. After batting over .400 in college, Sockalex...
Weber State Wildcats
1. The Original 'Cinderella Team.' You've seen the DirecTV commercial: "Who ever heard of Weber State?" Outside of Utah, the only people who know the name (and that it's pronounced WEE-ber) are NCAA Tournament fans who recognize the Wildcats as the scrappy minor-mid-major team that has managed to wi...
Central Connecticut State Blue Devils
1. The Past. Central Connecticut State University, founded in 1849 as the New Britain Normal School, is the oldest public institution of higher education in Connecticut. "Famous" CCSU alumni in the world of sports include the good (Patriots salary-cap wiz Scott Pioli), the bad (deposed NFL head coac...
Vanderbilt Commodores
1.How It Got Here. Founded in 1873, Vanderbilt University was originally to be known as Central University in Nashville, on the hope that founding a university in Graceland could heal the sectional wounds inflicted by the Civil War. It was renamed Vanderbilt, however, after Cornelius Vanderbilt aban...
Texas A&M Aggies
1. Billy Gillispie Might Have Been A Good Hire. In their first eight seasons in the Big 12, the Aggies won 25 conference games and lost 103. For you math whizzes out there, that equates to 19.5 percent. In the past three years, they've won 31 conference games (64.6 percent). For a perspective of how...
Virginia Tech Hokies
1. Can't Win the Small Ones. The Hokies finished their ACC season 10-6, their best mark in the conference and one game out of first place. The weird part? Tech was 5-2 against the top four teams in the conference, including 3-0 against teams ranked in the national top five, but only 3-4 against the ...
Pennsylvania Quakers
FIVE REASONS TO PICK THE PENN QUAKERS AS YOUR SLEEPER...
Niagara Purple Eagles
1. We wear purple to stay neutral. MAAC Tournament MVP and freshman Tyrone Lewis was barred from his valedictorian speech at his High School in Levittown, Penn., because of a threat by the ever-popular Bloods. When his sister testified against the gang they shot at Tyrone's car, killing one of his f...
Old Dominion Monarchs
1. Their long-distance bill must be horrendous. Nobody has made better use of overseas players than ODU. Australian stalwart Alex Loughton graduated last year after leading the Monarchs to an NCAA berth and the final four of the NIT. This year, the team is paced by Lithuanian sharpshooter Valdas Vas...
Belmont Bruins
1. Live by the Three... Belmont upset the Atlantic Sun conference's regular-season champion East Tennessee State on its home floor in the worst way possible — with a 94-67 rout underwritten by a flurry three-pointers. Belmont made 12 in the first half alone, including a desperation shot at the buzze...
Virginia Cavaliers
1. Liz Lemon is a Total Geek. You know her now as creator and star of the funniest show on Thursday nights, "30 Rock," but Tina Fey spent her time in Charlottesville avoiding keg parties and being a nerdy drama major. It all paid off two years after graduation from UVa with her acceptance into the r...
Nevada Wolf Pack
1. The McGee Family Reunion Comes With A Shot Clock. JaVale McGee's mom Pam and Aunt Paula won the 1983 & 1984 NCAA basketball championships with USC. Although Aunt Paula (who got robbed) wasn't selected for the Olympic team, Mom won a basketball gold medal in 1984. His dad, George Montgomery, a 6-8...
Albany Great Danes
1. Jamar Wilson, Mayor of Sm-Albany. This is becoming a rite of spring. Jamar Wilson dominates an America East Final (22, 7 and 6 in the conference title game), and the Great Danes get a bid to the Big Show. Diddly posed the thought on everyone's mind (in the Capital District at least): "I think we'...