preview-capsules Page 6 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders
1. The house that Arrow built. TAMUCC has only been part of the Texas A&M system since 1989. In 1998, they hired South Alabama coach Ronnie Arrow to create a Division-I basketball program out of thin air. He did just that, cobbling together a pair of respectable .500 seasons before earning Independe...
Florida A&M Rattlers
1. Currently holds the record for most racially offensive prior names. Originally established as the State Normal College for Colored Students; apparently, that was deemed to not effectively differentiate it from the rest of the state-run universities. So, the name was changed to Florida Agricultura...
Duke Blue Devils
1. Duke Green. Not that the .500 record in ACC play this year was a tipoff or anything, but this is one of the youngest Duke squads in history. The only senior on this year's team is Joe Pagliuca, who's seen his minutes steadily decline from year to year: from 9 to 7 to 4 to 2. DeMarcus Nelson, the ...
Marquette Golden Eagles
1. Commies and Question Marks Everywhere. Not only did little Joey McCarthy get his law degree at Marquette, the great Matthew Lesko attended Marquette undergrad. The question is, did he find a government grant to cover his bong water recycling program?...
Virginia Commonwealth Rams
1. Like Father, Like Duke. Gerald Henderson Jr., he of the face-breaking adamantium elbows, is the son of VCU alum Gerald Henderson (fancy that!), the best NBA player to come out of the Commonwealth. We can only presume the elder Henderson acquired the How To Land Your Ulna Bone On The Bridge Of An ...
Kansas Jayhawks
1. Sharing The Wealth. Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, Darrell Arthur, Sherron Collins, Sasha Kaun, Darnell Jackson and Julian Wright have all had their turn leading the team in scoring. For the math-challenged amongst you, that's seven different players. And what does this mean for you, poor 16 seed?...
Georgetown Hoyas
1. "Their offense is unstoppable." That's a direct quote from college hoops statistical stallion Ken Pomeroy via DC Sports Bog, and it's an odd one considering Georgetown was 11th in the Big East in scoring this season. However, KenPom's analysis reveals that the Hoyas are third in the nation in off...
Wright State Raiders
1. Go Vikings...err...Coyotes...err...Raiders? Since this is only Wright State's second trip to the Big Dance, not many people know much about the school. Despite what Wright State's logo entails, their mascot is the Raider. It is not coyotes or even their circa 1993 mascot, a viking....
Creighton Blue Jays
1. The original Huggy Bear. Before Bob Huggins (and Tom Asbury and Jim Wooldridge), there was Dana Altman. In four years at K-State, Altman led the Wildcats to three postseason tournaments (including the Big Dance in 1993) and won a Big Eight Coach of the Year award. Since taking over at Creighton i...
Long Beach State 49ers
1. Nixon's The One. NCAA opponents would be wise not to overlook the 49ers in general and senior forward Aaron "Mr. Big Shot" Nixon in particular. After a 74-49 loss to Temple on December 2, Long Beach State has won 22 straight, winning the Big West championship, where Nixon was named Tournament MVP...
Arizona Wildcats
1. Stretch Marks. The 2006-2007 season has resembled that of a young Alpha Phi freshman, heading to Tucson after a long summer of working out and tanning in the sun. Sure, she looks great when college begins, but five months of drinking any possible liquid (Everclear, YUMMY!) and ordering Domino's o...
Davidson Wildcats
1. OK, let's get it straight now — Steph-en. If you pay attention to this team over the next week, you'll hear a lot about Stephen Curry, who pronounces his name as if it were spelled, "Steffen," not how most people named Stephen say their name. Not a big deal, except it touched off a (very) mini-co...
UNLV Runnin' Rebels
1. Viva Las Vegas, baby. Where else can you see pregame introductions featuring fireworks and flames shooting out of the shot clock as players come out on a red carpet? The band plays "Viva Las Vegas" leading into the infamous Reeeee-bels chant, members of the dance team make showgirls look like dog...
USC Trojans
1. This is Hollywood after all. The Trojans play on Jim Sterkel Court at the new Galen Center. Who's Jim Sterkel? Some guy who played for two seasons at 'SC in the '50s and averaged fewer than 10 points a game. So who decided to name it after him? Only the university knows: The $5-million donation f...
Villanova Wildcats
1. Kelvin Sampson for Mayor. Members of 'Nova Nation' will line up to shake the hand of Kelvin "Urban Meyer's just swimming in my texting wake" Sampson, former coach of Oklahoma, for jumping ship to Indiana. Seems that Scottie Reynolds, who played his high school ball in Herndon, Virg., had spurned ...
New Mexico State Aggies
1. Their Coach Is Not In A Wheelchair. After years of coaching at Illinois, coach Lou Henson retired after the 1995-96 season, to much fanfare. (He even shook hands with Bobby Knight, the big bully.) But he ended up taking only one year off before returning to New Mexico State, where he had taken th...
Wisconsin Badgers
1. Old School Quickies. Bucky Badger's full name is Buckingham U. Badger. Is Minnesota's Golden Gopher that sophisticated? I doubt it. The Badger mascot actually stems from when the territory was dubbed "The Badger State," not because of animals in the region, but rather an association with miners i...
Louisville Cardinals
1. Time to make the donuts. The Cardinals' late-season turnaround is due in large part to the emergence of Louisville's talented freshman class, including center Derrick Caracter. DC, who has footwork that Greg Oden would kill for, has gotten his act together after serving a pair of suspensions this...
Butler Bulldogs
1. A.J. Graves lays more pipe than you do. Butler's 6-1, 155 lb. Emo-bang wearing A.J. Graves lays pipe all summer long at his family's plumbing business in Switz City, Indiana. A.J. was all-state at White River Valley H.S. in 2004 and finished two votes behind North Central's A.J. Ratliff in voting...
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
1. So, Then, Why The Hell Are You At Oral Roberts? The Golden Eagles, in the tournament for the second year in a row, are defined by their star player, Caleb Green. He's a 6-8 forward who has won the Mid-Continent player of the year award three years in a row, which I guarantee will never happen aga...