preview Page 218 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

NCAA First Round: (6) UCLA vs. (11) Virginia Commonwealth
East Region: No. 6 UCLA (25-8) vs. No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth (24-9) When: Thursday, 9:50 p.m., EDT Where: Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania UCLA BRUINS 1) Sometimes when lose, you actually win. Disappointed with losing to Memphis and failing to bring home a 12th banner to UCLA, Darren...

NCAA First Round: (2) Oklahoma vs. (15) Morgan State
South Region: No. 2 Oklahoma (27-5) vs. No. 15 Morgan State (23-11) When: Thursday, 9:40 p.m., EDT Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri OKLAHOMA SOONERS 1) Trendy If you're an OU fan or you're planning on picking the Sooners and like me, you get caught up in trends and history then pay atte...

NCAA First Round: (2) Duke vs. (15) Binghamton
East Region: No. 2 Duke (28-6) vs. No. 15 Binghamton (23-8) When: Thursday, 9:40 p.m., EDT Where: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina DUKE BLUE DEVILS 1) ELL-E-UT Elliot Williams has changed the entire makeup of this team. When he was the 12th man, this team was a slow, low scoring tea...

NCAA First Round: (4) Gonzaga vs. (13) Akron
South Region: No. 4 Gonzaga (26-5) vs. No. 13 Akron (23-12) When: Thursday, 7:25 p.m., EDT Where: Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon GONZAGA BULLDOGS 1) The Rose City, Home Away From Home Gonzaga plays Akron in the first roundin Portland, OR. This is practically a home game for Gonzaga, who plays the U...

NCAA First Round: (3) Villanova vs. (14) American
East Region: No. 3 Villanova (26-7) vs. No. 14 American (24-7) When: Thursday, 7:20 p.m., EDT Where: Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania VILLANOVA WILDCATS 1) Home Sweet Home Villanova plays most of their home games at The Pavilion. The 6,500 seat arena is located just outside Philadelphia...

NCAA First Round: (7) Clemson vs. (10) Michigan
South Region: No. 7 Clemson (23-8) vs. No. 10 Michigan (20-13) When: Thursday, 7:10 p.m., EDT Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri CLEMSON TIGERS 1) Clemson Tigers, Naughty By Nature? Clemson University is a public school located in the northwest corner of South Carolina in Clemson, South C...

NCAA First Round: (7) Texas vs. (10) Minnesota
East Region: No. 7 Texas (22-11) vs. No. 10 Minnesota (22-10) When: Thursday, 7:10 p.m., EDT Where: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina TEXAS LONGHORNS 1) Foreign Point One thing Texas desperately lacked entering the season was a true point guard. Without a ball handler that could pene...

NCAA First Round: (4) Washington vs. (13) Mississippi State
West Region: No. 4 Washington (25-8) vs. No. 13 Mississippi State (23-12) When: Thursday, 4:55 p.m., EDT Where: Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon WASHINGTON HUSKIES 1) Balanced Squad The Huskies are a very balanced team with 4 players averaging over 11 points per game. If you had to pick some "star" p...

NCAA First Round: (1) Connecticut vs. (16) Chattanooga
West Region: No. 1 Connecticut (27-4) vs. No. 16 UT-Chattanooga (18-16) When: Thursday, 3:00 p.m., EDT Where: Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania CONNECTICUT HUSKIES 1) Six Feet Under Coach Jim Calhoun created a media firestorm earlier this season when he told a freelance reporter who was ...

NCAA First Round: (7) California vs. (10) Maryland
West Region: No. 7 California (22-10) vs. No. 10 Maryland (20-13) When: Thursday, 2:55 p.m., EDT Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS 1) Lowered Expectations Projected to finish eighth in the pre-season PAC-10 poll, I had all but written the Bears off this year. With...

NCAA First Round: (1) North Carolina vs. (16) Radford
South Region: No. 1 North Carolina (28-4) vs. No. 16 Radford (21-11) When: Thursday, 2:50 p.m., EDT Where: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS 1) No Time to Stop When last we saw the Tarheels, they were losing to Florida State while their coach stubbornly refus...

NCAA First Round: (5) Purdue vs. (12) Northern Iowa
West Region: No. 5 Purdue (25-9) vs. No. 12 Northern Iowa (23-10) When: Thursday, 2:30 p.m., EDT Where: Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon PURDUE BOILERMAKERS 1) Consistently Decent. You hear all the time about how some programs are "consistently great," and others are mocked for being "consistently me...

NCAA First Round: (8) BYU vs. (9) Texas A&M
West Region: No. 8 BYU (25-7) vs. No. 9 Texas A&M (23-9) When: Thursday, 12:30 p.m., EDT Where: Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania BRIGHAM YOUNG COUGARS 1) Still a Cougar BYU Head Coach Dave Rose played his college ball at Houston as a co-captain of the 1983 Phi Slama Jama team (front row...

NCAA First Round: (2) Memphis vs. (15) Cal State Northridge
West Region: No. 2 Memphis (31-3) vs. No. 15 Cal State Northridge (17-13) When: Thursday, 12:25 p.m., EDT Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri MEMPHIS TIGERS 1) A little charity? Last year, everyone told Memphis that their horrendous free-throw shooting would come back to haunt them, but no...

NCAA First Round: (8) LSU vs. (9) Butler
South Region: No. 8 LSU (26-7) vs. No. 9 Butler (26-5) When: Thursday, 12:20 p.m., EDT Where: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina LOUISIANA STATE TIGERS 1) Welcome to the Century Club. LSU celebrated its 100th year of existence this season by naming its All Century Team, an impressive ...

NCAA "Opening Round": Alabama State vs. Morehead State
Midwest Region: No. 16 Alabama State (22-9) vs. No. 16 Morehead State (19-15) When: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., ET Where: University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio ALABAMA STATE HORNETS 1) Let's talk some SWAC: Alabama State comes out of the SWAC, where they have been regular season champions each of the p...

Free Darko Stutter-Steps The Universe, Don't You Know?
Shame on me. I have neglected to plug Free Darko's "The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac: Styles, Stats, and Stars in Today's Game.." But I encourage all of youwho enjoy their sports books stuffed with the type of illustrations and freewheeling batshit basketball ephemera that will rock the bo...

NFL Preview: It's All About Timing
Last week, I was riding in an elevator with a friend of mine (let's call him General Tao). It was one of them fancy elevators with the t.v. screens constantly showing news updates, and it was packed. A story popped up on the screen about how People had named Hugh Jackman the Sexiest Man Alive. Sensi...

College Football Preview: Avoiding Landmines Edition
Now that everyone knows exactly what's going to happen with the rest of the college football season, this is when something inevitably blows up. Because if there's one thing we know about the convoluted BCS system, it's this: nothing is certain with three weekends to go. Alabama still has to get pa...

Daunte Comes to Detroit, Steven Jackson Blogs
• Daunte has come out of a very short retirement, and agreed to a two-year deal with the Detroit Lions. Though the Lions aren't confirming anything at this point, the contract should be signed tomorrow. This will surely turn around their season. • When the division-leading Bills (5-2) host the Jets...