ShareThisA quick alphabetical trip through the dizzying NCAA Tournament field of 65 teams.
-- A: is for the Atlantic Coast Conference, the field's blue blood with three of the last eight national champs and nine Final Four teams this decade. But beware. ACC teams not named North Carolina are just 14-14 in the tournament the last three years.
-- B: is for Binghamton, which makes its NCAA debut against Duke Thursday night. Get ready for BU alum-ESPN personality Tony Kornheiser to talk up the 22-point underdog Bearcats.
-- C: is for Connecticut coach Jim "Moneybags'' Calhoun, the richest man in college basketball. Thanks to his recent tirade, we now know he makes "way more'' than $1.6 million a year. That salary won't look good when the Huskies (0-5 in postseason games since 2006), become the first No. 1 seed out.
-- D: is for the difference between a No. 1 seed and a 2. In the last four years, all 16 No. 1s made it to the Sweet 16. Only nine of the 16 No. 2s made it that far.
-- E: is for Virginia Commonwealth's Eric Maynor, the top scorer in the field at 22.4 points per game. Two years ago, Maynor sank Duke in the final seconds. Beware UCLA of Maynor and the Rams take on Thursday night.
-- F: is for the 14 No. 1 seeds that have won it all since 1987. And at least one No. 1 seed has made it to every Final Four since 1990 except in 2006 when none made it.
-- G: is for Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin, the best overall player in the field. Unfortunately, the second-seeded Sooners (27-5) haven't been the same since Griffin suffered a concussion in late Feb. and won't make it past the Sweet 16.
-- H: is for Akron guard Anthony "Humpty'' Hitchens, the 5-9 freshman (8.9 points and 2.3 assists per game) who has the coolest nickname in the field.
-- I: is for the injustice of the plodding Big Ten getting seven teams in. Michigan (20-13) and Minnesota (22-10) belong in the NIT.
-- J: is for Jarvis Varnado, the 6-9 Mississippi State center who leads the nation with 4.7 blocks per game.
-- K: is for Kansas, the only team with a chance to repeat. Look for the underrated Jayhawks (25-7), to make a surprisingly deep run -- all the way to the Final Four.
-- L: is for Louisville coach Rick Pitino, the only coach to ever guide three different schools to the Final Four. But don't count on the overall No. 1-seeded Cardinals to make it that far.
-- M: is for Memphis, No. 2 seeds in the West and determined to erase the ugly memory of last year's late collapse to Kansas in the title game.
-- N: is for North Carolina, our grudging pick to win it all, but only if point guard Ty Lawson's foot is healed. Lawson is the engine that drives the Tar Heels' offense (second in the nation in scoring at 90.2 points per game, 9 points better than anybody else).
-- O: is the outstanding shooting of Chattanooga senior guard Stephen McDowell who is third in the nation with 135 3-pointers made while hitting 43.7 pct. from beyond the arc.
-- P: is for Patriot League champ American. And if anyone cares, the Patriot topped the nation in graduation rates last year.
-- Q: is quit whining about expanding the field from 65 teams. This event actually works just the way it is.
-- R: is for the phenomenal tourney record 61 points Notre Dame's Austin Carr put up 39 years ago (minus a shot clock or 3-point line). David Robinson's 50 in 1987 is the closest anybody has come since.
-- S: is for Syracuse guard Jonny Flynn, who logged an amazing 181 minutes played in the Orange's the Big East tourney run. At 17 points, six assists and three rebounds a game, the 6-0 sophomore is the field's best little man.
-- T: is for the three lonely teams from the SEC, none seeded higher 8th -- LSU, (lowest ever for an SEC regular-season champ), No. 9 Tennessee and No. 13 Mississippi State. But hey, spring football practice has already started.
-- U: is for the upsets No. 11 and 12 seeds have pulled lately (No. 11s are 6-10 the last four years while No. 12s are 5-11). Dayton, Utah State, Wisconsin and Western Kentucky all have a chance at extending that mark.
-- V: is for Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds, the best barometer of his team in the field. When the 6-2 junior scores 16 points or more, the Wildcats are 12-0. In 'Nova's last three losses since mid-February, Reynolds has averaged 8.6 points.
-- W: is for where's Kentucky, absent for the first time since being on probation in 1991?
-- X: is for Xavier, whose two Elite Eight appearances the last five years equal the total of heavyweights Pitt, Connecticut, Oklahoma and Michigan State combined over the same span.
-- Y: is for why is 19-13 Arizona, on a 1-5 season-ending skid, in the field? St. Mary's (25-6) or Creighton (26-7) got the shaft.
-- Z: is for the zero wins by No. 16 seeds in 96 tries against No. 1 seeds since 1985. Chattanooga, East Tennessee State, Radford and Alabama State or Morehead State will make than an even 100.
E-mail John Lindsay at lindsayj(at)shns.com.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
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Interesting story.