By JAKE CURTIS, San Francisco Chronicle

For all the credit coaches get for their teams' postseason success, the simple fact is, the teams with the most talent usually advance the furthest in the NCAA Tournament.
The 24 teams in the past 12 national-championship games produced 61 players who are now in the NBA, and 36 of them are starters.

For all the credit coaches get for their teams' postseason success, the simple fact is, the teams with the most talent usually advance the furthest in the NCAA Tournament.
The 24 teams in the past 12 national-championship games produced 61 players who are now in the NBA, and 36 of them are starters.

No Davidson. No George Mason. No Wisconsin-Milwaukee. No Valparaiso, Chattanooga, Wichita State, Missouri State or Miami-Ohio.
When Siena failed to hold off Louisville, it meant that, for the first time since 1997, no so-called outsider had survived the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

Picking at any sign of UCLA weakness has been a West Coast pastime for years, and this season has provided a few openings.
With a shortcoming here and a deficiency there, UCLA is providing hope that Cal and/or Stanford can go to Pauley Pavilion this week and challenge the Bruins, an unfathomable notion when the season began.

Perhaps people will be able to identify Craig Robinson after what he's accomplished in his first season at Oregon State.
The Beavers were a dismal 6-24 last year including losses in all 18 Pac-10 games, part of a season-ending 20-game losing skid. But after winning at Cal and Stanford in its last two games, OSU is 8-10 and in 8th place in the Pac-10 with a 3-5 league mark.

Can you imagine Boise State playing for college football's national championship next season?
OK, it's a long shot, but few believed Boise State could upset Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and fewer expected Utah to beat Alabama decisively in this year's Sugar Bowl.

Don Meyer nearly died in a car accident four months ago. His left leg was amputated just below the knee, his spleen and part of his lower intestine were removed, his diaphragm was re-attached to the bone, his broken ribs were treated and along the way, it was discovered he had cancer.

Televised awards programs like to manufacture suspense in the moments leading up to the announcement of a winner, but no gimmicks will be needed for Saturday's Heisman Trophy presentation.

The BCS debate is finally dying down for another year, which means the bowl season officially has begun, leaving us to complete a few unfinished statements:
-- The bowl season really begins ...

The remarkable thing about Mount Union running back Nate Kmic is not that he has rushed for 2,168 yards this season. Or that he holds the Division III record for career rushing yardage (7,449) with a chance to break the all-college record. Or that he has scored more touchdowns and more points than any college player in history.