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SAN ANTONIO — This NCAA Tournament needed Mario Chalmers. It needed his shot.
Whether the shot had to go in or not depended upon the point of view.
For Memphis supporters, the resounding answer was no. But for those Kansas fans thirsting for a national title after a 20-season drought at the tradition-rich school, the shot had to fall Monday night at the Alamodome.
Chalmers knocked down an incredible fadeaway 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the national championship game at 63 and send it into overtime.
Every kid who picks up a basketball dreams of hitting the title-winning shot at the buzzer. Chalmers’ shot was not the game-winner. It was far more important, coming eight seconds after Memphis had stretched its lead to three.
“I got a good look,” said Chalmers, who was obviously named the tournament’s most outstanding player. “They gave me a good pass. When it left my hand, it felt good. I was just glad it went in.”
The player from faraway, frozen Alaska added some heat to the tournament.
Without it, there would have been no overtime, no 75-68 victory, no third national title banner to hang in Allen Fieldhouse and definitely no relieved chants of “Rock Chalk Jayhawk” afterward.
And the 2008 tournament always would be remembered as the one with all the blowouts.
Instead, it will be thought of as the one where Chalmers saved his team, this season’s tournament and the sanity of all the Kansas fans who collectively exhaled and let out an eardrum-shattering scream as the ball ripped through the net.
It wasn’t a game-winner, but the air drained out of the Tigers as soon as that shot went through and dropped to the floor. A jolt rolled through the Kansas fans and surged to the dome floor.

caller.com

With 7:32 left in the first half of the marquee late-game in CBS’ Final Four doubleheader Saturday night, Billy Packer all but invited viewers to channel-surf or even turn off their TV sets. With Kansas up 38-12 over North Carolina — a team CBS felt was the Final Four’s biggest TV star and planned to put in the late-game no matter who they played — Packer announced, emphatically, that “this game is over.”
Turns out that “mission accomplished” verdict was premature. UNC eventually closed the gap to four points as Packer conceded “we’ve seen some comebacks but never anything like this” — albeit one that also fell short.
But Packer, in a phone interview Sunday, said he’s never had anybody at a network remind him the idea is to keep viewers. “My job is to say what I see, not have some kind of subconscious feelings about offending anybody,” he says, adding that on-air partner Jim Nantz “grabbed my arm” after his game-over line. “It probably annoyed some people, but I don’t concern myself with having some agenda that’s contrary to what I’m seeing.”
Besides, he says, “the integrity of the sport is more important than any promotion for television.”
Most viewers apparently stuck with the game anyway. In its national rating, the game drew 8.8% of U.S. households, down only 1% from a UCLA-Florida game in the time slot last year. CBS’ earlier UCLA-Memphis game drew 7.2%, down 14% from a Georgetown-Ohio State game last year.
That leaves CBS’ overall NCAA coverage so far averaging 5.4% per TV game window, which is down 8% from last year’s tournament, which was the lowest-rated ever except for the 2003 NCAAs, when the start of the Iraq War preempted basketball.
CBS has suffered plenty of blowouts and Monday night’s Kansas-Memphis matchup doesn’t pit schools from heavily populated states. But CBS could have done more by bringing its studio show on-site — it’s done in New York. Even ESPN’s rollicking studio show is in San Antonio. (Newly-elected Hall of Famer DickVitale appears at times to be driving Bob Knight a little crazy.)

usatoday.com

DURHAM - Based on the silence that deafened the Skybox Lounge when the University of New Hampshire was named the top seed in the NCAA hockey tournament’s West Regional, it seemed as if the Wildcats were a bit stunned to learn they were headed for Colorado Springs .
After weeks of speculation that the best team on the east coast would stay close to home, they were shipped instead to a loaded bracket located two time zones away. Awaiting them there is fourth-seeded Notre Dame, which sneaked in as the last at-large entry chosen after starting 16-4, and even if the Wildcats get past the Fighting Irish on Friday night, things get even more difficult.
Next will be either second-seeded Colorado College, the host team on home ice, or No. 3 Michigan State, which won the national tournament a year ago - and that game wouldn’t end until after midnight in the east.
But UNH insists it isn’t intimidated by the significant challenges it’ll face upon arriving in the Rockies. And, actually, the Wildcats say their reaction was rather opposite of what their silence might have suggested.
“It’s exciting,” said captain Matt Fornataro, whose team had its fate sealed when North Dakota won a consolation game on Saturday and leapt over UNH to the third overall seed. “Obviously it’s a tough bracket, and Notre Dame is going to be a tough opponent, but I think the guys are excited. We kind of just get to get away from home, and go out there, and just try and play our game.”
Fornataro is pleased that in Colorado - as opposed to the more local sites in Worcester, Mass., and Albany N.Y. - there will be fewer distractions, and thus fewer things to take the team’s focus away from hockey.
He wouldn’t say that was an issue last year, when the team was ousted in the first round of the Northeast Regional it hosted at Manchester ’s Verizon Wireless Arena. But he wasn’t the only Wildcat looking forward to a short week of practice, lifting off on Wednesday, and leaving all but hockey behind.

concordmonitor.com

Pick the NCAA winners, catch the Braves
Again this year we’re offering two different contests for fans of the NCAA basketball tournament — Mark Bradley’s Final Four Fiasco and the complete bracket contest.
For this year’s complete bracket winner, we’re giving away two tickets to the Braves-Dodgers game April 19 at Turner Field.
The entrant who accumulates the most points in filling out their bracket wins. If there’s a tie, we’ll go with who came closest to guessing the total number of points scored in the title game. All entries must be completed by noon on Thursday. Good luck!

ajc.com

Michigan State Spartans (25-8) vs. Temple Owls (21-12)
MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS
1. Foolish Consistency is the Hobgoblin of Conference Champions. On February 16 , Michigan State went to Indiana to face lame duck coach Kelvin Sampson, and, despite leading by double digits early in the first half, they lost the game by 19. Twelve days later, they scored a whopping 42 points in a loss at Wisconsin. Three days after that, they broke 100 for the first time all season and smoked those same Hoosiers by 29. (Guess Bloomington should have held on to the guy, huh?) They somehow led their conference in field goal percentage, but only managed to score 36 against lowly Iowa. (Yes, that was for one entire game.) They had only one non-conference loss all year (to then No. 1 UCLA), but blew winnable games against Penn State and Purdue and never had a shot at the Big Ten title. So what does it all add up to? Fuck the heck if I know. Come tourney time the Spartans could be done by the first weekend or go through to the final game and I wouldn’t really be surprised either way. I’d lean toward the the latter though, because …
2. Drew Neitzel is Ambidextrous! Bet you didn’t know that! Oh wait, everyone knows that because the story of how Drew’s loving high school hoops coach father bequeathed his son grit and determination by forcing him to brush his teeth left-handed is a weary color commentator’s best friend. Unfortunately, if Drew does not become a NBA late-first-rounder, but instead becomes, say … a liquor store holdup man, that exact same story will be used by Court TV reporters to demonstrate how his cruel and abusive father crushed a young boy’s spirit in an effort to vicariously reclaim his broken athletic dreams through his son. Ain’t sports grand?

deadspin.com

. The hotel is home to all the teams in action this week and the afternoon yesterday was filled with members of the wrestling community reconnecting and wishing each other well. As the name of our hotel suggests, we are staying adjacent to Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. A unique aspect of the Hilton is that some of the rooms have views directly into the stadium, making them valuable assets when the Cardinals are home. Alas, it is still Spring Training, so we don’t have a birds-eye view of any games. Other rooms in the hotel, including the one shared by trainer Keith Davis and I, look out upon the

pennathletics.com

KFVS12 is your home for the NCAA Tournament. Here are the scheduled games for Thursday. We'll update this list frequently so continue to check back regularly. We hope to have Friday's schedule by Tuesday evening.
(schedule subject to change, game times approximate based on previous games)
COVERAGE INFORMATION: Games listed as “constant” means that, although CBS may momentarily switch to another game, viewers will be brought back to the game listed even if the outcome becomes obvious. Games not listed at “constant” are presented as “flex” coverage, meaning that, if the outcome of the listed game becomes obvious, or another game becomes more competitive, CBS may switch to sustaining coverage of different games.
Frequently, CBS coverage begins prior to the start time of the listed games. In that case, viewers may see the beginning of a different game but will be switched to the listed game at tip-off.
(CBS coverage begins at 11:10 a.m.)
11:25 a.m. - Portland State vs. Kansas (HD)
1:30 p.m. - Kentucky vs. Marquette (CONSTANT) (HD)
(CBS coverage begins at 6:00 p.m.)
6:10 p.m. - Kansas State vs. Southern California (HD)
8:40 p.m. - George Mason vs. Notre Dame (HD)

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NORMAL — A week of suspense didn’t give Illinois State’s men’s basketball team the ending it wanted Sunday. The Redbirds (24-9) were not selected as an at-large team for the NCAA Tournament when pairings where unveiled on national television late Sunday afternoon. | Video | Fans react | Play Hoops Challenge
ISU was hoping to make its first NCAA tourney appearance in 10 years. Instead, the Redbirds will be playing in the National Invitation Tournament. ISU earned a No. 2 seed in the NIT and entertains No. 7 Utah State (24-10) at 9 p.m. Wednesday at Redbird Arena.
“It’s an honor. It’s a great postseason tournament,” said first-year ISU coach Tim Jankovich. “We have not been to the postseason in a long, long time (2001). If we were coming off a couple Final Fours, it would be a different perspective.”
Still, Jankovich said his players were “very disappointed” about not being selected for the NCAA tourney. ISU finished second in both the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament.
Drake handed the Redbirds a 79-49 setback in the Valley Tournament title game a week ago. That led to seven days in limbo for ISU, not knowing its postseason fate.
“We talked for a number of days that whatever happens we have to be positive and not be drug down in a sea of negativity so many people around the country try to drag us into,” said Jankovich. “We’re disappointed, but upbeat at the same time.
“This can be a celebration as well and not be all negative. I think we’ll see a group that bounces back pretty quickly.”
Missouri Valley commissioner Doug Elgin called the NCAA pairings “a very dark day” for teams outside the major conferences. The Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10 and Southeastern gobbled up 28 of the 34 at-large spots for the second straight year.
“The other 25 leagues got six berths. It’s alarming. I cannot square that with reality,” said Elgin. “Some very good teams got passed over, including Illinois State.”

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Selection Sunday has come and gone, and the Madness is nigh.
For the NCAA tournament selection committee, that madness began early: Sunday’s five conference games had bracket implications, and the 65-team bracket wasn’t done until 20 minutes before CBS began its broadcast. (The biggest drama of the day: Georgia — which otherwise would have gone home — completed its unlikely run through the SEC tournament, beating Arkansas for an automatic bid.)
The bracket was refreshingly free of cries of “Injustice!” Top seed North Carolina is widely regarded as deserving of that honor, and among the other No. 1s — UCLA, Memphis and Kansas — only the Jayhawks came with caveats. (Coulda been Tennessee or Texas.) For the first time since 1980, last year’s finalists will be left out of the tournament. But while Ohio State was a possibility for an at-large spot, defending-champion Florida deserved its trip to the NIT.
The Buckeyes can fuss, at least minimally. So can Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth and Illinois State. The team with the biggest cause for complaint? Arizona State: The Sun Devils beat their archrivals at Arizona twice and then saw the Wildcats grab a No. 10 seed. Still, all in all there were few howls and whines when the bracket was complete.

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Purdue’s Matt Painter and Baylor’s Scott Drew turned in two of the top coaching performances in the country this season. Brought to Baylor in 2003, Drew had a massive rebuilding project after NCAA sanctions nearly decimated the program. Painter surprised many Big Ten observers by coaching the Boilermakers to second place in the conference.
Baylor game plan: Baylor is 2-43 under Drew when opponents shoot better than 50 percent from the field. The Boilermakers are not a great-shooting team, ranking ninth in the Big Ten with a 42.3 shooting percentage. To make matters worse for Purdue, Bears point guard Curtis Jerrells could end up guarding Boilermakers freshman E’Twuan Moore. If that happens, Moore will find his day that much tougher because Jerrells can shut down opponents.
Purdue game plan: Purdue, after losing Carl Landry and David Teague to graduation, relied on younger players. Freshmen Moore (12.7 points) and Robbie Hummel (11.6 points) lead the team in scoring. But Purdue also will play a high-pressure man-to-man defense against Baylor’s guard-oriented offense. If the Bears don’t make shots from the perimeter, the Boilermakers will have an easy time advancing to the second round.
X-factor: A four-game losing streak in mid-February had Baylor’s coaches ripping out their hair, so they struck a deal with the players. For each subsequent victory, one member of the staff would shave his head. Since, Baylor is 4-2. It might come down to how badly the players want to see another coach receive a haircut.

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