RJWGoBulls

By David Schoenfield Page 2 In an alternate universe, Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon returned to Connecticut for their senior years. In an alternate universe, Carmelo Anthony is a junior All-American at Syracuse. In an alternate universe, Amare Stoudemire and Dajuan Wagner are a lethal one-two scoring punch for Memphis. In an alternate universe, Luol Deng is still at Duke and he's been joined by freshmen Dwight Howard and Shaun Livingston. In an alternate universe, the NBA has an age restriction and all high school phenoms go to college – and stay for four years. In an alternate universe, this is what happens ... SWEET SIXTEEN CHICAGO REGIONAL No. 1 seed Syracuse vs. No. 5 seed Akron Syracuse lineup: Josh Pace (Sr.), Gerry McNamara (Jr.), Carmelo Anthony (Jr.), Hakim Warrick (Sr.), Craig Forth (Sr.) Akron lineup: LeBron James (So.) and four other guys LeBron's college eligibility was in question following his Hummer incident in high school, which scared off all the big schools. But he enrolled at hometown Akron and led the Zips to an undefeated season. Angry at getting a No. 5 seed, the Zips take it out on the Orange with a 76-71 upset, as LeBron scores 36 points, just below his season average, and holds Anthony to just 12. No. 2 seed Illinois vs. No. 3 seed Arizona Illinois lineup: Deron Williams (Jr.), Dee Brown (Jr.), Luther Head (Sr.), Roger Powell (Sr.), James Augustine (Jr.) Arizona lineup: Salim Stoudamire (Sr.), Hassan Adams (Jr.), Andre Iguodala (Jr.), Ivan Radenovic (So.), Channing Frye (Sr.) Despite playing before a raucous home crowd in Chicago, the Illini fall behind by 15 points with four minutes left. However, Arizona coach Lute Olson keeps a fatigued Salim Stoudamire on Deron Williams, who suddenly nails three 3-pointers as the Illini miraculously send the game into OT. With Illinois clinging to a 90-89 lead, Arizona gets the last possession. The Wildcats clear it out for Hassan Adams, but he can't find his way to the hoop, and throws up a desperation shot ... which is grabbed out of the air by a skywalking Andre Iguodala, who slams it home at the buzzer for the game-winner. ALBUQUERQUE REGIONAL No. 1 seed Connecticut vs. No. 4 seed UCLA UConn lineup: Ben Gordon (Sr.), Marcus Williams (So.), Charlie Villanueva (So.), Josh Boone (So.), Emeka Okafor (Sr.) UCLA lineup: Jordan Farmar (Fr.), Arron Afflalo (Fr.), Trevor Ariza (So.), Dijon Thompson (Sr.), Tyson Chandler (Sr.) Billed as a battle of UConn's big frontcourt vs. UCLA's 7-1 senior star Tyson Chandler, who led the Pac-10 in scoring, Ben Gordon steals the show, schooling the young UCLA backcourt for 32 points as UConn rolls 83-70. No. 2 seed Georgia Tech vs. No. 3 seed DePaul Georgia Tech lineup: Will Bynum (Sr.), BJ Elder (Sr.), Jarrett Jack (Jr.), Chris Bosh (Jr.), Luke Schenscher (So.) DePaul lineup: Sammy Mejia (So.), Drake Diener (Sr.), Dorell Wright (Fr.), Quemont Greer (Sr.), Eddy Curry (Sr.) DePaul's senior man-child, Eddy Curry, was unstoppable during the season, recording eight 20-20 games, and he and Tech's big guy, Chris Bosh, go at it in a memorable one-on-one scoring duel. Bosh is quicker and finishes with 41, while Curry bulls his way to 36. But it's not enough and when Curry fouls out, Tech's guard play proves the difference in an 83-79 victory. SYRACUSE REGIONAL No. 1 seed North Carolina vs. No. 4 seed Wisconsin North Carolina lineup: Raymond Felton (Jr.), Rashad McCants (Jr.), J.R. Smith (Fr.), Jawad Williams (Sr.), Sean May (Jr.) Wisconsin lineup: Devin Harris (Sr.), Sharif Chambliss (Sr.), Zach Morley (Sr.), Alando Tucker (So.), Mike Wilkinson (Sr.) The Tar Heels lost only three games all year – all to the mighty, undefeated Duke Blue Devils – and enter as 14-point favorites over the Badgers. Wisconsin slows the game down and neither team gets into an offensive rhythm, as it's tied 16-16 at halftime. Carolina scoots out to a second-half lead, but after Raymond Felton fouls out, Devin Harris starts heating up and the Badgers take a 39-38 lead. Sean May's last-second shot rims out and the Badgers head to the Elite Eight. After the game, Roy Williams resigns to take over the head coaching job at T.C. Robertson High School in Asheville, N.C., saying, "I've always wanted to coach at the school I graduated from." No. 2 seed Memphis vs. No. 3 seed Mississippi State Memphis lineup: Darius Washington (Fr.), Dajuan Wagner (Sr.), Rodney Carney (Jr.), Kendrick Perkins (So.), Amare Stoudemire (Jr.) Mississippi State lineup: Gary Ervin (So.), Winsome Frazier (Sr.), Travis Outlaw (So.), Lawrence Roberts (Sr.), Al Jefferson (Fr.) Led by Dajuan Wagner and Amare Stoudemire, who each averaged over 30 points per game, the high-flying Tigers led the nation in scoring. This game brings back memories of the infamous Houston-Louisville game from the 1983 Final Four, with huge dunks all over the place. Stoudemire goes for 47, including an alley-oop slam at the buzzer, his 15th dunk of the night, as Memphis advances 105-103. AUSTIN REGIONAL No. 1 seed Duke vs. No. 5 seed Michigan State Duke lineup: Shaun Livingston (Fr.), J.J. Redick (Jr.), Luol Deng (So.), Shelden Williams (Jr.), Dwight Howard (Fr.) Michigan State lineup: Maurice Ager (Jr.), Chris Hill (Sr.), Shannon Brown (So.), Alan Anderson (Sr.), Paul Davis (Jr.) Many college hoops experts are calling this Duke squad one of the greatest of all time, after the Blue Devils completed a perfect regular season and routed Carolina by 17 in the ACC Tournament title game. With Shaun Livingston running the point, J.J. Redick nailing long-range 3's, Shelden Williams and Dwight Howard dominating the paint and Luol Deng running the wing, the Devils rout the Spartans, 104-67. Duke is so dominant that Coach K leaves during halftime to film a Burger King commercial with Hootie and the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. No. 2 seed Louisville vs. No. 3 seed Texas Louisville lineup: Sebastian Telfair (Fr.), Taquan Dean (Jr.), Francisco Garcia (Jr.), Ellis Myles (Sr.), Juan Palacios (Fr.) Texas lineup: T.J. Ford (Sr.), Daniel Gibson (Fr.), P.J. Tucker (So.), Brad Buckman (Jr.), Jason Klotz (Sr.) Before the game, Texas senior guard T.J. Ford claims he's "quicker and faster" than his freshman counterpart Sebastian Telfair, who laughs and says, "I play against quicker guys than Ford every day back at Coney Island." Ford schools the rookie for 27 points and 13 assists while Louisville hoists 52 3-pointers. The Longhorns hold on, 93-91, when Rick Pitino calls for the Cardinals to dump it inside on the final play and the Cardinals fail to get a shot off. "That play always worked when I was with the Celtics," Pitino claims afterwards. ELITE EIGHT No. 5 seed Akron vs. No. 3 seed Arizona The magical Akron ride continues to the Final Four as Arizona plays another OT thriller, but comes up on the short end this time. Lute Olson keeps the smaller Salim Stoudamire on LeBron the entire game and LeBron goes for 49 points and 16 rebounds. After LeBron drives the lane for a 85-84 lead, Arizona has a final possession and the Wildcats clear out for Adams, even though Channing Frye has dominated the paint all game. Adams seems surprised when LeBron shifts to him and can do nothing but throw up a desperation shot that falls short. No. 1 seed Connecticut vs. No. 2 seed Georgia Tech Okafor and Bosh duel in the paint to 29 points apiece, but the Huskies advance to the Final Four as Gordon drains seven 3-pointers, including two in the final minute as UConn survives 76-73. After the game, Jim Calhoun says his team was motivated after seeing the UConn women lose in their tournament. "We really wanted to stick it to Geno and rub it in his face by making the Final Four while his team choked." No. 4 seed Wisconsin vs. No. 2 seed Memphis Amare Stoudemire is unstoppable inside, going for 35 points and seven dunks. Dajuan Wagner is unstoppable on the break, scoring 26. Kendrick Perkins clogs up the middle on D. The Tigers cruise, 86-61, despite the Badgers' attempts to slow the game down. ESPN.com columnist Pat Forde writes, "Good thing Wisconsin lost. That would have been the worst thing for college basketball since they outlawed the dunk." No. 1 seed Duke vs. No. 3 seed Texas Coach K misses the game while filming another commercial (something about how "a coach is like a McGriddle," but he's not needed as the Devils roll, 98-75. Redick scores 30 points on 10 3-pointers while Howard scores 22 and grabs 19 boards. FINAL FOUR No. 5 seed Akron vs. No. 1 seed Connecticut The underdog Zips are the fan favorite, but UConn jumps to a 16-point halftime lead. But when Okafor picks up his fourth foul early in the second half, Calhoun sits him and Akron slowly claws back, behind LeBron, of course. By the time Okafor re-enters with four minutes left, Akron leads 76-68. The Zips hit their free throws, LeBron finishes with 52 points and Akron wins 86-83 when Gordon's 3-pointer falls short at the buzzer. No. 2 seed Memphis vs. No. 1 seed Duke In a battle of big men, Stoudemire goes for 43 points and 24 rebounds, while Howard scores 26 points and grabs 25 boards. Wagner drains eight 3-pointers, but Redick matches him. Luol Deng is the one guy Memphis can't match as he goes 12 for 12 from the floor, including a 15-footer at the buzzer as Duke wins 114-112. Coach K thanks Deng for his "senior leadership" after the game. When reminded that Deng is just a sophomore, Coach K admits, "Maybe I need to spend more time with the team." CHAMPIONSHIP No. 5 seed Akron vs. No. 1 seed Duke The country hasn't been this hyped for a title game since Larry Bird's Indiana State squad met Magic Johnson's Michigan State team in 1979. Both teams are undefeated. Duke is being billed as the greatest team of all time, while LeBron is drawing comparisons to Bird himself. The game doesn't disappoint. LeBron throws down four monster jams in the opening three minutes. Freshmen sensations Livingston and Howard match that with four alley-oop jams of their own. LeBron nails four 3-pointers early in the second half. Redick matches that with four of his own. The game goes back and forth, with neither team leading by more than four points. Deng hits a running jumper in the key with 14 seconds left to give Duke a 93-92 lead. Akron inbounds the ball to LeBron. The Zips clear out. Livingston and Deng double-team the sophomore. He spins away at the top of the key as the clock winds down. Howard and Shelden Williams converge, LeBron takes off from just inside the free-throw line, Howard goes up for the block ... and LeBron dishes an amazing behind-the-back pass to his old high school teammate, Romeo Travis, who lays it in at the buzzer. Akron wins! Mighty Duke goes down! LeBron finishes with 61 points. **** Vitale calls it the greatest individual performance of all time. Yes, it was quite a tournament in the alternate universe. But you know what? The NBA can have LeBron and Amare and all the rest. I'll take the real universe. Because it's been something to watch. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=schoenfield/050329&num=0

Let them underestimate us Let us prove them wrong

Women have substantial lead on men Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. -- Only 23 men's teams in the 65-team NCAA Tournament managed to graduate at least 50 percent of its student athletes while women's teams in the postseason continue to graduate at a much higher rate, according to a University of Central Florida study released Tuesday. UCF's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport also found an increasing disparity between the graduation rates of white and black student-athletes on teams playing in this year's NCAA Tournament. "We are releasing these graduation rates in order to give March Madness fans a perspective on how well our institutions of higher education are doing off the basketball court," institute director Richard Lapchick said. "Regarding graduation rates for women, we can cut down the nets in celebration. As for men's graduation rates, especially for African-American student-athletes, the dance has barely begun." Two men's teams, LSU and Minnesota, failed to graduate even one basketball player, according to numbers supplied by the 2004 NCAA Graduation Rates Report. Two No. 1 seeds -- Illinois (47 percent) and Washington (45 percent) -- graduated less than half their players. Bucknell and Utah State both graduated 100 percent, but only four other schools topped 70 percent. Numbers looked much better for women's teams, where only six schools in the 64-team field failed to graduate at least 50 percent while 35 graduated at least 70 percent. Eight schools graduated at least 90 percent with Holy Cross, Vanderbilt and Montana registering 100 percent. All four of the top-seeded women's team graduated at least 53 percent. When the numbers were broken down by race, the study showed 40 women's teams graduated at least 70 percent of their white players and 24 graduated at least 70 percent of their black players -- more than double the numbers for the men's teams. Only 17 men's teams graduated at least 70 percent of white players while just 10 had the same percentage for black players. Ten women's teams failed to graduate a black student-athlete while only two failed to graduate a white player. On the men's side, nine schools each failed to graduate white or black student-athletes. "Race is an ongoing academic issue, reflected in the continued gap between graduation rates for white and African-American student-athletes," Lapchick said. "While rates for both groups have improved over the last few years, a significant disparity remains between graduation rates for white and African-American basketball student-athletes.'' Graduation rate numbers did not include Ivy League schools -- Dartmouth women and Pennsylvania men -- which do not report graduation rates. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney05/news/story?id=2014449&CMP=OTC-DT9705204233

You put your right hand in, your right hand out, in, out, in, out, shake it all about, Do the hoky coky and turn around, thats what its all about.

Bulls 8 Leather 23 Leather 13 78%

ESPN plus? does that mean it will be on the full court package? so I can buy it and watch it over here.

South Florida continues upset swing by shocking No. 21 Cincinnati   MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Terrence Leather scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half, and South Florida upset No. 21 Cincinnati 80-68 Thursday night in the Conference USA Tournament semifinals. The 11th-seeded Bulls (14-15) have won three in a row and reached the tournament semifinals for the first time in their last season as a member. The Bulls will be playing in the Big East next season along with Cincinnati. No team has dominated Conference USA like the Bearcats, who were trying to add a fifth tournament title to the one they won last year. But it will be the Bulls playing Memphis, an 83-69 upset winner over No. 25 Charlotte, in the semifinals Friday instead of Cincinnati (24-7). Brian Swift added 16 points for the Bulls, James Holmes and Marlyn Bryant each had 14. Jason Maxiell led Cincinnati with 21 points, Eric Hicks added 18 and James White had 10. The Bearcats had dominated their series with USF, winning 18 of the 21 games and the last 14. USF, which now has upset two ranked teams in its winning streak, never backed down against the physical Bearcats. The Bulls outshot Cincinnati 45.2 percent to 37.1 percent and outrebounded the Bearcats 41-37. Cincinnati hit just 12-of-36 in the second half. The Bearcats led 50-46 on a jumper by Armein Kirkland before the Bulls scored the next 11 points, including eight from Leather. His second consecutive 3-pointer put the Bulls up 57-50 with 11:16 left. The Bulls led 71-57 on a bucket by Jones with 6:41 to go. Cincinnati tried to respond as White scored on a three-point play, and Nick Williams hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to pull within 71-65 with 5:13 left. That was as close as the Bearcats would get. The Bulls led 36-35 at halftime after refusing to back down against Cincinnati in a half with five ties and eight lead changes. USF upset sixth-seeded Houston in the opening round, and the Bulls started their quarterfinal with an 8-2 run for a 21-13 lead on Leather's 3 midway through the half. http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/gamecenter/recap/NCAAB_20050310_SFL@CIN

I thought it said '88 in a caption early in the game....I might have been halucinating! It is early after all!

Come on Bulls!!! first win over cinn since 1988!!!!

I think about 7.30 USF by 11

Loving it!! COME ON BULLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have just changed my vote to swift from leather having watched the first game and a half of the tourney. Having not seen any of them play before hand and am not super impressed by swift, whilst leather is well deserving due to this points and rebounds over the season, I can now see the reasons for swift. He is a true leader, wears his heart on his sleeve.

Gotta sort out Maxiell

At Half

USF 28 - 27 Cinn 3.43 1st half

If I dont make it in (due to my currnt connection problems) Go Bulls...Win it for the little guy!!! ;D

It is on in England...over the internet at least....shame my connection is so shabby I dont know if I can get to watch it

USF 4 Leather 25 Leather 12 74%

Their was a caption on the broadcast last night that said that USF was the only team in CUSA to have never reached the semi finals...it would be nice to set that record straight before we leave

Do we have a new leader? Surely Astro has taken the cup lead...

But generally the date is said, the 9th of March

You know the black sheep brewery? That stuff is so good. It is based about 10 miles away from my home town, needless to say quite few of bottles of their beer have been sunk! I will see what I can do about getting a couple of cases over! Another one for you to look for, but I expect you will find it difficult to find, Hambleton Stud Beer http://www.hambletonales.co.uk/default.htm they might be able to send you a few bottles http://www.hambletonales.co.uk/stud.htm

What day/month/year??!! What could be more straight forward??!! Which probably goes with the drinking of ale cause its nice and straight forward!

USF 9 Leather - 23 Leather - 12 76%

lol! ;D Make's much more sense our way!