Arizona Daily Star
March 18, 2004
Have faith: No. 16 seed Liberty Univerisity in Lynchburg, Va., is unlikely to last beyond today's game against No. 1 seed St. Joseph's, but Chancellor Jerry Falwell couldn't be happier. The men's team (18-14) is making its second-ever appearance in the tournament, and women's team its eighth straight.
"For those 80 million evangelicals in America, we're their school. Everybody's going to be watching us. It's awesome, to have that opportunity for your constituency," said Falwell, who founded the school in 1971.
They're underdogs for good reason. Since the current tournament format was adopted in 1985, a No. 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1 seed. That's 0-76.
A good-luck charm? The Rev. Timothy R. Lannon, the Jesuit priest is in his first year as president of St. Joseph's, was at Marquette last year when the Golden Eagles made it to the Final Four in New Orleans.
Watch for this skin. DePaul's Quemont Greer wears a tattoo that says, "Kill Or Be Killed." BYU center Rafael Araujo has all kinds of tattoos, but they're airbrushed out of his picture in the Cougar's media guide.
The cost of air time. CBS is asking $600,000 for a 30-second spot during the prime-time telecast of the Final Four semifinal, while an ad during the April 5 title game costs $900,000.
The Super Bowl, the most-watched TV sports event, gets $2.3 million to $2.4 million for a 30-second spot.
What's the big deal? Just eight teams played in the first NCAA championship, in 1939; Oregon beat Ohio State in front of 5,500 fans. This year's tournament has 65 teams, and the title game is at the Alamodome in San Antonio, which seats 44,500.
Spokane County rocks. Spokane County, Wash., has more teams in the tournament (Gonzaga, Eastern Washington) than the state of Indiana (one).
In fact, there are four such counties represented in the tournament: Hamilton County, Ohio (Cincinnati and Xavier); Cook County, Illinois (DePaul and Illinois-Chicago); Henrico County, Va. (Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth); and Spokane.
What does he know? Craig Kilborn, host of "The Late, Late Show" on CBS, is 6-foot-5 and "tried" to play basketball at Montana State in the early 1980s. He points to Arizona as the sleeper team of the 2004 tournament. Why? "I like Lute Olsen," he says.
Kilborn's other prediction: "Your office pool will be won by a woman who knows nothing about college basketball."
The four teams whose schools have the most tournament experience: Kentucky, 46 trips; North Carolina, 36; Kansas, 33; and Louisville, 31.
The four best nicknames in the field: Jaspers (Manhatten), Catamounts (Vermont), Roadrunners (Texas-San Antonio), and Salukis (Southern Illinois).
This is the deal. $105.3 million of the money distributed by the NCAA for this year's tourney will be awarded based on how well schools perform on the court. A conference accrues one "unit" for each game in which one of its teams appears until the championship game (no units are awarded for the final). This year, each unit is worth around $152,000. Payments are made each year for six years, so those amassed this month will be worth around $912,000 apiece overall.
How defense wins games. In 30 contests this season, no team has shot 50 percent against the Kentucky Wildcats-the top seed in the tournament.
Don't foul these guys. All of these players shoot 86.8 percent or higher from the foul line: Washington's Nate Robinson, Florida A&M's Terrence Woods, Duke's J.J. Redick, Manhatten's Luis Flores, St. Joseph's Delonte West, Providence's Ryan Gomes, Stanford's Chris Hernandez and Syracuse's Gerry McNamara.
The final word is his. Legendary UCLA coach John Wooden won 10 national titles, more than any two other coaches. Over the holidays, Wooden told a reporter: "Mike Krzyzewski has stood the test of time. To me, Duke has been a model of consistency in every way. What stands above everything else for them, I think, is their team play. They had great players, like we did at UCLA, but Coach Krzyzewski has always made sure they've won with team play. I don't know if they have all the best players this year, but by the end, Duke just might have the best team."
Sources: Seattle Times, Philadelphia Enquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, Bergen (N.J.) Record, Orange County (Calif.) Register, Wall Street Journal, Miami Herald, Bloomberg News and Scripps-Howard News Service.
