Already missing Davidson's great run. Baseball: Cubs win, Cubs win, Cubs win?

(3/31) There are great stories in sports but perhaps none greater than the Davidson waltz in the Big Dance that didn’t end until the amazing Wildcats missed on a last-second shot against No. 1-ranked Kansas that would have sent them to the Final Four. Alas, the Fat Lady sang.  If Davidson had gone, it would have had to play top-seeded North Carolina and that would have given the citizens of North Carolina a huge game.  Instead, for the first time in NCAA tournament history, all four No. 1 seeds made it all the way. Now North Carolina plays Kansas and UCLA takes on Memphis. I’ll miss Davidson.

Two college football players going different directions for the upcoming NFL draft. Marcus Buggs, an outside linebacker for Vanderbilt, greatly improved his stock while LSU receiver Early Doucet failed to impress during his workout.

The U.S. Olympic softball team is touring, taking on college teams as it readies for the Beijing games this summer. The U.S. team had a 185-game winning streak in pre-Olympic exhibition dating back to 1996 until Virginia Tech and pitcher Angela Tincher no-hit them to snap the streak last week.

A crowd of 115,300, the largest ever to watch a baseball game, witnessed the Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 in an exhibition game in the L.A. Coliseum over the weekend. The game was part of the Dodgers' 50th anniversary celebration of moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.

The naming rights for the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium may set a record of more than $400 million over 20 years as several companies are interested in bidding. . . A new prediction on the NFL draft shows Miami taking Virginia defensive end Chris Long with the No. 1 pick, St. Louis choosing Ohio State defensive lineman Vernon Gholston and Atlanta picking up Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan.

And speaking of quarterbacks, most of the lists I’ve seen of Heisman Trophy candidates next year include four of them in the top five. Quarterbacks Chase Daniels of Missouri, Graham Harrell of Texas Tech, Pat White of West Virginia and Florida’s Tim Tebow are on almost every list along with Ohio State running back Beanie Wells.

Sports Illustrated magazine is out with its annual baseball preview issue and the Atlanta Braves are picked to finish third in the NL East, six games behind the New York Mets and one game behind the Phillies. The magazine predicts that the Chicago Cubs will beat the Colorado Rockies in the NL Division Series and the Detroit Tigers will take care of the New York Yankees in the AL playoffs. Then the Tigers whip the Cubs in the World Series.

A new way to toast ex-major leaguers; filling the shoes of some toasted coaches

(3/28) Just a quick aside about football. The AJC reports that the Georgia Tech defense will have a different look this year. How different? How about completely? New defensive coordinator Dave Wommack plans to use man-to-man coverage as well as zone. He’s changing the techniques being taught in the secondary, the responsibilities of the linebackers and the positioning of the defensive ends. Word is he still plans on using only 11 players.

And a further note on football. Tennessee kicks off a new decade of stunning out-of-conference games this year with UCLA. Then the Vols take on Oregon, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Ohio State in home-and-home match-ups through 2019.

Whatever happened to simply baseball cards? Three former MLB sluggers--Mike Schmidt, Ernie Banks and Eddie Murray-- are launching wine labels: Schmidt’s 548 Zinfandel, Banks’ 512 Chardonnay and Murray’s 504 Cabenet. The numbers refer to their home run totals.

If you listen to the announcers whenever Tennessee plays, guard Chris Lofton, a Kentucky native, was snubbed by both Louisville and Kentucky during the recruiting process. The Cardinals’ coach, Rick Pitino, says that’s not true. Pitino says he recruited Lofton hard.

HELP WANTED: Cal fired head basketball coach Ben Braun after the Bears made the NCAAs only once in the last five years of his 12-year tenure. Among names mentioned to take his place are Gonzaga’s Mark Few and former UCLA coach Steve Lavin. . . TCU has interviewed former Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson for its head basketball opening. . . Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel still seems to be the leading candidate to replace Dave Odom at South Carolina. Capel grew up in North Carolina and played at Duke.

And finally, College Basketball Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina is projected as a mid-to-lower first round pick in the NBA draft. And speaking of the Tar Heels--who play their next round in Charlotte after opening in Raleigh--the ‘Heels are 23-1 in NCAA tournament games played in the state, losing only to Penn in 1979.

Another 'Summit' climbed by Pat and Norman's Sweet 16 picks (upsets!)

(3/27) Davidson College’s Stephen Curry has scored 70 points in two games for a 35.0 average. Here are the all-time performances in NCAA Tournaments: Michigan’s Glen Rice, 184 points in six games in 1989; Princeton’s Bill Bradley, 177 points in five games in 1965; Houston Elvin Hayes, 167 points in five games in 1968; and Kansas’ Danny Manning, 163 points in six games in 1988.

The all-time leading scorer in NCAA per-game-average is, hands down, Notre Dame’s Austin Carr, who averaged 52.7 points in three games in 1979.

Hottest rumor in men’s college basketball is that Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel will replace the retiring Dave Odom as head coach at South Carolina.

When the Tennessee women routed Purdue in the NCAA tournament, coach Pat Summit became the first coach, man or woman, to gain 100 victories in the tournament. She also leads both men and women in total wins with 979.

Clemson, Auburn and Missouri are teaming up to save and protect wild tigers in honor of their mascots. Tigers for Tigers is taking donations for the World Wildlife Fund.

A strange foursome having lunch in Miami, as reported by the Miami Herald. Former Cowboy coach Jimmy Johnson, New England coach Bill Belicick, UNC coach Butch Davis and actor Gene Hackman. Go figure.

The latest odds on the NCAA tournament show North Carolina and UCLA tied at 3-to-1 while Kansas, Louisville, Memphis and Texas follow. Long odds show Wisconsin, Stanford and Tennessee all listed at 16-to-1.

And finally, my completely unreliable picks for the Sweet 16 as four games tip-off today and four more Friday

I like upsets at this point in the tournament.

>North Carolina over Washington State

>Tennessee over Louisville,

>(Upset) Villanova over Kansas

>(Upset) Davidson over Wisconsin

>Memphis over Michigan State

>Texas over Stanford

>UCLA over Western Kentucky

>And (upset) West Virginia over Xavier.

Major League Baseball opening in Toyko? Take me out of the ball game

(3/26) I’m not a sports purist by any stretch of the imagination. When college basketball installed the three-point line, no problem. When pro football added the two-point conversion, OK with me. When college football added overtime periods, all right here.

But when Major League Baseball opens its season in Tokyo, and that’s in Japan, not Kansas, enough is enough. MLB has stepped over the line and I’m not going to go to any more games in person. Of course, I haven’t been to but one in the last 10 years anyway but I’m sticking to my principals. And you’ll notice that I didn’t even mention Pearl Harbor.

The Pittsburgh Steelers need to examine their principles, by the way. The Steelers cut backup receiver Cedric Wilson for punching out his girlfriend. The Pittsburgh brass then issued a self-congratulatory press release stating it would not put up with behavior like that. Steeler starting linebacker James Harrison punched out his girlfriend a day later. He’s still employed.

Even if he’s allowed to remain in school, South Carolina red shirt freshman quarterback Stephen Garcia has got to be a giant question mark and headache for coach Steve Spurrier. Garcia was arrested over the weekend for underage drinking, marking the fourth time in less than two years that the Gamecock player has had a run-in with the law.

Duke doesn’t always get its man. Confounding basketball recruiting experts, Greg Echenique, a 6-foot-9, 260-pound center out of New Jersey, has given his verbal commitment to Rutgers, choosing the Scarlet Knights over the Blue Devils, Notre Dame and Florida to name a few.

Two years ago, Frank DeFord--possibly the finest writer of sports or any other subject in this country-- did a piece about amateur athletics. And this was before the advent of Tyrelle Pryor’s announcement he was signing with Ohio State six weeks after holding a press conference to announce he wouldn’t be having a press conference to announce his choice. This was before O.J. Mayo and Derrick Rose and Kevin Love. DeFord writes, "Rather than correcting all the abuses that we’ve moaned about for a century, we Americans are instead simply taking all that’s wrong with college sports down to high school. Sports is growing in importance in schools even as book learning is diminishing. But in the United States, no athlete shall be left behind!" Amen.

Underscoring the madness this March; Dogs top dogs with local fans

(3/25) March Madness? You bet. There is a No. 10 seed, Davidson, in the Sweet 16 as well as No. 12 seeds Western Kentucky and Villanova. But Davidson’s slaying of Goliath Georgetown was the story of the first two rounds. Perhaps someone could enlighten me as to why Virginia Tech didn’t approach Davidson superstar Stephen Curry on bended knee and beg him to come to Blacksburg where his father Dell Curry matriculated. It wasn’t as if the Hokies weren’t aware of their most famous alum’s son. Story is they offered him a chance to walk-on.

And talk about shaky wins. How about Tennessee and Memphis - these don’t look like No. 2 and No. 1 teams to me. . . There are only two marquee freshmen still dribbling in the tournament - Memphis’ Derrick Rose and UCLA’s Kevin Love. Love was compared to the San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan by the Philadelphia Enquirer.

Here’s a quick overview of the NCAA Tournament. There have been four overtime games and 10 games decided by five points or less including three by one point.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution pointed out that Georgia football ranked ahead of both the Atlanta Falcons and the Atlanta Braves in fan interest. No surprise, really. The Bulldogs seem to be much more stable than the Falcons and have a much better chance than the Braves of winning it all.

Can’t understand all the hoopla about the air pollution in China for the upcoming Olympics. The air didn’t

suddenly and mysteriously get polluted since the International Olympic Committee awarded the Games to Beijing. Bad choice, period.

It shows just how dominant Tiger Woods is in pro golf that he makes headlines when he doesn’t win.

And finally, most of the National Football League draft gurus that I’ve read agree that the Atlanta Falcons will not draft third this year. Most feel that the Birds will trade their third pick for more draft picks since they have so many holes to fill.

Tampa becomes Upset City and who's upset by Coach K's early exit?

(3/24) Obviously the place to have been during the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament was Tampa. The Florida city has earned the nickname Upset City as four lowers seeds sent higher seeded teams home.

Villanova, seeded No. 12, beat No. 5 Clemson; No. 4 Vanderbilt lost to No. 12 Siena; Drake went home courtesy of Western Kentucky; and San Diego surprised UConn. Four upsets at one site sets an NCAA record. There had never been more the two surprises at any one city before.

And for all of you Duke haters, I guess you’re happy that the Blue Devils were sent home by West Virginia. I personally think the NCAA tournament without Mike Krzyzewski this early loses something. If nothing else, who you gonna hate now?

The Los Angeles Times reports that Tiger Woods has won 64 tournaments on the PGA tour out of 233 starts for a winning percentage of .275. Sam Snead, the all-time leader with 82 victories won 14.9 percent of his tries and Jack Nicklaus won 73 events - 12.3 percent of his starts.

The Board of Trustees at Penn State say negotiations haven’t gone smoothly on whether head football coach Joe Paterno will be offered an extension after his contract expires at the end of 2008.

It’s a sad day for Atlanta Braves fans. Manager Bobby Cox told 37-year-old catcher Javy Lopez that he wouldn’t be on the Atlanta roster when the team breaks camp in Florida. Lopez said he would retire.

One of the many gauges the National Football League uses to grade prospects is the Wonderlic test, which basically tests the intelligence of players. All of the top quarterback picks scored well on the quiz. Matt Ryan of Boston College and Brian Brohm of Louisville, both projected first round picks, scored an impressive 32. Delaware’s Joe Flacco posted a 27 and Chad Henne of Michigan a 22. Both are projected as second round choices.

And finally, Sports Illustrated magazine did a story on fan abuse and had a photo of Oregon students verbally abusing UCLA’s Kevin Love when the Bruins came for a game. An Oregon student’s father saw his son giving the UCLA star a one-fingered salute and when the kid came home a week later, his father took away his car and sent him back to school on a bus.

Dogs' Mission: Impossible team now faces reality of offseason repairs

(3/21) Well, OK. Georgia’s magic finally ran out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against No. 3-seeded Xavier, an Atlantic-10 team. The improbable fact that the Bulldogs were in the tournament at all is well documented but Dog fans shouldn’t be too upset. Or should they? If Dennis Felton had been doing his job, the lowly Dawgs wouldn’t have been in the position to have to brave four games in four games, including two in one day, to make such an impossible run. So congratulations on giving everyone in the state a thrill and to senior Sundiata Gaines for a great tournament showing but there are still problems a plenty in Athens on the hardwood.

Prep quarterback Terrelle Pryor says his decision to play for Ohio State over Oregon, Penn State and Michigan was for these reasons. Oregon was too far away; Penn State was "too country." He said it was hard to turn down Michigan because he has a strong bond with coach Rich Rodriguez but he liked Ohio State’s offensive line (great reason) and the fact that coach Jim Tressel didn’t expect him to jump in and start right away. Instead, he plans on using him like Florida did Tim Tebow two seasons ago - as a change of pace quarterback.

And here’s an interesting aside after Pryor’s decision. Georgia Tech transfer Steven Threet is one of three quarterbacks in Michigan’s rotation and could win the starting job for the Wolverines next September. He has four years of eligibility remaining.

Virginia Tech has dismissed leading rusher and senior running back Brandon Ore from its football team. Ore ran for almost 1,000 yards last season and 1,100 the one before that. Ore had been in and out of coach Frank Beamer’s doghouse for his lackadaisical attitude.

Norcross senior Al-Farouq Aminu, signed to a basketball scholarship by Wake Forest, was named Mr. Georgia Basketball this season. The 6-foot-9 power forward averaged 23 points and 11 rebounds and is a member of one of the top three recruiting classes by the ACC’s Demon Deacons.

And how popular are the lowly New York Knicks of Isiah Thomas in the state of New York? The New York Daily News says a recent poll showed there were more Boston Red Sox fans in the state than Knicks’ fans.

And finally, Texas-Arlington is making its first NCAA tournament appearance. The Texas team doesn’t have a basketball arena or gym and plays its home games on a theater stage.

A good look at the good, bad in today's sports headlines

(3/20) Quarterback Terrell Pryor, the top recruited high school athlete in the nation, chose Ohio State. BAD. I’m sick of the Buckeyes and was hoping he’d go to Michigan. Actually, I’m also sick of Pryor.

DeAngelo Hall, the discontented corner back of the Atlanta Falcons, is on a plane to Oakland to sign with the Raiders. GOOD. I’m sick of hearing him flap his big mouth.

John Brady, the fired former LSU basketball coach, has been hired at Arkansas State. GOOD if Brady’s happy. He got a raw deal in Baton Rouge and he’s not a bad coach.

Clemson has given basketball coach Oliver Purnell a contract extension through 2014. GOOD, he a class act and knows what he’s doing.

Southern Cal, with super freshman O.J. Mayo, plays Kansas State, with super freshman Michael Beasley, in a first round NCAA tourney game. BAD. Because neither will stay for their sophomore year.

Nothing happening in the Bonds market - Barry Bonds that is. GOOD. I hope the former San Francisco slugger never plays again.

North Carolina, as a No. 1 seed, doesn’t have to leave the state until the Final Four, playing in Raleigh and then Charlotte if it wins. BAD. The ‘Heels have a tough draw with Tennessee, Louisville, Oklahoma, Washington State, Notre Dame, Indiana and Arkansas in their region.

Phillies pitcher Kris Benson brought two pet monkeys into the Philadelphia club house this week. GOOD. They fit in with the rest of the Phillies.

The World Series of Poker will be played in London starting in September. BAD. Check out the value of the British pound against the American dollar.

Odds out of Vegas show Memphis most likely of the four top seeds to be eliminated first. GOOD. I haven’t liked the Tigers since the days of Dana Kirk. The other seeds, in order, were Kansas, UNC and UCLA.

The Green Bay Packers will retire Brett Favre’s jersey. BAD. I think they should retire at least two jerseys in his honor.

N.C. State freshman power forward J.J. Hickson has declared for the NBA draft. BAD. The Wolfpack was horrid with him, imagine what its going to be like without him.

Norman's 'First Four' to watch; UF's Donovan growling at his Gators

(3/19) Here’s a sobering statistic brought to light by the Associated Press. North Carolina is the only top seed of the NCAA tournament’s four top seeds to graduate more than 50 percent of its players. The Tar Heels graduate 86 percent compared to 45 percent for Kansas and 40 percent for Memphis and UCLA.

May I suggest four first-round games to keep an eye on which could be pivotal in the tournament?

>In the West Regional, Georgia vs. Xavier.

>In the East, Arkansas vs. Indiana.

>In the Midwest, Gonzaga vs. Davidson.

>And in the South, Marquette vs. Kentucky.

I believe John Pelphrey has Arkansas back on track to become a factor for years to come in the SEC and remember that Davidson, the Southern Conference champ, comes into the tournament with the longest winning streak in the nation at 22 games.

Candidates for the head basketball coaching job at TCU reportedly include Auburn’s Jeff Lebo and former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, although Lavin did turn down N.C. State, which has got to be a better job than TCU.

Here’s the extent that television is messing with college football. Next season, the University of Buffalo is set for a record six mid-week television games (that’s non-Saturday contests). Insane.

And if you missed the women’s NCAA tournament pairings, Connecticut, Tennessee, North Carolina and Maryland were the No. 1 seeds. Both Georgia and Georgia Tech received invitations.

Billy Donovan isn’t simply taking his team’s failure to receive an NCAA tournament bid with a shrug and a wait-til-next-year attitude. As the Florida team enters the NIT, Donovan has kicked them out of their new practice facility and made them dress and practice in the old gym at Florida. He also forbid them to wear any clothes with a University of Florida decal or identification on campus.

As the tournaments turn: NCAA, NIT--and College Basketball Invitational?

(3/18) OK. Let’s get this over with. As to Georgia’s improbable, yes let’s say impossible, run through the Southeastern Conference Tournament, I would say that the Dawgs’ game against Xavier in the first round is about as good as draw as Dennis Felton’s troops could have hoped to get.

Xavier, seeded third, is one of those teams which I feel in my gut won’t stay around long. If by some miraculous turn of events Georgia should get by the Musketeers, there’s sixth-seeded Purdue waiting. With all that said, I have to believe that the Bulldogs go home right away. But then again, I didn’t think they’d win a game in the SEC, either.

For the first time since 1980, the two teams in the previous year’s NCAA finals, Florida and Ohio State, did not make this year’s field. They could, however, meet in the finals of the NIT.

For the first time since I can remember, there were no unexpected teams named to the NCAA field. Everybody there seems to have earned it - yes, even Georgia. The tournament is amazingly top heavy with great teams seeded one through three and a grab bag for the rest of the field. Don’t look for any earth-shaking upsets and I believe North Carolina will meet UCLA in the finals.

You really have to keep your eye on the March Madness, folks. While we weren’t looking, the Gazelle Group went out and created a brand new tournament called the College Basketball Invitational. These are the same folks who brought you the aborted football game between Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech eight years ago which was never played because of a horrendous lightning storm that wiped out Lee Corso’s rental car. To be kind, really kind, the tournament is a poor man’s NIT, which is a poor man’s NCAA. Yet, those basketball organizers found 16 teams willing to sacrifice all dignity to play in its hopefully first and last season. Even the ACC’s haughty Virginia is playing. So are Washington and Houston and Cincinnati and Nevada, just to pluck a few names you might know out of the CBI draw. And it starts today, by the way.

And speaking of college football, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that LSU coach Les Miles’ new contract makes him the highest paid coach in America with an annual compensation package worth in excess of $3.7 million per year, doubling his salary of $1.8 million last season.

Conference championship picks: Not exactly Norman's No-Nos but ...

(3/14) This isn’t exactly a Norman’s No-Nos where I pick losers in college football games but I would like to tell you whom I consider absolute locks for the upcoming tournaments finals. Where my winning (or losing) percentage was a lowly 68 percent in football, I will accept nothing less than 10 percentage points higher in basketball.

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE: Tennessee will play Mississippi State in the Sunday finale. Kentucky is coming on strong but is missing its top two players. Florida simply doesn’t have the players to make it. Mississippi State can have ups and downs but seems poised for the tourney. Vols firepower is awesome at times but remember as Chris Lofton goes, so goes UT.

BIG EAST CONFERENCE: Notre Dame will play UConn in the Sunday finale. But watch for a lower seed to make a run. I see Connecticut taking out top-seeded Georgetown in the semi-finals while Notre Dame upsets No. 2 Louisville. (No-no! Notre Dame, UConn, Louisville fall in first round)

BIG 10 CONFERENCE: Wisconsin will play Purdue in the Sunday finale. I see the Badgers taking out Michigan State in the semis while Purdue beats Indiana, if the Hoosiers even get that far. It’d be fun if Tubby Smith’s Minnesota team won a couple.

BIG 12 CONFERENCE: Texas will play Kansas in the Sunday finale. The Longhorns beat up on Oklahoma in the semi-finals while there is a Civil War fought between Kansas and Kansas State in the opposite bracket.

PAC-10 CONFERENCE: UCLA will meet Washington State in the Saturday finale. The Bruins should have no problem with Southern Cal and I pick Wazoo to upset Stanford in the semis. Herb Sendek’s Arizona State team might make some noise.

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE: North Carolina will meet Duke in the Sunday finale although this tournament has more potential for some startling upsets. I see the Tar Heels having their hands full with Virginia Tech in the semis before prevailing and Duke scratching and clawing past Clemson in the other half.

Real March Madness for employers: $1.7 billion in lost productivity?

(3/12) LSU has reportedly contacted Southern Cal head basketball coach Tim Floyd about its head coaching vacancy created after the Tigers fired Hal Brady. It’s a natural to contact Floyd since he lived in Louisiana before going to USC and started his coaching career at the University of New Orleans.

North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough has been selected as Player of the Year by The Sporting News and will have his No. 50 jersey retired by the Tar Heels. . . Davidson College, ranked No. 23, won its 21st straight game by taking the Southern Conference title this week. The Wildcats could be seeded somewhere in the 7-9 range in the NCAA tournament.

Bloomberg News predicts that college basketball’s March Madness will cost employers up to $1.7 billion in lost productivity. The figure is based on 37 million workers expected to participate in office pools and the 1.5 million who’ll watch games online from their desks.

Remember last week when it was reported that Harvard’s basketball recruiting practices were being examined by the NCAA? It seems the first fallout from that has occurred when Harvard’s recruiting centerpiece, 6-foot-10 center Frank Ben-Eze, says he no longer plans on attending. He was being recruited by Marquette, Virginia and West Virginia before his verbal commitment. . . Another recruiting casualty may be Terrell Holloway, who signed to play at Indiana but has asked out of his commitment now that Kelvin Sampson is gone. Holloway was being recruited by Texas, Memphis and Rutgers before signing with the Hoosiers.

Word is that former Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson, who was forced to resign after making illegal telephone calls to Hoosier recruits, is hanging out with the San Antonio Spurs. No word on his official capacity, maybe answering the phone?

USA Today ran a list of its Top Five college coaches who never made it to the Final Four. Included were Temple’s John Cheney, Princeton’s Pete Carill, Norm Stewart of Missouri, Tom Davis of Iowa and surprisingly, Lefty Driesell of Maryland.

Missing from the All-ACC teams--Ga. Tech; Wildcats No. 23 (Davidson, not Ky.)

(3/12) The mystery that is Arizona head basketball coach Lute Olson surfaced again when the 74-year-old coach said he will come back from his medical leave to again coach the Wildcats next season. Olson had taken off this season for unannounced reasons, claiming there were no health issues. He did go through a divorce during his absence.

The latest ESPN/USA Today basketball poll has the Wildcats of Davidson College ranked No. 25 while North Carolina solidified its hold on the No. 1 spot after beating Duke over the weekend. Davidson garnered the No. 23 spot in the AP poll.

Something a little different. Oklahoma junior backup center Noah Hughley says he won’t play football next year but will graduate at the end of the summer and pursue a career in writing screenplays for movies.

The All-ACC basketball first team included North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough, Virginia’s Sean Singletary, Boston College’s Tyrese Rice, Duke’s DeMarcus Nelson and Jack McClinton of Miami. For Hansbrough and Singletary, it was the third time each has made the All-ACC first team. Georgia Tech did not have a player selected on any of the three teams.

Unlike many prognosticators, I don’t believe Kentucky is in the NCAAs yet and I’m relatively confident that Florida won’t be going anywhere unless the Gators make it to the SEC tournament finals. The Wildcats probably have to win at least one tourney game and their first one will be against the Georgia-Ole Miss winner. Remember Kentucky is playing without its two best players - Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson, both out with injuries. . . Another note on Kentucky: the Wildcats are 18-12 but only 6-7 outside of the SEC.

With its lofty No. 4 national ranking and 28-3 record, it’s more than noteworthy that Tennessee hasn’t won more than one game in the SEC tournament in 17 years. An article in the AJC does try to shame schools like Alabama and Georgia by pointing out what Vol coach Bruce Pearl has been able to do in just three short years at a football-factory school. . . You could also make a case for Clemson coach Oliver Purnell doing the same for the Tigers.

NCAA's top four seeds? And which teams must avoid bubble trouble

(3/11) Remember Clemson running back Ray Ray McElrathbey, who took custody of his 11-year-old brother after their parents were unable to care for him? The player’s football career at Clemson is over. He will graduate in August, even though he has two years of eligibility left, according to the St. Pete Times.

One of the perks Eli Manning seemingly will get from winning the Super Bowl is to be signed up as an underwear model for a bikini-type men’s undergarment.

Uno, the only Beagle to win Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Show, has been invited to the White House in April. He’s also been asked to ride on a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Say It Ain’t So. A Portland, Ore., opera company is staging an opera called Nancy and Tonya, written to-- is the word commemorate?--the infamous Nancy Kerrigan vs. Tonya Harding incident where Tonya’s boyfriend chopped Kerrigan in the knee with a baseball bat.

Although Tubby Smith wasn’t happy with his first edition at the University of Minnesota, the basketball coach is already paying dividends. The former Kentucky coach’s Gopher team won 18 games after winning only nine last season before Smith arrived.

College football’s highest profile position battle this spring and next fall will be for the starting quarterback job at Southern Cal. The contests are Mark Sanchez and former Arkansas Razorback Mitch Mustain.

The New York Daily News projects the four No. 1 seeds in the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament will be North Carolina, Tennessee, UCLA and Memphis. Two from the state of Tennessee. Amazing. . . One of the hot rumors in college basketball is that Frank Haith may not be at Miami next season. Not because the Hurricanes don’t want him but because he’s one of the hottest coaches in the college ranks right now.

And finally, the true bubble teams which can’t afford to mess up in their conference tournaments include Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Arizona, Kentucky, Florida, Ohio State and Kansas State.

Some additional madness to consider in this month of March

(3/10) Now the real fun begins. The college basketball regular season is over. It’s taken us five months to decide that North Carolina is the ACC’s best, ditto for Georgetown in the Big East, Wisconsin in the Big 10, Xavier in the Atlantic-10, Memphis in Conference USA, UCLA in the Pac-10 and Kansas owns at least a share of the Big 12. Tennessee is the class of the SEC and Drake ruled the MVC, so now what? In most cases, they do it all over again in conference tournaments. Ain’t it fun?

Georgia finished its fifth year under coach Dennis Felton with a loss, running Felton’s overall mark in Athens to 71-79 and 26-54 in SEC games. The loss to Ole Miss was the Bulldogs 11th in 13 games and left it with a 13-16 overall mark. Athletics Director Damon Evans says he’ll evaluate Felton’s job performance after the conference tournament next week.

Meanwhile, at Georgia Tech, Paul Hewitt’s team finished 14-16 by beating Boston College and gathered some momentum for the ACC tournament by winning three of their final four games - the one loss a three-pointer on a last shot to Virginia. Now they meet the Cavaliers in the tournament Thursday.

I’m not sure I’ve got this right but it seems that the Atlanta Falcons cut quarterback Joey Harrington last week and now they’re going to re-sign him this week. Don’t exactly understand it but it has to do with money, of course.

Name of the Week: Star Jackson, an Alabama quarterback signee out of Lake Worth, Fla.

Georgia football coach Mark Richt was given an $800,000 raise to put his salary at $2.8 million a year and the first thing I read after the fact was whether it was enough. Good Lord!

When North Carolina beat Duke over the weekend to run its record to 29-2, it set a record for regular season wins. Strange as it may seem, if Duke should win the ACC tournament, it could still be a No. 1 seed. In fact, if the Tar Heels make it to the finals, both could be No. 1 seeds.

Favre 8th on top QBs list, Johnny U, no. 1; no mention of Joey Harrington

(3/7) The Atlanta Falcons now have two quarterbacks in camp after cutting sometimes-starter Joey Harrington - D.J. Shockley (barely used after sitting out a year) and Chris Redman, who started four games. Therefore, you would expect the Birds to take a quarterback in the first round. Not so fast. What about the gaping holes in both offensive and defensive lines? If they wait until the second round, what quarterback will be left? Stay tuned.

Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan may or may not get his Gators back to the Big Dance as the two-time defending champs are definitely a bubble team but Donovan is running a future coaches camp in Gainesville. No less than three of his former assistants are now head coaches including John Pelphrey at Arkansas, Donnie Jones at Marshall and, of course, the hottest name in coaching right now - Anthony Grant at Virginia Commonwealth.

It’s obvious where LSU’s head is in football recruiting. The Tigers secured a verbal commitment from highly rated quarterback Russell Shepard out of Texas for their 2009 class, giving notice to suspended QB Ryan Perrilloux that his days may be numbered.

Good news on the television front. Perhaps the best program on TV, Friday Night Lights, has been picked up by NBC and DirecTV for a third season.

Understanding it depends upon whom you ask, retiring Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre ranks No. 8 on The Sporting News’ list of all-time NFL quarterbacks. John Unitas is first followed by Joe Montana, Otto Graham, John Elway, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Sammy Baugh and then Favre. Dan Marino was ninth and Terry Bradshaw No. 10.

Absolutely no surprise here that former Georgia Tech and now head basketball coach at College of Charleston Bobby Cremins is coming to the defense of embattled Yellow Jacket head coach Paul Hewitt. Cremins doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.

Simply the worst: Hawks' free agent deals, Fordham women's hoops

(3/6) Former Pittsburgh Steeler head coach Bill Cowher denies the rumor but it sure makes good sense that Cowher would follow Penn State coach Joe Paterno as head coach at the school if he should retire at the end of the year.

One name that absolutely flabbergasted me that has come up to replace the retiring Brett Favre at Green Bay is Byron Leftwich. He couldn’t make it with the Atlanta Falcons and he’s going to replace a legend? I’m dumbfounded.

The St. Petersburg Times reports that women’s basketball lost more than $169 million during the 2005-06 season while during the same time period, the men’s game generated $240 million in profit.

If you’re looking for a good excuse to watch the upcoming NCAA tournament without guilt, this may be your thing. The Oregon Urology Institute’s new "Snip City" campaign encourages men to get their vasectomy the day before the tournament starts and offers a recovery kit, which includes a bag of frozen peas, sports magazines, free pizza delivery and more. . . Not that these two things necessarily go together but the University of Iowa offers 35 different courses with the word "sex" in the title.

The Atlanta Hawks made SI.Com’s list of the top five worst free-agent signings in history. Jon Koncak, already a Hawk, was offered a deal with the Detroit Pistons. The backup center was then given a six-year, $13 million contract by the Hawks -- huge money at the time.

The consensus among NBA teams is that Kansas State’s freshman Michael Beasley and Memphis’ freshman Derrick Rose would be the No. 1 and No. 2 draft picks should the NBA draft be held today.

And finally, a dubious record but a record all the same. The Fordham University women’s basketball team finished its season with an 0-29 mark, setting the record for the worst mark in women’s college basketball history.

Tournament tales: One team in, the champs knocked out?

(3/5) ESPN has announced its Thursday Night schedule for next college football season. The network opens with N.C. State at South Carolina on Aug. 28. Georgia Tech takes on Miami on Nov. 20.

There are only 64 spots available now for the NCAA Tournament as Cornell of the Ivy League has clinched a spot in the Big Dance. . . Former Arkansas head basketball coach Nolan Richardson, who was fired by the Razorbacks, is talking to Arkansas State about their head job. . . Davidson College finished with a 20-0 record in the Southern Conference.

Pat Knight’s Texas Tech team was humiliated for the second time in three games, this time by Kansas in a 109-51 whipping. The Red Raiders had lost by 44 points last week. The 58-point winning margin is the most lopsided in the Jayhawks’ storied history. Obviously, Bobby Knight knew when to get out when he resigned in February.

What did Jeff Francouer do after he agreed to settle for a mere $450,000 this year from the Atlanta Braves? He went out with pitchers John Smoltz and Tom Glavine for a round of golf with Tiger Woods. Not bad for a consolation prize.

No surprise other than its been a long time coming but Georgia is taking a hard look at basketball coach Dennis Felton. The coach is in his fifth year in Athens and his 12-15 record, 3-11 in the SEC, doesn’t help his cause to be retained. Georgia could be one of the top jobs in the country if the school should decide to make it a priority, such as, say, tennis, gymnastics and golf.

Two-time defending national basketball champion Florida is very much a bubble team to make the NCAA tournament this year. After opening with an 18-3 mark, the Gators are now 21-8 and 8-6 in the SEC with games against Tennessee and Kentucky remaining. . . One of the most underrated players in America, Clemson guard Cliff Hammonds, broke his non-shooting wrist and will be a question mark for post-season play.

And finally, Brent Favre announced his retirement. But we all know how that goes. Don’t be surprised if Green Bay talks him back into the fold.

With Turner signed, what's done is Dunn for Falcons

(3/4) In the true but downright strange category, Harvard -- yes, that Harvard -- may have gotten on the wrong side of the NCAA in aggressive recruiting by head basketball coach Tommy Amaker. What created the sudden attention? Harvard’s recruiting class is ranked in the Top 25.

So much for the speculation that Indiana would be entering the NCAA tournament with a chip on its shoulder after the firing of coach Kelvin Sampson in mid-season. The Hoosiers were throttled by Michigan State by 29 points over the weekend.

I don’t know if you noticed but North Carolina eased point guard Ty Lawson back into the lineup in the win over Boston College. Lawson has missed seven games with a high ankle sprain.

With the signing of free-agent running back Michael Turner from San Diego, the Atlanta Falcons have signaled that they have no interest in picking Arkansas running back Darren McFadden with their third-round NFL draft pick. . . At the same time, veteran running back Warrick Dunn requested his release from the Falcons. He was released Monday morning. Reportedly Dallas, Denver and Houston are interested in the former FSU star. A shame that Dunn will leave. One of sports’ good guys and one of the few reasons to like the Falcons.

And still on the NFL theme, what to make of the Cleveland Browns giving quarterback Derek Anderson a new three-year, $24 million contract? The highly publicized former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn would seem to be out in the Cleveland cold.

Mr. Squeaky Clean himself, Orel Hershiser, former Los Angeles Dodger pitcher, made it to the quarterfinals of the Head-Up National Poker Championship at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. . . A documentary about former Maryland player Len Bias’ death,  from a drug overdose, will come out this year. . . Minnesota has hired former Georgia Tech player and fired Duke head coach Ted Roof as its defensive coordinator.

With a week to go, the State of College Basketball--except in this state

(3/3) Welcome to the last week of the college basketball regular season. Here’s where we stand:

>Duke trailed by 12 points against N.C. State in the second half of its game over the weekend and still won. North Carolina trailed by 18 in the second half of its game with Boston College and still won. The two meet t Saturday in Durham and the winner will be declared the champion of the ACC regular season. Of course, that’s assuming there’s no upset in mid-week.The Duke comeback gave coach Mike Krzyzewski his 800th win.

>The SEC is still a scramble. Just when Vanderbilt began to look like a top-four seed in the upcoming NCAA tourney, the Commodores lost to Arkansas. Kentucky has won nine of its last 10 SEC games but must play the rest of the season without super freshman Patrick Patterson, who is lost with a stress fracture.  Mississippi State is the No. 1 seed from the West.

>An update on how our state teams are doing. Georgia is 12-14, Georgia Tech is 12-15, Georgia State is 9-20, Mercer is 11-18, Kennesaw State is 10-20 and good old Georgia Southern is 20-10. In other words, no post-season for anyone unless some one wins their conference tournament.

>The hiring of former Texas Tech and Indiana coach Bob Knight by ESPN as an analyst brings up several questions. For instance, why would a news-gathering organization which employs hundreds of journalists hire a man who has shown nothing but contempt for the media over the years? And why would Knight join a profession that he has called one or two steps above prostitution? I suggest ESPN keep its "Bleep Button" handy.

>When college football season opens next fall, the top game out of the chute will be Appalachian State, defending Division I-AA champion, against LSU, defending Division I-A champion. With LSU opening spring practice without suspended quarterback Ryan Perrilloux, the game is even more intriguing. The team from Boone has played a Division I opponent every year since 1982 but had trouble finding one this year before LSU decided to take them on. The Mountaineers tried to get a game with Florida State, Georgia Tech and North Carolina but were turned down.

Listen to Southern Sports Roundtable Saturday from 9-11 a.m. on WRGA 1470 AM/95.3 FM to discuss this with Dan Houston and me.