UCLA's Secret Weapon for March Madness

#1 for All

For the first time since the NCAA started seeding teams for the NCAA Basketball Championship Tourney, all four #1 made it to the Final Four.

#1 Memphis Tigers vs. #1 UCLA Bruins

#1 North Carolina Tar Heels vs. #1 Kansas Jayhawks

Final Four Notes:

• UCLA and North Carolina are now tied for the most Final Four appearances by a school with 17 each.
• Memphis' has 37 wins and could set the record for most ever by a Division 1 basketball team with a win over UCLA in the semis.
• Both UCLA and Memphis have both won 30 games for three consecutive years.
• This is UCLA's third straight Final Four appearance under Coach Ben Howland.
• This is Memphis' first Final Four appearance since 1985 and Coach John Calipari's first since his #1 UMass squad lost to Kentucky and his mentor Rick Pitino in 1996.
• When KU plays NC, Coach Roy Williams will be facing his former program in Kansas. He has already won a championship with the Tar Heels and although KU was the winningest program in the 1990's, Williams never won a championship with them.
• Should both UCLA and North Carolina win their semi-final games, then UCLA Super-freshman Kevin Love will meet NC's two-time Player of the year Tyler Hansbrough in a much anticipated match-up.

Sweet & Sour

As usual, there was madness abound in the first week of the NCAA tourney with many top seeds like Georgetown, Duke, Vanderbilt, and UConn losing early. Even #1 seed UCLA got a scare in their second round match against Texas A&M but was fortunate to escape with a 51-49 Saturday night. Now the top 3 teams from the Pac-10 Conference (UCLA, Stanford, and Washington State) have all advanced on to the Sweet 16.

Here is a little follow-up after the first week of competition;

• O.J. Mayo lost the battle of the Freshman when USC lost to Michael Beasley and Kansas State in their opening round match.
• UC San Diego upset Connecticut 70-69 in their first round game but then lost to Western Kentucky and missed a chance to go up against UCLA for a 'Battle of So Cal' in the West Regional semifinals next weekend.
• The Cinderella slipper also fell-off for Drake, Baylor, and Cal State Fullerton as all lost in their first round NCAA tourney games.
• UMass also had a scare but outscored Akron 19-2 down the stretch for a 68-63 comeback victory. Now the #2 seed Minuteman will face top-seeded Syracuse (21-13) for a chance to go to the NIT Final Four. Both teams just missed getting an NCAA Tourney bid and have already played each other in an exciting game earlier in the year in which UMass won 107-100, so it should be a battle in the Carrier Dome.

Dancing with the Stars

Aside from Duke losing in the ACC Tournament and missing out on a #1 seed, most of the top dance contestants (UCLA, Kansas, Memphis, and North Carolina) who battled in the polls throughout the year got their VIP tickets to the 'Big Dance'. Some teams came to the dance through the back door, while others couldn't get on the floor. Here are some interesting tid-bits going into the tournament.

All the Right Moves:

• Baylor University had only their 4th 20 win season in the last 120 years of the school and got themselves an 11th seed in the tournament.
• Drake and Coach Keno Davis, son of former Boston College coach Tom Davis, made their first NCAA tournament in 37 years.
• USC meets Kansas State in a first round game that pits Michael Beasley and O.J Mayo, two of the most talented freshmen in the country.
• San Diego upset Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament, and Georgia, who only won 4 games in the SEC, won the season ending tournament to squeak into the dance.

Two Left Feet:

• Cal State Northridge, my alma-mater, was picked to finish sixth in a preseason conference poll, so it was a huge surprise when the Matadors earned a share of the Big West Conference title and took a (20-9, 12-4) record and the No. 2 seed into the Big West tournament. However, CSUN eventually lost in the tourney to Cal State Fullerton and lost the automatic bid to the dance as well.
• The UMass Minuteman (21-10) had a good year and were favored to make the NCAA Tournament until they blew a 17-point halftime lead and a 62-53 lead with 4:55 to UNC Charlotte in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Now UMass will have to try their luck as a #2 seed in the NIT.
• No miracle bid for a young Boston College Eagles squad as they got trounced by the Clemson Tigers 82-48 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.

Notes from the Coast:

You've got to love all the hype leading up to a SuperBowl. Especially when a team from New York is involved. Tom Brady is seen in a walking cast, then in cowboy boots. He is injured and now maybe he isn't? Better yet, it's a big hoax being put on the conspiracy starved New York media by Brady and Belichick. Give me a break!
As reported, Brady probably does have a mild high ankle sprain. Yes, it probably did hinder him (along with a possible flu) in the game against the Chargers. No, it won't keep him out of the SuperBowl. And no, there isn't any conspiracy. Unlike a sneaker, which Brady often wears, a cowboy boot can provide support similar to a walking brace.

• Congrats to Eli Manning for coming through against the Pack. Even though I wanted a Patriots-Packers rematch in SuperBowl XLII, I found myself rooting for the kid and the upset during last Sunday's game. They thought Steve Young had a monkey on his back before he finally led the San Francisco 49'ers to a championship after Joe Montana left town. How about having a Heisman Trophy winning father and an MVP brother who both play the same position as you? Then, you tell the world that you won't play in San Diego and instead end up in the media craze of New York City. Eli had a lot to live up to and he may have come close with those two road play-off wins against the Packers and Cowboys.
• Norm Chow is back in LA and back in college football, but not with USC. The offensive guru will be the new coordinator under Rick Neuheisel at UCLA. Before Trojan fans get all worked-up about cross-town loyalty, it was Pete Carroll and his admiration for Lane Kiflin that forced Chow out of USC and to the NFL. Now with Chow on board and Karl Dorrell back at Receivers' coach, the Bruins have an opportunity to create an in-state rivalry similar to Miami and Florida State in the 1990's.
• MLB Trade Rumors blog has a great piece on 'What Might Have Been' had the Red Sox and Florida Marlins not made the Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell for Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, et al. deal.
• Weird coincidence that Bruins' Goalie Tim Thomas gets added to the NHL All-Star team on Monday and then lets in 4 goals in 2 periods against the Canadiens that same night. Fortunately he didn't look as bad as the B's Goalie he replaced. Alex Auld gave up a goal within the first 14 seconds of the game and 4 goals in the first period of a ugly 8-2 loss to the Habs.
• With a strong running game, a Quarterback that is finally putting it all together, and upset wins on the road in the play-offs, people are comparing this 2007 Giants team to the Patriots team that went to the Superbowl 20 years ago. Unfortunately that Patriots team got killed by the Bears in SuperBowl XX 46-10 and if all goes well, the same outcome will happen to the Giants again this year.
• Also, for those who want to compare this Giants team with the squad that upset the Bills and their vaunted offense in Superbowl XXV; remember Bill Belichick was with that Giants team in 1990 but he's not with them now in 2007.

Neuheisel is fit for L.A. battle

When the UCLA Bruins announced that their new football coach would be Rick Neuheisel, I wondered what took so long. Neuheisel had been a star quarterback and an assistant coach under Terry Donahue (the most successful coach at UCLA) and some thought his would be successor until he left to coach Colorado before Donahue’s last year.

Then after both success and controversy at Colorado and Washington, he left the college game and went on to be a coordinator in the NFL. But Neuheisel never looked comfortable in the pro game or in cold climates for that matter. So when his former UCLA teammate Karl Dorrell was fired it was time for Neuheisel to return home.

Rick Neuheisel now brings the same youthful exuberance and swagger to UCLA that has been so successful for USC and Coach Pete Carroll. Like Carroll, Neuheisel will charm both alumni and the parents of top recruits in an effort to compete with USC and bring UCLA football back to the glory days of Terry Donahue.