The guard who was not quick enough, the forward who was not tall enough and the center who did not weigh enough will squeeze onto the marquee of college basketball today with the all-Americans from the usual superpowers that dominate the spotlight.
It will be Bracket Buster Saturday, when midmajor teams like Miami of Ohio, Wichita State, Vermont and Kent State, which are stocked with players missing one or more skills to get them recruited by Duke or Kentucky, play on national television alongside the top 25.
PHOTO: AP
Sixty-four midmajor teams are involved in the third annual Bracket Buster. Six of the 32 games will be televised by ESPN, and five others will be part of a pay-per-view national package offered by ESPN.
The best games are Wichita State at Miami of Ohio, Vermont at Nevada, Southern Illinois at Kent State and Texas-El Paso at Pacific, which is ranked No. 19 in the polls. All eight teams have legitimate ambitions for the NCAA tournament.
Bracket Buster Saturday is the kind of national attention the midmajors -- the teams not in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Southeastern Conference, Pacific-10 and Conference USA -- do not receive until the NCAA tournament. That is why the concept was created.
"It's the lead college basketball story at a time of the year when everybody is thinking college hoops," Rick Chryst, the commissioner of the Mid-American Conference, said in a telephone interview this week. "It's not just two hours on TV, it's stories in 64 communities all week about Bracket Buster.
"The event gets positioned as only about at-large positioning for the NCAA tournament, but that's way too narrow a view. This is about programs that should get more attention than they do."
Chryst and the commissioners Doug Elgin of the Missouri Valley Conference, Karl Benson of the Western Athletic Conference and Jon LeCrone of the Horizon League came up with the idea four years ago and wanted to call it the Cinderella Classic. But the concept did not go forward because there was no television partner.
When Burke Magnus, a vice president of programming at ESPN, proposed Bracket Buster Saturday, the Cinderellas finally had a dance partner, Elgin said.
"This is about exposure and it's worth more than money for leagues like ours," Elgin said in a telephone interview this week.
Considering the competitiveness of the regular-season races in the Mid-American and Missouri Valley conferences and in other midmajor leagues, it seems a burden to thrust a tough nonconference game into the middle of the regular season.
But the midmajors yearn for the chance to showcase the atmosphere in their arenas and their share-the-ball style of play. Their target audience is anyone who wants a glimpse of a team that might pull off one of the upsets that are part of the NCAA tournament's allure.
"The intent is good and I won't get in the way of that," said Miami of Ohio coach Charlie Coles, whose team is 16-6 overall and leads the Mid-American's Eastern Division at 11-3. "Sometimes you've got to go along with an idea if it benefits everybody else."
The commissioners treasure the spotlight, but what makes Bracket Buster Saturday significant is its potential impact on the selection of the 65 teams for the NCAA tournament.
There are 34 spots in the field for at-large teams. When the final sorting of at-large teams is done by the selection committee, a crucial criterion is the won-lost record against teams ranked 1 to 25 in the Ratings Percentage Index, and against teams ranked 26 to 50.
Miami of Ohio, Vermont and Nevada are teams involved in Bracket Buster Saturday that will have to convince the NCAA selection committee of their worthiness if they do not win their conference tournaments.
A victory by Miami of Ohio, which is No. 20 in the RPI through Sunday's games, over Wichita State, which is No. 29, would significantly boost the RedHawks' tournament hopes.
"For teams who are in position for at-large bids, it is important for them to perform well in these nonconference games Saturday," Jim Sukup, who replicates the NCAA's rating with the RPI Report, said in a telephone interview. "They want to make a good impression upon the selection committee, and I think the selection committee will notice because these games are on TV."
Vermont, which is 15th in the RPI but not ranked in the polls, plays at Nevada (No. 32 RPI) in another Bracket Buster game Saturday. A victory by Vermont would almost assure an at-large bid.
Jerry Palm, who also replicates the RPI for collegerpi.com, said Bracket Buster Saturday finally has some postseason implications.
"The last two years it's been basically a television event and the games did not have much impact on the bracket," Palm said in a telephone interview. "You're talking about a possibility of a quality win for all eight of the teams in the top four games. The winners are going to really help themselves by proving they are competitive against good teams."
Zabian Dowdell's three-pointer with 14.6 seconds left lifted the Virginia Tech Hokies to a 67-65 win over the seventh-ranked Duke Blue Devils at Cassell Coliseum.
Carlos Dixon had a team-high 18 points and nine rebounds for the Hokies (13-10, 6-6 ACC), who ended a three-game losing streak and avenged a 100-65 setback to Duke earlier this season. Jamon Gordon added 17 points for Virginia Tech, which arguably picked up the biggest win in the history of its program in just its first season in the ACC.
J.J. Redick had 19 points and Shelden Williams added 16 points and seven boards for the Blue Devils (18-4, 8-4), who have lost two in a row and three of their last five.
No. 10 Arizona 92, Oregon 67
In Tucson, Arizona, Salim Stoudamire posted a game-high 22 points and Channing Frye added 19 points and seven blocked shots, as Arizona pounded Oregon 92-67 at the McKale Center.
Hassan Adams posted 17 points for the Wildcats (22-4, 12-2 Pac-10), who have won five straight and 10 of their last 11 contests. Chris Rodgers chipped in 11 points, nine assists and three steals in the victory.
Malik Hairston netted 21 points for the Ducks (12-10, 4-9), who have dropped seven of their last eight games. Bryce Taylor netted 15 points in the setback, while Aaron Brooks collected 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Brooks also committed 10 of Oregon's 19 turnovers.
No. 12 Louisville 64, Marquette 61
In Milwaukee, Francisco Garcia's three-pointer with 2.6 seconds remaining capped a late comeback as Louisville downed Marquette 64-61 in a wild Conference USA affair at the Bradley Center.
Garcia ended with 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting, while Larry O'Bannon netted 15 points for Louisville (22-4, 10-2 C-USA), which stole this one by closing the game on a 14-0 run en route to its 11th win 12 games. Otis George added 10 in the win.
Steve Novak paced Marquette with 14 points. Joe Chapman added 13 and Todd Townsend chipped in 12 for the Golden Eagles (17-8, 5-7), who have dropped two of three and seven of 11. Travis Diener, who entered the contest averaging 20.5 points per contest, contributed nine points. He ended just 1-of-10 from three-point range in the loss.
No. 13 Gonzaga 90, San Diego 73
In Spokane, Washington, Derek Raivio hit five three-pointers and scored a game-high 29 points, and No. 13 Gonzaga extended its winning streak to seven games with a 90-73 victory over San Diego in West Coast Conference action.
J.P. Batista added 19 points and Ronny Turiaf scored 15 with 13 rebounds for the Bulldogs (20-4, 10-2 WCC), who haven't lost since dropping a three-point decision at San Francisco on January 20.
Brandon Gay collected 26 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Toreros (13-11, 5-6), who lost for the first time in four games. Nick Lewis added 12 points in defeat.
With three games remaining, Gonzaga is inching ever closer to its fifth straight regular-season conference title. Only St. Mary's -- two games back -- is close.
No. 25 Villanova 66, Seton Hall 52
In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Curtis Sumpter scored a game-high 25 points to lead No. 25 Villanova over Seton Hall, 66-52, in Big East action at Continental Airlines Arena.
Randy Foye and Mike Nardi added 10 points apiece for the Wildcats (16-6, 6-5 Big East), who have won four of their last five.
Andre Sweet scored 13 points to lead the Pirates (11-11, 3-8), who have dropped four of five. Kelly Whitney chipped in 10 points in the loss.
Aiming to prevent another brawl between players and fans like the one that marred a game between the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers in November, the National Basketball Association issued standard security guidelines for all its arenas Thursday, including a ban on alcohol sales during the fourth quarter.
The directives cover security officers and fan behavior and apply to all NBA games -- starting with Sunday's All-Star game in Denver.
The guidelines were sent to all teams and included an "NBA Fan Code of Conduct," which will be posted in all arenas. It says, "Players will respect and appreciate each and every fan," and it bars obscene or indecent messages on spectators' signs or clothing.
The new NBA guidelines ban alcohol sales from the start of the fourth quarter, limit the size of drinks to 700ml and limit buyers to two drinks per purchase. They also require designated driver programs at each arena.
The guidelines say fans can be ejected for breaking the rules.
Wally Szczerbiak scored 26 points off the bench, and Kevin Garnett added 20 points, 18 rebounds and six assists to lead the Timberwolves to a 94-88 victory over the Cavaliers on Thursday.
Led by Szczerbiak, the Timberwolves' bench players outscored Cleveland's backups 55-6, which was enough to hold off Cleveland's All-Star tandem of LeBron James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas and give new coach Kevin McHale his second straight win.
James had 26 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, but was helped to the locker room early in the fourth quarter while battling exhaustion from being ill. After getting fluids in the locker room, James returned to the court with just over 4 minutes to play and had to drop to his knees in the huddle during a timeout. Ilgauskas had 24 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.
Mavericks 119, Suns 113
In Phoenix, Michael Finley matched his season high with 33 points and Josh Howard had a career-high 30, helping Dallas rally from a 10-point halftime deficit.
Dirk Nowitzki added 16 points and 16 rebounds to help Dallas complete a four-game road sweep. Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 31 points and 12 rebounds, Quentin Richardson had 22 points.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
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