Good article on the "Drakes", a collection of rebels who seek to reform college sports from the ground up.

After a boring first round, a rouser of a second. For the second time since 1985, two number one seeds get bounced early, in both cases failing to hold late leads and coming up short on buzzer-beating shots. Not surprisingly, the West is all but out of it; no one who saw Gonzaga or Stanford play in the last few weeks of the season could have been surprised by their tepid efforts Saturday. More shocking was the elimination of two SEC powers today. Mississippi State was everyone's favorite darkhorse, but came up well short against red-hot Xavier, while Kentucky, the consensus favorite, was stunned after coming from fifteen down in the first half to take a four-point lead with less than two minutes to play, falling to UAB. And for the second time in two weeks, NC State blows a big lead, this time failing to hold an 11-point lead with three minutes to play in falling to Vandy.

Final poll of the season is out, with Stanford reclaiming the No. 1 ranking, followed by Kentucky and Gonzaga. Utah State is 22nd in the coaches' poll, 25th in the writers', making the Aggies the first ranked team to be eligible for the tournament but not receive a bid since UNLV in 1993.

Games are completed; just the suspense left. Did U-Dub do enough to overcome a slow start and a bad RPI? Will UTEP get a bid as a second WAC school in spite of a soft schedule (and a good RPI)? Will the Big-10 get four invites? Did Duke lose its one-seed? Or did Gonzaga sneak into that slot? Is Air Force going to get it's first ever taste, or are the Falcons one school too many from the Mountain West? Answers in ten minutes....

Three hours away from the tournament selection. Most recent RPI figures here.

Some editorials just seem to get spit out automatically; it's too bad this one came a week early, or I might have to take it seriously. [link via What Would Dick Think?]

The first two participants in the NCAA Tournament have been named. East Tennessee State (a probable 14 seed) will attempt to play giant-killer again after winning its second straight Southern Conference championship. Liberty, the school run by Rev. Falwell, will get to experience the exotic pleasures of Dayton, Ohio due to its easy blow-out win over High Point (high point of what?) in the Big South Finals.