Discussion

Pearl served his time in Div. II before thriving in Div. I again

Originally Published: March 18, 2008
By Pat Forde | ESPN.com

He rode the bus for nine years.

Two hundred sixty miles to Rensselaer, Ind. Three hundred miles to Quincy, Ill. Three hundred eighty-five miles to Kenosha, Wis.

And that was one way. The trips home were just as long when the games were over. Cornfields, flat land and gray winter skies, forever.

This was Bruce Pearl's purgatory: nearly a decade coaching at the University of Southern Indiana, a Division II outfit in Evansville. A guy who had been a rising ...

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NCAA Tournament 2008

NCAA tournament

Get caught up with all the news, notes, insights and analysis from the 2008 NCAA tournament.
Tournament Index
Brackets: PDF | GIF

Analysis

• Katz: Sneak peek at Sweet 16
• Forde: Dorsey a confusing, entertaining enigma
• Low: Vols figuring out unsteady point-guard play
• Schlabach: Horn, Lee break through at WKU
• Dinich: Davidson proves it is no one-man show
• ATR: UCLA wins, Day 3 recaps
• Katz: Neitzel shoots Spartans into Sweet 16
• Gene Woj: Trent Johnson nearly costs his team
• Miller: Tough to stop Cardinal's Twin Towers
• Griffin: Wisconsin gives vintage performance
• O'Neil: WVU players embrace Huggs' toughness
• ATR: The end to IU's tumultuous season
• Katz: What's on tap for the weekend?
• Forde: Tampa was awesome ... wish I was there
• Schlabach: Still can't believe the 'Tampa Turmoil'
• Schlabach: Siena joins upset party in Tampa
• Schlabach: USD's Grier no long in the shadows
• Schlabach: WKU's Rogers hits 'dream' shot
• Dinich: Curry puts on a show against Gonzaga
• ATR: Arizona's questions, Pitt and MSU roll
• O'Neil: Belmont lets Duke upset slip away
• Griffin: Beasley, Walker team up to down USC
• Gene Woj: Kentucky's roller coaster ends
• O'Neil: Xavier survives Dawgs' upset bid
• Forde: Best case/Worst case scenarios
• Lunardi: Ranking the teams 64-1
• Experts: "Best of" lists for tourney
• Whelliston: Mount St. Mary's honors friend
• Forde: Bruce Pearl's purgatory
• Katz: Officiating has had a rough season
• Gottlieb: Scrutiny on officials higher than ever Insider
• Katz: Mayo, Love exceed freshman expectations
• Rittenberg: Baby Boilers lead Purdue to Dance
• Wojciechowski: Liking Psycho T isn't about race
• Bilas: Grading the committee and talking snubs Insider
• Regions: East | South | West | Midwest
• Forde: Super-sized edition of Forde Minutes
• O'Neil: Serendipitous storylines fill bracket
• Katz: Committee chair talks hot topics
• Wojciechowski: 15 suggestions to improve Dance
• Dinich: UNC's Tobacco Road to San Antonio

News

• Curry says he's returning to Davidson next year
• Ford Field, Reliant raise NCAA tourney to new level
• UCLA's Mbah a Moute to have MRI
• Nova's Drummond done for season
• Vols' Pearl explains decision to start Prince
• Stanford's Johnson not changing after ejection
• UConn: Price tore ACL, likely to miss six months
• Love, Mbah a Moute on mend for UCLA
• Arkansas' Weems hurts knee, expected to play

Video

• Vitale: Rounds 1 & 2 MVP ESPN Video
• Vitale: Round 1 prime-time players ESPN Video
• Gottlieb: Mid-majors make their mark ESPN Video
• Lunardi: Video previews for all 65 ESPN Video
• Breaking down the East region ESPN Video
• Breaking down the West Region ESPN Video
• Breaking down the Midwest region ESPN Video
• Breaking down the South region ESPN Video
• ESPN experts fill out their brackets ESPN Video

Audio

• Podcast: Bilas looks at Thursday's games
• Podcast: Gottlieb makes bracket predictions

Strategies

• Tiernan: "Low-risk" bracket strategy Insider
• Tiernan: "Medium" bracket advice Insider
• Tiernan: "High-risk" bracket strategy Insider
• Tiernan: "Dangerous" bracket advice Insider

Photos

• Day 4 photo gallery
• Day 3 photo gallery
• Day 2 photo gallery
• Day 1 photo gallery

More

• Tournament Challenge | Bracket Master
• Insider tourney guide Insider | BracketCaster

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