SIXTEEN GAMES: FUN FIRST ROUND FACTS

12PM GAMES

Temple vs. Michigan State (South Regional)
When Temple was recruiting Sergio Olmos, there were language barrier issues with the Spainard. Finally, they got him to say "I play inside" with regard to a description of his balling. "Like Dirk or Shaq?" one assistant inquired. "Like Shaq," said Olmos. Blasphemous, but he is 7-0. Meanwhile, Tom Izzo definitely has a sense of humor . And while we're talking coaches and these 2 schools, how can you forget this ?

Georgia vs. Xavier (West Regional)
Petside.Com named Georgia's UGA VI as the best mascot in this year's Dance (Mississippi State's was 2, and Kansas State's was 3). While the Musketeer mascot didn't crack the top 3, Xavier's 94 percent graduation rate for athletes is No. 3 in the entire country, behind Duke and Stanford.

Portland State vs. Kansas (Midwest Regional)
Carolyn Davidson, who invented the NIKE Swoosh while a design student at Portland State in 1971, says that Phil Knight's first reaction to it was, "I don't love it, but it'll grow on me." [Ed's note: Ya never hear that in meetings around here!] Meanwhile, big Double-Zero for Kansas, Darrell Arthur, is actually the first person to wear "00" for the Jayhawks since Greg Ostertag.

2PM GAMES

Kentucky vs. Marquette (South Regional)
A rematch of a 2003 Regional Final, perhaps best known as the "Dwyane Wade Game." His triple double propelled the Golden Eagles into the Final Four; to a lesser extent, it's known as the "Jambalaya" game, for Bill Raftery's enthusiasm over a question about Wade's fondness for Cajun cooking. As for Marquette, their fight song is "Ring Out Ahoya," the origin of which comes from sailors screaming "AHOYA!" as they passed Georgetown University on the Potomac River. Odd but true.

Baylor vs. Purdue (West Regional)
When Robbie Hummel was being recruited, he used to compare the volume of his text messages from coaches to fellow HS baller Eric Gordon. Gordon averaged 80 a day; Hummel roped in 4. (Now, Hummel's a six seed, Gordon's a 8). Meanwhile, Aaron Bruce, potentially Baylor's best player, completely severed two tendons in his shooting hand when he was nine and replaced them with a tendon from his ankle. [Ed's note: Frankenbruce!]

Kent State vs. UNLV (Midwest Regional)
Kent State's student radio station? "Black Squirrel Radio." It has over 100 student DJs and may be the most comprehensive college radio station in America. Meanwhile, looking for a cool place to watch UNLV? Check out The Freakin' Frog , which has (according to them) both the "largest beer selection in the West" and "the largest whisky selection in the country." Bold claims, indeed.

Oral Roberts vs. Pittsburgh (South Regional)
Ned Flanders is listed as a graduate of Oral Roberts University. Pittsburgh's best counter? Ron Paul!

THE RANDOM 5PM GAME

Cornell vs. Stanford (South Regional)
Looking for a sweet upset? Stanford almost lost to Yale back on November 20th (the game was tight throughout). Cornell, on the other hand, beat Yale by an average of 19.5 points each time they rumbled this season. Hey, common opponents is all we're saying...

THE 7:15PM GAMES

Kansas State vs. USC (Midwest Regional)
Forget Mayo vs. Beasley (it's all about Mayo vs. Walker anyway). The real point of interest here? If USC wins, what's getting played on the locker room flat screen? Davon Jefferson and Mayo list He Got Game as their favorite movie; Ryan Wetherell says it's Wedding Crashers. Daaaay-um! Meanwhile, forget Beasley. The coolest person on K-State? Denis Clemente. His cousin is Roberto!

Belmont vs. Duke (West Regional)
Belmont's got bigger fish to fry: they're hosting a Presidential debate on October 8th. Duke? What else can we say but this ?

Winthrop vs. Washington State (East Regional)
As a 15 seed two years ago, Winthrop took Tennessee down to the wire , so don't count 'em out. As for WSU, the best thing about them is their coach's name (Tony Bennett), the second best is that one of their players gave up his scholarship for another , and the third? Their roster. It contains players from five countries!

Texas A&M vs. BYU (West Regional)
A battle of two schools with some of the coolest on-campus arenas in the game. The Marriott Center (BYU) is home to the nation's longest home winning streak (and where Cody Judy threatened Howard Hunter with a bomb ), and Reed Arena has freakin' parquet!

THE 9:30PM GAMES

Cal State-Fullerton vs. Wisconsin (Midwest Regional)
CSUF's mascot is an elephant, Tuffy the Titan. Why? In 1962, the school hosted "The First Intercollegiate Elephant Race in Human History." (The AP listed it among the Top 10 news stories of that year) Over at Wisco, they got no elephants, but Marcus Landry has some cool glasses , and he's an even cooler human being .

George Mason vs. Notre Dame (East Regional)
George Mason's mascot is an ornery fellow . Meanwhile, this is Luke Harangody's favorite YouTube clip.

Mississippi Valley State vs. UCLA (West Regional)
MVSU—Jerry Rice went there!—is on its third name in 58 years of existence. Over at UCLA, Ben Howland is a hell of a recruiter, but not in the way you'd think. On this team he's got the nephew of the Beach Boys lead singer (Kevin Love), the son of two Olympic track athletes (Darren Collison) and an African prince (Luc Richard Mbah A Moute). Wow.

Arizona vs. West Virginia (West Regional)
Chase Budinger did a feature for the student newspaper when he first arrived in Tucson . A gem from within: "(The girls) are pretty nice, but it's tough because they're all doing the sorority things right now. They've been pretty busy, so it's hard to talk to them." If Darris Nichols is looking for a strong pickup line, he could always drop the whole "I hit a game winner... In the NIT" bit. Huggins' pick-up lines? We shudder to think.

Tomorrow: The Friday Games

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