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8B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 31, 2003
MickiganDaily.com/Pizza House Challenge
NCAA MEN 'S BAS REThALL TOURNAMIE NT
First Round
March 20-21
Second Round
March 22-23
Regionals
March 27, 29
Regionals.
March 28, 30
Second Round
March 22-23
First Round
March 20-21
1 Kentucky
1 Kentucky
16 IUPUI
1 Kentucky ...::..:.:
8 Oregons
9 Uta9 Utah
5 WisconsWn
12 Weber State
5 Wisconsin t
4 Dayton
13 Tulsa u Midwe
1 Kentuk
Texas 1
Soutt
Texas
Texas 1
Purdue
Connecticut
Connecticut 5
Ah Stanford
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Texas 1
TX So./UNC- Ash. 16
Louisana State 8
Purdue 9
Connecticut 5
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st
3 Marquette
6 Missouri \inneapo
6 Missouri
11 Southern Illinois a
3 Marquette
3 Marquette
14 Holy Crass
7 Indiana
7 Indiana
10 Alabama
2 Pittsburgh
2 Pittsburgh- - ~~-
2 Pittsburgh
15 Wagner
1 Arronan
1 Arizona
16 Vermont
8 Cincinnati 1 Arizona
91Gonzaga j.
5 Notre Dame
as, Mlinn.
Texas 1
San.Antonio,'Te as
3 Marquette
Mich. State 7
Maryland
Maryland 6
Xavier
Michigan State
Michigan State 7
Florida
5
BrI ham Youn 12
Stanford 4
San Diego 13
Maryland 6
6
UNC- Wilmingtoni11
Xavier 3
Troy .State 14
Michigan State 7
Colorado 10
Florida 2
Sam Houston 15
Oklahoma 1
Ne9w 4~ef
1A
12 Wisc.-Milwaukee
4 Illinois
1 3 West. Kentucky
6 Creighton
11 Central Michigan
3 Duke
14 Colorado State
7 Memphis
10 Arizona State
2 Kansas
15 Utah State
5 Notre Dame
I5 Notre Dame
West
Anafeim, Caif
11 Central Michigan
3 Duke
3 Duke
21
2 A naSat
<2Kansas
2 Kansas
rizon a
Kansas
Oklahoma 1
East
Oklahoma 1
South Carolina St 16
Oklahoma 1Ma=
California 8
California &-i
~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ North Carolina St. 9
11.,Mississi i State
b u tle r .. ..._:........:...:.1 . .....
Butler 12
Butler 12
Louisville 4
Lo ivil
2 Kansas
Ausiin Peav 13
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Syracuse 3
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S racuse 3
Oklahoma State 6
Syracuse 3,
Syracuse 3
Auburn 10
Auburn 10
Wake Forest 2
Oklahoma State 6
Pennsylvania 11
Syracuse 3
Manhattan 14
St. Jose 's 7
Auburn 10
Wake Forest 2
E. Tennessee St. 15
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,, . , I
/ V
Ann Arbor:
'Should have been a Spartan
Who are we gonna
beat? The Widas
J. BRADY MCCOLLOUGH
All About the Cause
T o ssteal a phrase from the pop-
ular t-shirt campaign, Ann
Arbor really is a whore some-
times. Friday night at Scorekeepers,
there were countless University stu-
dents and Ann Arbor residents
valiantly cheering for Michigan
State in its NCAA Sweet 16 battle
with Maryland, and it made me
absolutely sick to my stomach.
When Maryland point guard Steve
Blake missed his last-second 3-point
attempt to tie the game, the bar
erupted with elation. The rest of the
night saw many students drinking in
celebration, not drinking off their
sorrow.
This is inexcusable for any Michi-
gan man or woman. Can you imag-
ine a bar in East Lansing filled with
people in their Michigan No. 4 C-
Webb jerseys, throwing down brews
in support of the Wolverines? If you
can, you don't have an accurate view
of the average Sparty, because they
would never put their voices behind
Michigan basketball.
A rather plastered friend of mine
asked one of the many Sparty sup-
porters what in the world he was
doing Friday, and this Michigan stu-
dent replied, "We suck."
Yes, that's we, as in the Michigan
basketball team. The same team that
beat the Spartans just two months
ago and revived Wolverine hoops
when no one thought there were any
signs of life in Crisler Arena.
Sure, our Wolverines were not
able to put their tremendous season
to the test in the NCAA Tournament,
but that should not be an open invi-
tation for the entire city to adopt
Michigan State as its tourney flavor
of choice.
The argument of these traitors is
simple: Big Ten schools must sup-
port other Big Ten schools. By the
Big Ten doing well, it makes Michi-
gan look better.
But this guy's assenine comment
further proves my point. If a Michi-
gan student is still under the impres-
sion that the Wolverines "suck" and
aren't worth more support than Tom
Izzo's clowns, then how could the
rest of the country gain more respect
for Michigan by Michigan State
making a run in the tournament?!
It does look good for the Big Ten,
but it in no way does it help the way
Michigan is perceived nationally. In
fact, it further erases what the
Wolverines did this season from
people's minds.
Michigan lost the official title of
best team in the state when Central
Michigan beat it like a drum at
Crisler, but the real test was won by
the Wolverines, 60-58, on Jan. 27
against the Spartans. Aside from the
loyal few, that win didn't sink in.
Izzo's boys are still the class of the
state and the Big Ten, and that
should never be something that any
Michigan student wishes for.
When your arch-rival wins, it
should pierce you. That feeling of
enmity is what major college sports
are built on. The same thing con-
fronted all of us when we had to
watch Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes
sing "Carmen Ohio" on the Sun
Devil Stadium field after their stun-
ning victory over Miami (Fla.) for
football's national crown.
Now, any person who considers
him or herself a "Michigan man or
woman" should never cheer for
Buckeye happiness, regardless of
whether we share the same confer-
ence. The only good thing about
Ohio State winning that title for
Michigan fans is the extra urgency it
will provide the Wolverines next sea-
son to try and do the same. How
could anyone be happy for those
damn Buckeyes?
I can tell you for sure that Colum-
bus was not cheering Michigan
onward in 1997 when the Wolverines
captured the national title.
Many of my own friends and
roommates are traitors as well. It's a
problem that this whole campus is
facing. One friend feels that "it is
better for our rivals to do well
because if we beat them, it will be
more fun."
Last time I heard, beating your
rival is always the most enjoyable
feeling you can have. Contributing
to the demise of Ohio State's foot-
ball program by knocking it off in
2000 at the Horseshoe was the best
feeling. Kicking a rival while it's
down - see Michigan State football
this season - is what it's all about.
In my three years at this school, I've
seen John Cooper and Bobby
Williams fired right after embarrass-
ing losses to Michigan. I've also
watched Ohio State celebrate on the
field at the Big House and Michigan
State students rub it in my face in
the Sparty student section after their
last-second 26-24 miracle win in
2001.
While the rivalry may have
"improved" by those gut-wrenching
defeats, that should be the last thing
on anyone's mind.
The problem is that many Michi-
gan fans seem to enjoy the idea that
they are "above" all of this petty ,
competition with their arch-rivals._
To put it bluntly, that is why
Michigan fans are disrespected by
the rest of the Big Ten for being apa-
thetic. That is why the largest foot-
ball stadium in the country with
110,000 seats usually sounds like a
50,000-seat stadium.
It's why Purdue's "Gene Pool"
basketball student section, com-
prised of about 200 members, can
come into Crisler and make more
noise than 13,000 Michigan support-
ers.
Everyone will read this column
and laugh it off. How immature of
him to say these things. And that's
fine. I would expect nothing less.
In fact, there are riots going on in
East Lansing as we speak! Just
throw on that Mateen Cleaves jersey,
make the one-hour drive North and
keep living vicariously through your
rivals.
And to think I always wondered
why "Ann Arbor's a whore?"
J. Brady McCollough can be reached
at bradymcc@umich.edu.
The dust is starting to settle and,
like closing time at Scorekeepers on
a Thursday, only the diehards'and
drunks are left on the dance floor.
But not all of the Kentucky and
Arizona fans were
accepting of their
fate and refused to
take their courteous
bow out. Instead,
they opted to whim-
per and pout in dis-
belief, like a Yankee
fan crying that hisW
almighty team lost
to the underdog
Angels.
But worse than the Yankees, the
Wildcats were put into a world of
pain by Marquette, which used its
"Holy Mackerel" slogan much like
the rally monkey to carry it to the
Final Four.
Entering the NCAA Tournament
on a 23-game winning streak and
No. 1 in the nation, dreams of a
championship were dancing in the
heads of Lexingtonians like sugar
plum fairies in the mind of a child
on Christmas Eve.
But soon into the first half, those
plum fairies turned into hippos per-
forming Swan Lake. Kentucky's
leading scorer Keith Bogans suf-
fered an ankle sprain against Duke
on Friday night and was only half
strength for the Elite Eight. Not
even Bilbo Baggins could have
helped Kentucky dig out of their
double-digit hole or find an answer
for Dwyane Wade or his first career
triple-double.
Out in the West Regional, the
Jayhawks were doing the dirty bird
over Lute Olson and Arizona. The
Wildcats came into the season with
more talent than the Cleveland Cav-
aliers and join Kentucky as overly
talented Wildcats who went home
on Saturday with their tail in-
between their legs.
Kansas will be making a second
straight appearance in the Final
Four and the fourth for coach Roy
Williams.
A
Ms>
With an .807 win-
ning percentage,
Williams has the
highest career win-
ning percentage
among active coach-
es. Unfortunately, his
Jayhawks are no
more destined to win
the championship
than the Detroit
Tigers are to win 50
U
Special rebate offer:
games this year.
In the meantime, "students" out
at Michigan State are dancing
around burning couches in a riot
that can only be matched by their
first 16 basketball riots. At this
point, riots after NCAA basketball
games occur about as frequently in
East Lansing as anti-war rallies in
Ann Arbor.
One would think that by this
point the East Lansing Police
Department would have the riot
drill down better than the Spartans
do the weave and be able to quell
the riot before it starts, but one can
only conclude that incompetence is
contagious.
All this despite the fact that
Michigan State overachieved by
reaching the Elite Eight as a No. 7
seed and only managed to muster
10 wins in Big Ten play.
Meanwhile, if there is a reason
that Oklahoma looked completely
out of its element, it is because they
were. Playing Syracuse in front of a
sea of orange, the Sooners played
catch-up the entire game.
And so now, with a crowd of 65
paired down to four as quickly as an
episode of "Joe Millionaire," we
embark to find out just who is the
best team in college basketball.
There are the Orangemen, led by
Carmello Anthony, who is so money
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