NCAA Tournament

The NCAA Tournament field is announced. The brackets are being feverishly assembled by fans in hopes of choosing the correct winners. The assembled body, including NCAA officials and current athletic directors from a myriad of schools, coordinate the field of 65. Throughout the test of time, questions have risen over who should be in and who should be out. Those questions will never cease. From my vantage point, only a few schools have a complaint in Arizona State, Massachusetts and Dayton. The committee did a credible job and should be commended over the selections this year.

Absent from the list of invitees are the Ole Miss Rebels. Andy Kennedy’s squad bewildered the nation with an unprecedented 13-0 start, only to falter late in the year. One coach can be thanked in aiding the removal of the Rebels from the hunt; Jeff Lebo of Auburn. The Tigers defeated the Rebels twice this season and were ultimately the Rebels undoing. Auburn only added two more wins in the conference to their record and exited the SEC Tournament in the first round. The Rebels were invited to the NIT and will host UC-Santa Barbara tonight at 7 p.m. The Gauchos are 23-8 and representing the Big West conference.

Envision this if you will. Rick Stansbury, head coach at Mississippi State, standing with his family. Nearby, Memphis head coach John Calipari is leaning against his plush Jaguar asking, “Hey Ricky, finally some competition.” The Tigers won all of its games in Conference USA, most with ease. To say this would be David vs. Goliath would be an understatement. Stansbury comes to the office and prepares. Calipari, well, let’s just say he has his own way of doing things. Many would put it, he’s from a different deck of cards. A special deck if you ask me.

If the stars align correctly, a Memphis and MSU showdown is forthcoming. The Tigers, a perennial power and previous #1 team in the land, should have no trouble with Texas-Arlington in the opening round on Friday. Oregon could prove to be quite the nemesis for the Dogs. The representative of the Pac-10 Conference are happily playing a team outside of their league, a conference named by many of the talking heads as the most difficult of the remainder of the major conferences. A match up between the neighborly schools would be one for the ages in the second round. The Tigers have shown a propensity to struggle from the foul line and guard post players. I can’t think of a better tandem of Charles Rhodes and Jarvis Varnado. If the stars align and Little Rock, AR become Starkville reincarnated, Stansbury will happily cruise into the Sweet Sixteen behind a victory over Memphis with win in tow. Did I mention if?