Hoop-dee-doo

By TOM JONES
Published March 15, 2007

Today begins what many believe is the three best weeks in sports. March Madness is upon us. With that in mind, we celebrate the NCAA Tournament with a look back, a look forward and a look sideways.

Five fearless first-round upset predictions

1 No. 12 Old Dominion over No. 5 Butler.

2 No. 9 Villanova over No. 8 Kentucky.

3 No. 11 VCU over No. 6 Duke.

4 No. 10 Gonzaga over No. 7 Indiana.

5 No. 10 Texas Tech over No. 7 Boston College.

The Schwab Five

ESPN producer and researcher Howie Schwab, who stars on his own trivia show Stump the Schwab, is a college basketball fanatic. He gives us his five best college teams ever.

1 1976 Indiana. "No doubt in my mind they were the best team. They had no stars, which shows how good of a team they were," Schwab said of the 32-0 team.

2 Lew Alcindor's UCLA. The Bruins, led by three-time tournament MVP Lew Alcindor (later, he became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), went 88-2 over three seasons, winning the national title in 1967, 1968 and 1969. "Any of them would be second on my list," Schwab said.

3 1973 UCLA. "Bill Walton's UCLA had a couple of real good teams, but I'll take the '73 team because of his incredible performance in the finals." Walton made 21 of 22 shots for 44 points in what is considered the greatest performance in Final Four history in an 87-66 victory against Memphis State.

4 Bill Russell's San Francisco. Russell's Dons won 55 straight games at one point and won back-to-back titles in 1955 and 1956.

5 1984 Georgetown. "Full of big-time stars, guys who played in the NBA." Team was led by the great Patrick Ewing.

Three matchups we wouldn't mind seeing

1 Football's national championship could be repeated with a Florida-Ohio State meeting in the final.

2 UCLA coach Ben Howland could face his old Pitt team in the West Region semifinals.

3 Texas Tech coach Bob Knight could face his old Indiana team, but it's unlikely. Both teams would have to get to the championship game.

Six things you never knew about six schools you never heard of

Creighton: Omaha, Neb. Alumni of this Jesuit school include Michael P. Anderson, an astronaut killed aboard space shuttle Columbia, and Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson.

Belmont: Nashville. Most famous alum might be Melinda Doolittle, a current contestant on American Idol. Also, boasts Vince Gill and Amy Grant as season ticket-holders.

Weber State: Ogden, Utah. Notable graduates include Black & Decker CEO Nolan D. Archibald, T-Mobile CEO Robert Dotson and Ben Howland, the basketball coach at UCLA.

Wright State: Dayton, Ohio. Nicole Scherzinger, lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, was an acting major at the school but never graduated.

Winthrop: Rock Hill, S.C. Actress Andie MacDowell attended for one year but dropped out to sign with Elite Model Management. Wasn't an NCAA school in basketball until 1985-86.

Davidson: Davidson, N.C. President Woodrow Wilson started his higher education at the school before moving on to Princeton.

Four famous Final Four picks

Neil Patrick Harris (actor): Florida, UCLA, North Carolina, Ohio State. Champ: UCLA.

Lauren Holly (actress): Florida, Kansas, Georgetown, Ohio State. Champ: Florida.

Hannah Storm (CBS News): Florida, Kansas, Georgetown, Texas A&M. Champ: Kansas.

Dick Vitale (ESPN): Florida, UCLA, North Carolina, Ohio State. Champ: North Carolina.

Source: CBSportsline.com, ESPN.com.

Five players you don't know, but should

Jamar Wilson, Albany. Two-time America East player of the year led the conference in points (18.6) and was second in assists (4.9).

Trey Johnson, Jackson State. Florida will have a tough time shutting down the nation's second-leading scorer (27.1 per game).

Stephen Curry, Davidson. The 6-foot freshman, son of former NBA player Del Curry, averages 21 points and a surprising 4.6 rebounds.

Torey Thomas, Holy Cross. The 5-11 guard had 92 steals in 33 games.

Craig Bradshaw, Winthrop. The 6-10 center from New Zealand has double-figure scoring in 14 of the past 16 games.

Three things we love about the tournament

1 Some school you didn't even know had a basketball team has a good chance of being your new favorite team within two weeks. (Think 1979 Indiana State, 2006 George Mason, Gonzaga any year.)

2 The champion is decided on the court, not by pollsters.

3 It's the one time you can watch TV at work and not get in trouble because your boss is watching, too.

Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes

Sasha Kaun, Jr. center, Kansas: Can't get the Chaka Khan song out of your head when you hear the name. Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan, let me rock you Chaka Khan.

Monty St. Clair, Sr. center, Miami (Ohio): Sounds like he should be playing polo instead of muscling underneath for a rebound.

Nate Funk, Sr. guard, Creighton: The Bluejays will be bringin' the Funk.

Trey Johnson, Sr. guard, Jackson St.: Aptly named, Johnson is the Tigers' best 3-point shooter (33.3 percent).

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Soph. forward, UCLA: The announcer for the Bruins' first-round game is studying hard for this one.

All-name team

Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes, Jr. guard, Gonzaga: Can't wait to see how that looks on the back of his jersey.

Our five favorite first-round upsets in NCAA Tournament history

1 In the final year (1996) of the legendary career of Princeton coach Pete Carril, the No. 13-seeded Tigers upset tournament darlings and fourth-seeded UCLA 43-41.

2 Cleveland State, a 14th seed, beats Bob Knight's third-seeded Indiana 83-79 in 1986.

3 Led by a 70-foot buzzer-beater at the end of the first half, No. 14 seed Austin Peay upsets third-seeded Illinois 68-67 in 1987.

4 The first No. 15 seed wins a game when Richmond knocks off second-seeded Syracuse 73-69 in 1991.

5 Arizona, a No. 2 seed in 1993, falls behind but rallies by going on an incredible 25-0 run. Still, No. 15 Santa Clara pulls off the 64-61 upset.

[Last modified March 14, 2007, 23:03:56]