I guess there aren't all that many hoop fans out there in carpet-cleaning-dom. Well, Harvard is out. They made an impressive late game comeback run against Vanderbilt, but you can't let yourselves get behind by 18 points against a team that beat Kentucky and expect to win the game. Vermont is still in, having won the play-in game vs. Lamar - which is coached, by the way, by Bobby Knight's son Pat. So I guess Vermont becomes my New England favorite. But a team I've really enjoyed watching this year is St. Mary's of California. Theirs is a team of kids mostly imported from Australia, and they are really scrappy and fun to watch.
This is what John Calipari came very close to accomplishing when he was at the University of Massachusetts. He got UMASS to the Final Four in 1996, but not to the championship game. However, his UMASS AND his Univ. of Memphis Final Four appearances have both been vacated (officially, they never happened) due to various violations of NCAA regs, in the area of recruits getting cash, and players not meeting university grade requirements. So maybe the folks at Lexington should wait just a bit before putting that trophy on display in the trophy case, just in case even more of Coach Cal's skeletons begin to emerge from the closet.