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March Blogness
Published: 3/14/2007 9:47 PM
Last Modified: 3/14/2007 9:47 PM

Welcome to the NCAA Tournament bracket, which is populated, sort of, by two Titos, a Primanti Brothers sandwich and an ampersand.
Following are first-round observations:
Florida vs. Jackson State: Florida post player Al Horford has a father named Tito. The Jackson Five (no relation to Jackson State) once had a member named Tito. Is this a basketball game or six degrees of separation?
Arizona vs. Purdue: Be wary of Arizona in years when not much is expected.
Butler vs. Old Dominion: If the ODU folks had a benefactor like Boone Pickens, perhaps they could build a New Dominion.
Maryland vs. Davidson: Mary? David? Thrown in a Goliath and you’ve got a battle of Biblical proportions.
Notre Dame vs. Winthrop: Can’t spell Winthrop without w-i-n. On Bizarro World, perhaps there is a college named Losethrop.
Oregon vs. Miami, Ohio: Any doubt who rabid OU football fans will cheer for in this game?
UNLV vs. Georgia Tech: A Yellow Jacket at Georgia Tech is a student-athlete. A Yellow Jacket in Las Vegas means you are an usher at the Danny Gans show.
Wisconsin vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi: No joke. TAMCC is the only school in Division I blessed with both a hyphen and an ampersand. Neither will prove to be of any value against a Final Four-bound Wisconsin squad.
Kansas vs. Niagara: Newspaper editors in Kansas are already preparing a “Niagara Falls” headline.
Kentucky vs. Villanova: A victory by Tubby Smith would mean ex-TU coach vs. ex-TU coach (Bill Self) match-up in the second round.
Virginia Tech vs. Illinois: I swore before the brackets were unveiled that Virginia Tech was going to be a darkhorse pick to reach the Final Four, but chickened out when I saw the likes of KU, Pitt and UCLA in the same neighborhood.
Southern Illinois vs. Holy Cross: Who says the NCAA doesn’t have an ornery streak. SIU gets to play big brother Illinois if both win first-round games. And if Illinois and Kansas both advance to the Sweet Sixteen, Illinois will square off against former coach Self.
Duke vs. VCU: Last time Duke was this bad, Coach K had the good sense to come down with back pain and take a sabbatical.
Pitt vs. Wright State: There is a place in Pittsburgh called Primanti Brothers where they make great sandwiches with meat, cole slaw and fries all between the buns. It’s just different enough to be interesting, sort of like this game.
Indiana vs. Gonzaga: Will the Zags’ season end in a mushroom cloud? Google “Gonzaga” and “mushrooms” to get the backstory.
UCLA vs. Weber State: This is the 13th anniversary of UCLA’s first-round “Where’s Tulsa?” defeat.
North Carolina vs. Eastern Kentucky: I meant to send a letter of congratulations to Roy Williams, Steve Robinson and Joe Holladay after the Tar Heels won their last championship. I’ll send two letters when they win it again this year.
Marquette vs. Michigan State: KOTV’s Mike Wolfe bears a strong resemblance to Mike Izzo.
Southern Cal vs. Arkansas: This was a bad football game. Hopefully it will be a better basketball game.
Texas vs. New Mexico State: Imagine how good Kevin Durant will be once he gets some meat on his bones. The kid doubles in girth when he puts his jersey on.
Vanderbilt vs. George Washington: In a good karma move for Oral Roberts, GW takes down the higher-seeded Vanderbilt squad.
Washington State vs. Oral Roberts: Destiny. Golden Eagles will make the Sweet Sixteen.
Boston College vs. Texas Tech: Despite Tech’s reputation for being fundamentally sound, this Red Raider squad is among the Big 12’s worst in regard to defense. One and done.
Georgetown vs. Belmont: I’m trying to be politically correct here, but Belmont might be the most caucasian team on the planet. I give the Bruins no chance.
Ohio State vs. Central Connecticut: Greg Oden, who looks 45, and Danny Almonte must have had their birth certificates prepared at the same place.
BYU vs. Xavier: Did you know the 9 seed actually beats the 8 seed more often than vice versa? Xavier is the 9 seed here.
Tennessee vs. Long Beach State: Considering that OSU-Tennessee basketball games have had nasty overtones the last two seasons, you can bet the Cowboys will be pulling for Long Beach – especially Marcus Dove, who was injured against Tennessee during the 2005-06 season and was born in Long Beach.
Virginia vs. Albany: There’s a shocking first-round upset every year. This is it.
Louisville vs. Stanford: Stanford is 18-12. That’s the universal symbol for NIT.
Texas A&M vs. Penn: The Aggies are going to the Final Four. And Billy Gillispie will parlay the trip into his dream job of coaching the Dallas Cowboys. Really, he’s not rational when it comes to the Cowboys. He thinks they are going to win the Super Bowl every year.
Nevada vs. Creighton: When was the last time UNLV and Nevada were in the NCAA Tournament the same year? Both will make it to the second round.
Memphis vs. North Texas: Memphis can name the score.




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Tulsa World sports writer Jimmie Tramel is a former class president at Locust Grove High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University with a journalism degree and, while attending college, was sports editor of the Pryor Daily Times. He joined the Tulsa World on Oct. 17, 1989, the same day an earthquake struck the World Series. He is the OSU basketball beat writer and a columnist and feature writer during football season. In 2007, he wrote a book about Oklahoma State football with former Cowboy coach Pat Jones.

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