The Morning Dish – Friday, March 1st, 2002
by Andrew Flynn
Welcome to the first of many Morning Dishes! This column will keep you informed of what happened last night, what’s happening today, and maybe even a heads-up on tomorrow as well. We’ll be here all through Championship Week, as well as throughout the Tournaments. That’s right. Hoopville is providing coverage for not only the Men’s NCAA Tournament, but the Women’s NCAA’s plus the NIT with our talented (and travel weary) staff. Throughout, we’ll be posting dispatches from the games and keep you updated on the big picture. So without further ado, let’s get to it!
Talk about surface tension. This characteristic of fluids is especially relevant when it comes to the NCAA Tournament bubble, and last night Virginia fortified their position. After several late runs, including the decisive 17-0 momentum swinger, Virginia topped No. 3 Duke 87-84. Caution, theme approaching: This gave Maryland the outright ACC Championship for the first time in 22 years.
Coach K praised the Cavs, who had fallen out of the Top 25 by dropping 7 of 9, saying, “Don’t try to lump them with some other teams. They aren’t lumpable.” Yes, but are they bracket-worthy?
Side Dishes:
Qwack-pot: No. 13 Oregon clinches at least a tie for their first-ever Pac-10 title (in 57 years of Pac-8/10 play in a 67-65 win over No. 19 USC. This, of course, is on the heels of their football Pac-10 title this past season. The clincher comes at Pauly Pavillion against UCLA Saturday.
Badgers of Honor: Wisconsin concluded its unlikely road to glory by strapping Michigan by 20 last night, to clinch a tie for the Big Ten title. Full props to first-year coach Bo Ryan, who brought the trophy to Madison for the first time in 55 years. Interestingly, Wisconsin and Oregon hooked up on the gridiron back on September 1st, and now they’ve toppled a combined 112-year drought. Nice.
Trees in the Desert: No. 19 Stanford toppled No. 14 Arizona in Tucson last night, 76-71, to help shore up the Cardinal’s position for the Pac-10 Tournament. Stanford is now tied with UCLA for fifth in the conference. Speaking of deserts, the Arizona D-Backs were in attendance, flashing World Series hardware to the Spring Training locals.
Ease his Pain: Near-legendary and stand-up guy Nolan Richardson met with University of Arkansas officials yesterday over the week-long flap regarding racially-sensitive remarks uttered by Richardson in an interview last weekend. The University is considering buying out the last six years of the coach’s contract (at $1 mil per). Richardson has been at Arkansas for 17 years, and has led the team to three Final Fours, cutting down the nets in 1994.
Tonight’s Menu:
• We’ve got Harvard-Yale, which would be interesting in football, but Yale needs a win (and a Princeton loss) to keep their travel plans open in March.
• There’s the Atlantic Sun Tournament Semifinals,
• The Big South Tournament Semifinals,
• The Metro Atlantic Championship First Round,
• The Ohio Valley Semifinals,
• The Southern Conference Quarterfinals,
• The Sun Belt First Round,
• And the Horizon gets things going with a play-in game.
Needless to say, you shouldn’t be hurting for College Hoops action until April 2nd.
