Tag: MARCH MADNESS
ATLANTA - It's too bad the Gators won't stay together because they could go down as the most dominant team since the Wizard of Westwood was roaming the sidelines at UCLA.
Obviously, we're not putting Billy Donovan in the same category as John Wooden, but the Florida Gators became the first team to go back-to-back since Coach K's Duke squad did it in 1991-92.
The Dookies knocked off the Fab Five to hang their second straight banner. The Gators did it by getting past the Thad Five.
Greg Oden not only stayed out of foul trouble, but...
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The coronation is supposedly set. Most people down here at the NCAA Final Four expect Florida to waltz to the podium Monday and accept their second straight national championship trophy after they play Ohio State.
But not everybody in this game is ready to wave the white flag.
"They're a good team," Buckeyes' guard Ron Lewis said, refraining from using the word "great" to describe the Gators. "You know people pick them to win the game. People thought we were going to lose last night's game, but we came out on top. It's nothing new to us....
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ATLANTA - When Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley hired a young, brash, even cocky Billy Donovan 11 years ago, many questioned his sanity.
"We wanted to get an up-and-comer," Foley recalled.
With Andy Geiger, it wasn't all that different when he opted to bring in Jim Tressel to direct the Ohio State football program from Division I-AA Youngstown State.
"People were saying that they don't play real football in I-AA," Geiger said. "Not so. He (Tressel) was clearly qualified."
Foley and Geiger are the architects. Heck, they...
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I'm already sick of hearing about the similarities between the Final Four teams.
I get it. Two teams are No. 1 seeds, the other two are No. 2 seeds. All four come from power conferences and, for the first time ever, all four have already won 30 games.
But only one team is going to win the national championship. That means it is time to explore how they differ by considering which is the odd team out in 12 categories.
Doesn't have an imposing center: UCLA.
Ohio State counts on 7-foot freshman phenom Greg Oden, a dominant defensive...
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NEW YORK (AP) - West Virginia has a championship to help lessen the disappointment of missing the NCAA tournament.
Frank Young and the Mountaineers shot past Clemson to their first NIT title in 65 years.
Young scored 24 points, including six 3-pointers, and De'Sean Butler added 20 points to help West Virginia beat Clemson 78-73 in the National Invitation Tournament final Thursday night.
The Mountaineers thought they had a good case to receive an NCAA bid, with a 9-7 mark in the tough Big East and a victory over UCLA. But they didn't...
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Florida coach Billy Donovan is trying his best this week to concentrate on coaching his team to a second consecutive NCAA title in Atlanta.
But those whispers, which originate in Lexington and waft over to Gainesville, can be distracting. Kentucky is looking for a new basketball coach and Donovan, who was a young assistant on Rick Pitino's staff at UK in the early '90s when Pitino was still the Boy Baron of the Blue Grass, seems like a natural choice to Kentucky fans. What better way to wipe out Florida's SEC dynasty than to steal the...
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Al Horford flexed his biceps and offered an imposing stare as he posed for television cameras.
Florida's most physical player had reason to show off a little bit.
Horford had 17 points and nine rebounds and helped the defending national champions withstand a game effort by plucky Purdue in a 74-67 victory Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
"I guess they felt like they were going to make Al score one on one," teammate Corey Brewer said. "They made a bad decision."
Ninth-seeded Purdue played just...
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Their top scorer was in the locker room getting X-rays. The lead they'd been nursing was down to two points. And the other team's star player was finally rolling.
If the Memphis Tigers were going to crack, this was the time - especially because they were facing a formidable opponent for the first time since before Christmas.
John Calipari's bunch didn't budge. Not by a single point.
A deep, versatile Memphis club pulled together and shut out Nick Fazekas and Nevada over the final 6:17 Sunday, carrying the Tigers to...
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CHICAGO (AP) - Seeing "Kentucky" on the opponent's jerseys was motivation enough for Brandon Rush.
Knowing Michael Jordan was watching made it a day to remember.
Rush was a career-best 6-of-7 from long range Sunday, including 4-for-4 in the second half as top-seeded Kansas romped past Kentucky 88-76 in an NCAA tournament matchup of two of the game's most storied programs.
Rush finished with 19 points, and Chicago native Julian Wright scored 15 of his 21 in the second half. The Jayhawks shot a blistering 64 percent in the final 20...
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