With Syracuse and Wichita State moving on to the Final Four, the Associated Press has a roundup of notable moments and predictions for the NCAA tournament thus far.
Wichita State Shockers' Carl Hall, Chadrack Lufile, Demetric Williams and Cleanthony Early (r. to l.) celebrate defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes in their West Regional NCAA men's basketball game in Los Angeles, California, Saturday.
Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
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It's our first edition for the regional finals, with Syracuse and Wichita State having secured the first spots in the Final Four. Stops along our tour include: the bracket-busting Shockers, Coach K's ever-present concerns about conference realignment, former Georgia Tech star John Salley's excitement at having the Final Four in Atlanta, a heartwarming tale of sportsmanship and a farewell to tournament darling Florida Gulf Coast.
THE SHOCKING SHOCKERS
Wichita State has gone from a ninth-seeded mid-major aiming to win an?NCAA?game to an unexpected arrival in the Final Four.
Just how unexpected?
According to ESPN, less than 1 percent ? 0.24 percent, to be exact ? of 8.15 million brackets submitted in ESPN's Fantasy Tournament Challenge had the Shockers reaching the national semifinals.
Head over to Yahoo! for its Tourney Pick 'Em contest, and only 32 percent of more than 3.3 million brackets had the Shockers even winning their opener against Pittsburgh, much less beating top seed Gonzaga and No. 2 seed Ohio State on the way to the West Region title.
WICHITA STATE 101
Since Wichita State isn't a household name, here's a quick primer to impress friends with your Missouri Valley Conference knowledge:
The school opened in 1895 as Fairmount College, then became the Municipal University of Wichita in 1926 on the way to becoming a state university in 1964. It has an enrollment of 14,893 students.
The "Shockers" mascot is short for "Wheatshockers" and recalls when students shocked wheat to earn money during the harvest season, according to the school's web site.
While the Shockers reached the Final Four in 1965 and won the College World Series in 1989, the most successful athletic program has been ? surprise! ? bowling. Wichita State has 19 national championships between its men's and women's programs since 1975.
Among the school's biggest sports names: former NFL coach Bill Parcells, a former Shockers football player; former NBA player Xavier "The X-Man" McDaniel; and former big leaguer Joe Carter, who hit the World Series-clinching home run for Toronto in 1993 against Philadelphia.
K, THE ACC AND THE FUTURE
AP Sports Writer Michael Marot reports from Indianapolis that Duke's Mike Krzyzewski is thinking about more than just Sunday's regional final against future Atlantic Coast Conference member Louisville.
"For all these schools that have joined, it makes (the ACC) the most powerful basketball conference, I think ever," Krzyzewski said Saturday of the latest round of conference realignment. "I hope our league is able to understand the assets that we've accumulated and what it does to the assets we already have. I think if positioned properly, it sets us apart from anybody, and we should look at where football is or whatever."
Next year, the league will add Syracuse ? which beat Marquette in a Big East matchup for the East Regional title Saturday ? along with Pittsburgh and Notre Dame. The Cardinals are scheduled to join in 2014 when Maryland bolts for the Big Ten.
Krzyzewski is already urging ACC officials to start contemplating what they need to do to avoid other leagues from poaching ACC schools. He said the best way is to rethink how the ACC does business ? down to developing its own TV network or where it holds its tournament.
"In other words, to take a real close look at our league with the new members and say: Why are we different, why are we better and how can we be the top league?" Krzyzewski said. "If we don't do that, then we're negligent, to be quite frank with you."
CIVIC PRIDE
John Salley says he'll feel like a proud host when the Final Four returns to Atlanta.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/vbjH7rRj2Uo/NCAA-BracketRacket-roundup
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