The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 15, 2000, Page B2, Image 12
Gamecock Sports
Want to win your office pool? Listen to this
I
David
Clonincer
Who Else?
Let the madness begin.
At long last, the NCAA has announced the 64
team field for the 2000 NCAA Tournament, start
ing tomorrow and sending scores of office poolers
(myself included) into fits of ecstasy.
Although the Gamecocks just missed the Big
Dance, fans were treated to a taste of what’s to
come next year as our boys played like John Wbod
en’s fabled UCLA teams of the 1970s for three
days in Atlanta. Despite their Herculean efforts,
they were upended by Cliff the Stiff Ellis’ Auburn
Tigers and their star guard, Scott Pohlman. (Has'
anyone else noticed how Pohlman looks as if he
has just gotten over a hookworm treatment?)
Anyway, without further ado, here are the best
picks for the upcoming tournament. If you can’t
trust me, who can you trust?
Duke - The Devils are loaded with talent, poise
and enough heart from junior forward Shane Bat
tier to knock off anyone in their path. However,
playing on a neutral court sometimes hurts the
Blue Devils, as was shown in less-than-usual play
in Charlotte last weekend The Final Four is a lock,
but a national title is up in the air.
Florida - Coach Billy Donovan has a young
team loaded with talent, which all helped the Gators
reach the Sweet 16 last year before losing to Gon
zaga by a point. This year, the Gators are more tal
ented, but less experienced If they can get past
the Blue Devils, Florida just might have enough
to go all the way.
Temple - John Chaney pulled yet another sur
prise from his bag of tricks (not to be confused with
the bags under his eyes) this year as the Owls cruised
to a 26-5 record behind the trio of Pepe Sanchez,
Quincy Whdley and Lynn Greer. The 3-point shoot
ing by this club is almost unstoppable, and the
defense gives teams an unexpected low-scoring
game. Placed in the lower half of the East, the Owls
will be flying to the Elite Eight pretty quickly.
Oklahoma State - Perhaps the most danger
ous team in the Dance, the Cowboys will gun teams
down if they are overlooked Coach Eddie Sutton
has taken OSU along with three other teams to the
Final Four in his career, and with sharpshooters
Desmond Mason and Joe Adkins at his disposal, is
poised to make another run.
Stanford and Arizona -1 had to put these
two teams together because they have so much
in common. Both are No. 1 seeds, both have big
men who do a lot of scoring in Loren Woods and
Mark Madsen, both were ranked in the top five
for most of the season and both rolled to the Dance
with a cream-puff Pac-10 schedule. Both the Car
dinals and the Wildcats will probably win two
games; but with competition like Quin Snyder’s
Missouri Tigers and Jerry Tarkanian’s Fresno State
Bulldogs, they’ll find out just how tough they re
ally are in a hurry.
Connecticut - As the defending champs, the
Huskies have received a lot of attention with then
up-and-down play. They started the year at No. 1,
but a loss in their first game knocked them down
to earth and showed leader Khalid El-Amin just
how hard it would be to duplicate their 1999 suc
cess. With Jake Voskuhl shooting well and Ricky
Moore single-handedly supplying the defense,
UConn can run to the Sweet 16. Where they go
from there is another question.
Ohio State - Another Final Four team in 1999,
the Buckeyes are led by Scoonie Penn and Michael
Redd. However, inconsistent inside scoring, de
fense and rebounding has slowed them at times.
For another run to happen, there will have to be
some major upsets.
Dick Vitale - Don’t ever listen to this chrome
domed, mouth-flapping idiot. If the tourney ran
his way, it would last 52 weeks and have so many
PTPers and diaper-dandies, and God knows how
else it would make every college basketball fan
wish for the good old days of not disciplining coach
es. What I wouldn’t give for Bob Knight to pick
up that infamous chair and shatter it over Vitale’s
brainless skull.
Cincinnati - Poor, poor Bearcats. Arguably the
nation’s best team with the no-doubt-about-it na
tion’s best player, the Bearcats stomped the com
petition all year behind center Kenyon Martin.
When Martin went down last week with a broken
leg, his career and the Bearcats’ hopes might have
gone with him. But Coach Bob (T) Huggins has
Dermarr Johnson and Pete Mickael, which might
be enough to give Cincy a boost. Just remember,
Cincy has been a two or three seed for the past
three seasons and has lost every time in the sec
ond round. (I think it’s penance for never gradu
ating a player under Huggins.)
Michigan State - My pick for the national
champion, the Spartans are incredibly talented,
with a smart coach and a tough season behind them.
Tom Izzo has used his super duo of Mateen Cleaves
and Morris Peterson to make State into an al
most sure-bet to return to the Final Four. By sur
viving the Big Ten all season, the Spartans have be
come a battle-tested squad and are ready to fight
for their place among the nation’s elite. With a rel
atively easy bracket to escape from, this No. 1 seed
should go ahead and make hotel reservations in In
dianapolis.
Maryland - This team has a lot going for it. A
fire-breathing coach, Gary Williams, two under
rated players, Lonny Baxter and Juan Dixon, one
of the nation’s best players, Terrence Morris, and
a win over the current No. 1 team in the country,
Duke. Although the Terps lost the ACC tourney
final, they are ready and frustrated enough to fi
nally show they can win the big game. The only
drawback to putting the Terps in the Four — they
have to beat Michigan State to get there.
Oklahoma - Eduardo Najera can do it all for
the Sooners, and he definitely will. They have
enough talent to bust up the party for St. John’s,
and the best is yet to come. Coach Kelvin Samp
son has one ace-in-the-hoie that makes his team
better than any other in the West - he hasn’t had
to rely on Najera as his offense during the past few
weeks. J.R. Raymond and Hollis Price have turned
into go-to players and definitely will step up this
week.
Texas - As much as I hate to admit it, coach
Rick Barnes makes his kids into winners. Ever since
his days at Providence, people have turned heads
to look at Barnes’ squads, who always surprise the
other teams en route to a great season. (Who can
forget Clemson taking eventual Final Four team
Minnesota into double overtime in 1997?) This
year is no different, as Chris Mihm and Gabe
Muoneke supply both points and defense for Texas.
The Longhorns just might slip up and hook Ari
zona, sending Barnes’ boys into the Elite Eight.
For you lucky souls who follow this advice,
see you on April 2 at the pay window.
Softball
tro singled to center. McMillin helped
her own cause with a two-run single to
center.
In game three, USC stopped the
Bulls of USF 9-1 in five innings. Car
olina defeated USF by the same score
in Tampa on Feb. 25.
The Lady Gamecocks were leading
2-0 when they exploded for seven
runs in the third inning. In the third, Fit
tro and Adrianna Baggetta each had two
run singles and Hall added an RBI.
Matthews got her second win of the
day, a no-hitter, with USF’s only baserun
ners reaching because of errors. The no
hitter was Matthews’ second of the sea
son and USC’s third overall in 2000.
HI I
Equestrian
The USC equestrian team finished
out of the ribbons in the Western Tour
nament of Champions held at New Mex
ico State University in Las Cruces, N.M.,
cm Saturday.
Junior Mundy Bums was the only
Gamecock to place. She finished sixth in
Open Horsemanship.
“I can’t say we got bad draws,” coach
Boo Major said. “We made several
mental errors and were outridden. The
caliber of Western riding is much higher
in the west as opposed to our region and
zone. We have our work cut out for us
for Nationals.”
The equestrian team’s last season
competition is at the University of Geor
gia on March 25. Oklahoma State won
the tournament.
Men’s golf
The No. 13 South Carolina men’s golf
team carded a 6-over 294 Sunday and fin
ished in 14th place in the prestigious Las
Vegas Intercollegiate at die Desert Inn
Country Club.
For the second straight day, South
Carolina had just one player shoot below
par as senior All-American Eric Ecker
posted a 1-under 71 for a three-day to
tal of 220. Ecker finished in 46th place
overall. Kyle Thompson, who fired a 2
over 74 Sunday, led the Gamecocks in
14th place with a three-day total of
217.
Behold!
Milk,Mustache Contest Grand Prize Winners
Gifted with 15 promised minutes
of fame and a Got Milk? T-Shirt!
Elise Tyndall
&
Bobby Brittain
Staff Winner:
David O. Pittman
Other winners captured by our calcium camera...
1st runners up- Got Milk? Baseball hat
. Michelle James and Erica Maloney
2nd runners up- Got Milk? Notebook prize pack
Amit Hajani and Charaka Cook
Honorable Moootions- Got Milk? poster
Michelle White • Paul Spahos • Gigi Douglas • Paul Mashack • Monica Robinson
Regina Wragg • Natasha Gadson • Mark Hartney • Sean DeLuna • Dr. Roger Sargent
SC Osteoporosis Coalition Grant
Health & Wellness Programs • 777-8248 • http://www.sa.sc.edu/wellness/
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OFFiCEOF-———— Based on survey data collected by the USC Office of Alcohol & Drug
/\L^(_sCJliC/JL Programs from a random sample of USC students in November, 1998.
Funding by SC DAODAS Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Project.