The 2002 Sweet 16: A-Z
Asiatic: Breed of hunting dog known as a Saluki and coached by Bruce Weber.
Bonus: A win over Oregon means an extra $40,000 for Texas coach Rick Barnes.
Cool: My reaction if Duke, Maryland, Kansas and Oklahoma advance to the Final Four and keep my bracket intact.
Developers: Gary Williams doesn’t receive enough credit for molding individuals and Kelvin Sampson is a maestro with the juco transfers.
E-Bay: Place were unsuccessful teams can buy upper row tickets to the Final Four for $450 apiece.
Five: The number of times UCLA coach Steve Lavin has guided his Bruins to the Sweet 16.
Gardner: The man pro scouts remanded back to college in Tucson. No matter what the NBA guys think, the kid just wins, baby.
Heath: The first-year head coach and disciple of Tom Izzo is hot, hot, hot and he’s no Golden Flash in the pan.
Incorrect: The way the term mid-major gets tossed around college basketball. Are we afraid to call some schools and conferences low-major? Kent State and Southern Illinois are true mid-majors and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Jeffries: Indiana’s forward passed on Duke in high school. Funny how these forces in life collide.
Knight: Bobby’s gone, but Brandin has work to do with Pittsburgh.
Ligament: Texas forward Chris Owens tore his (ACL) but his friends have stepped up in his absence.
Matchups: Hinrich vs. Williams; Boschee vs. Bradford; Collison vs. Archibald; Cook vs. Gooden. Kansas and Illinois should be a good one.
Nasty: Frederick Jones of Oregon on a breakaway dunk attempt.
Okafor: What’s an Okafor? Well, it’s a rebounding machine UConn uses to block shots and intimidate defenders.
Pros: In the back of their minds, are Drew Gooden, Chris Wilcox and Kareem Rush starting to count the Benjamins?
Quin: Missouri’s leader not only is the easy choice for the letter “Q” but was everyone’s favorite first-round upset pick.
Ridnour: He’s vindicated his selection as McDonald’s All-American a few years ago.
Schrage: As in Mike Schrage, Duke’s academic coordinator who happens to be a graduate of Indiana.
Trevor: Kent State’s Huffman had no Division I offers until he circulated his own highlight tape late in the process to college coaches.
Ugly: The ovation both Indiana and Duke can expect to receive when their players are introduced in famed Rupp Arena.
Vision: Considering their hairdos, it’s amazing Oregon’s Luke Ridnour and Luke Jackson don’t have theirs impaired more often.
Willowridge: The high school were Texas point guard TJ Ford and Duke swingman Daniel Ewing played last season.
Xerox: Will the Missouri-UCLA game be able to replicate the 1995 Tyus Edney coast-to-coast finish?
Youth: Texas loses just one senior starter and welcomes a McDonald’s All-American – another one – into the fold next season.
Zags: This year’s biggest disappointment in terms of the sheer volume of people who liked them in office pools.