Ncaa Basketball Tournament

The scrum of big-time sports may be adding to the pile soon. March Madness may become March Insanity. The NCAA is pondering adding to its 65-team men's basketball tournament, making it a 96-team field. It is locked into the current format only through this year's championship game. After that, it can re-negotiate its $6-billion contract with CBS. The 96-team field is a dumb idea, based on greed. So expect it to happen. If you give somebody more product, they have to pay more.

Kevin Ware is forever going to be linked to this year's NCAA basketball tournament. Unfortunately, the image many of us have of him is one that is sure to make us cringe. We've all seen the video by now, of the Louisville guard awkwardly coming down on his leg while trying to block a shot. The injury that followed is one that probably won't be forgotten by the millions who have seen for a long, long time. But maybe we can replace it with a much happier one. After all, Ware didn't wallow around in self pity.

STATISTICS ARKANSAS Player FG FT Reb Ast Pts Day .491 .750 5.3 2.6 19.3 Mayberry .515 .792 2.9 5.2 14.6 Howell .543 .760 5.4 1.9 13.8 Miller .643 .654 6.3 1.4 11.4 Huery .464 .802 3.0 2.5 10.1 Credit .571 .795 3.9 0.4 9.5 Bowers .390 .794 1.8 2.4 5.6 Hawkins .538 .733 1.8 0.9 4.0 Murry .407 .600 1.2 1.5 4.0 Marks .554 .444 2.4 0.2 3.9 Whitby .237 .875 0.4 0.7 1.4 Linn .250 .500 0.3 0.1 0.5 Arkansas .507 .733 34.6 19.1 95.9 Opp. .449 .706 37.4 15.3 79.3 3-Point Field Goals: 191-479, .

From passed out on a floor to the Final Four - it has been a pulse-rate ride for Carl Hall. "Oh man, it's been a long journey for me," Hall said. Wichita State's senior forward, who overcame a heart condition that sidelined him for two years, has become the inspirational leader on the Shockers' surprising four-game run through the NCAA basketball tournament. Hall introduced himself nationally at the Salt Lake City sub-regional as an undersized 6-foot-8 forward taking on Steven Adams, a 7-footer from Pittsburgh.

Arnold Ferrin, chairman of the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee, will become both hero and villain today when his group announces who plays where and when in the $32.6 million extravaganza known as the NCAA basketball tournament. The tournament involving 64 elite teams begins March 17, ending 63 games and 18 days later in Kansas City's Kemper Arena with the 50th national championship game.

Two coaches who know the way to the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16 will go head to head today. Arizona, coached by Lute Olson, and Alabama, led by Wimp Sanderson, will play in a second-round game at Long Beach Arena after the Loyola Marymount-Michigan game. Tipoff will be at about 4:30. Olson, whose team is seeded second in the West, has taken his Wildcats to the regional finals the last two years, reaching the Final Four in 1988. He also took Iowa to the Final Four in 1980.

While most highly seeded teams have been struggling in the NCAA basketball tournament, Duke won its first-round game with ease, beating Richmond, 81-46, Friday at the Omni. The third-seeded Blue Devils outshot the shorter Spiders, 53.4% to 31.3%, and outrebounded them, 46-33, giving Coach Mike Krzyzewski his 300th major college victory.

Jerry Pimm was asked about the houseboat again. He hates that. But when you get UC Santa Barbara into the second round of the NCAA tournament against Michigan State and you briefly pique a nation's curiosity, you're going to get asked about the houseboat. Pimm has to live with it. He lives on it, doesn't he? "First of all," Pimm says, frowning at the question, "the term houseboat has the connotation of a low-grade level of boat." He smiles. "It's not a houseboat. It's a motor yacht.

If you had a serious case of the heebie-jeebies when University of Louisville sophomore guard Kevin Ware snapped his tibia on live television during the NCAA basketball tournament, you weren't alone. Teammates crumpled to the floor. Players on the nearby bench physically recoiled. Louisville Coach Rick Pitino says he nearly vomited at the sight of his player's bone jutting through the skin of his lower leg. Broadcasters stopped showing the break after a few replays. Their reaction may be rooted in evolution, genetics and upbringing.

— When Stetson missed its first nine field-goal attempts, good shots most of them, it seemed over for the Hatters. When UCLA led by a couple of dozen points midway through the second half, this first-round NCAA game was all but over. The third-seeded Bruins advanced to the second round with a 66-49 win over the Hatters (24-9) on Saturday. UCLA (26-7) will play sixth-seeded Oklahoma on Monday at 4:15 p.m. PDT at St. John Arena. The Sooners (23-10) beat 11th-seeded Central Michigan 78-73 here in Saturday's first game.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Markel Walker has an adventurer's spirit. She was born in Philadelphia and after her second year of high school moved to Pittsburgh so she could live with her sister. From Pittsburgh she chose to cross the country and play college basketball at UCLA. The 6-foot-1 senior had mapped out a plan. "I wanted to get a good degree and then go back to Philadelphia and open up 'Power Centers,'" Walker said Friday before third-seeded UCLA (25-7) practiced for its first-round NCAA women's basketball tournament game against 14th-seeded Stetson (24-8)

I know the look. For the last three decades, every year at this time, I get the look. A friend or family member will slowly approach with a piece of wrinkled paper, a chewed-off pencil and a wistful stare. It's always someone who doesn't follow sports. It's often someone who doesn't know whether a basketball is inflated or stuffed. I know the look. I call it Bracket Eyes. "Hey, can you help me with my pool?" It is a question about the NCAA basketball tournament, otherwise known as This Country's Biggest Sports Event for People Who Don't Like Sports.

No. 3 UCLA (25-7) vs. No. 14 Stetson (24-8) Saturday, at Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio, 10:30 a.m. PDT (approximate). How they got here: UCLA finished third in the Pac-12 Conference regular season and reached the final of the conference tournament to earn an at-large bid. Stetson earned an automatic bid by winning the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. Last 10 games: UCLA 7-3; Stetson 8-2. Record vs. NCAA tournament teams: UCLA 6-6; Stetson 0-1. Best wins/worst losses: UCLA defeated then-fifth-ranked California, 70-58, in the Pac-12 tournament last week; and Oklahoma, 86-80, in Norman earlier this season.

The NCAA's new academic requirements could give new meaning to the madness of March. On Wednesday, three-time national champion Connecticut and nine other men's basketball teams were banned from the NCAA tournament because of poor Academic Progress Rate scores. The penalties affect seven conferences, each of which must adapt to a new landscape for their league tournaments. Four conferences — the Big East, Big West, Ohio Valley, Southland and Southwest Athletic — said the banned teams cannot compete in their league tournaments.

Kendall Marshall broke a bone in his right wrist during the University of North Carolina's victory over Creighton in the NCAA basketball tournament on Sunday, leaving the status of the Tar Heels' star point guard up in the air for Friday's Sweet 16 game against Ohio. "All we know right now is it's a fracture," Marshall said. "Luckily, it's my right hand. If it was my left hand, then we'd probably have some problems. But we'll take it day by day and figure it out. " The injury occurred when Marshall was knocked to the floor by Ethan Wragge with 10:56 remaining in the game.

East Regional No. 8 Kansas State (21-10) vs. No. 9 Southern Mississippi (25-8) at Pittsburgh, 9:30 a.m. PDT, truTV: Neither team offers a great offense, so expect a lot of defense and physical play. Both teams do a good job forcing turnovers. Expect Southern Mississippi to focus on slowing Kansas State guard Rodney McGruder. If he is stymied, the Golden Eagles' chances get better. No. 4 Wisconsin (24-9) vs. No. 13 Montana (25-6) at Albuquerque, 11 a.m., TNT: Montana has won 20 of its last 21 games, but the Grizzlies need to shoot well from the outside to advance against Wisconsin.