Time To Get Mad:

West Valley College
By Michael Saltzman

Not since the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV in 1991, has a team been so favored to win the national title. Duke, who finished the regular season with a 32-1 record, an undefeated conference record and an ACC tournament title, has been dominating.

Joining the Blue Devils as number one seeds are Connecticut, Auburn and Michigan State.

The tournament also consists of solid number two seeds with Stanford, Maryland, Miami(Fl), and Utah. Others who could surprise could be the survivor of UCLA/Ohio St. in round two, St. John's, Kentucky, North Carolina and Arizona.

Both Auburn and Maryland are led by junior college transfers. Forward Chris Porter for the Tigers, and point guard Steve Francis for the Terrapins.

Even without their starting shooting guard, Trajan Langdon, Duke has not lost a step. Their depth is the scariest element of their team.

Coach Krzyzewski took his team into the national championship game in 1991 and shocked the world beating the indestructible Rebels for the title.

This fact does give hope to the rest of the teams in the field of 64 that anything is possible.

Interesting matchups include a possible second round meeting between Duke and College of Charleston. They have won 27 and 25 in a row respectively.

Also, in a possible second round match, is St. John's and George Washington. Mike Jarvis, the current coach of the Red Storm, was the head coach at George Washington until last year.

Point Guards like Ohio State's Scoonie Penn, UCLA's Baron Davis, Michigan State's Mateen Cleeves, Utah's Andre Miller, Arizona's Jason Terry, North Carolina's Ed Cota, and George Washington's Shawnta Rogers have carried their teams.

The reason March Madness is one of the most exciting events in sports is because of the one guarantee: There will be upsets; and not just one. So look for a team like Siena or Southwest Missouri State to be headed to the next round.

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