We should have seen this coming, Connecticut looked too dominant for Georgia Tech going in, they had destroyed all their opponents except Duke enroute to the title game, they have a coach who is experienced in the big game, and quite frankly, was just a much better basketball team. That's not to take anything away from the Yellow Jackets, who had a fine season. But on this night, they were no match for the Huskies.

In one of the most mismatched Championship games since UNLV defeated Duke 103-73 in the 1990 game, this game score was much closer but the game was not. I was impressed with the effort by the Georgia Tech kids who never gave up and fought their way back to make the score respectable. I was not impressed with the strategy not to foul a bad free throw shooting Connecticut team down the stretch. Paul Hewitt has done a tremendous job this season, but one must wonder why he did not dabble with this idea. UConn had only one good free throw shooter in Ben Gordon. The Yellow Jackets cut well into the lead, but ran out of time, it would have been interesting to have seen the Jackets implement this strategy to test the waters of the Connecticut free throw shooters. Georgia Tech should return the majority of their starters and should be right in the mix next season in the ACC and into another NCAA Tournament. Paul Hewitt proved his worth this season and was rewarded with a long term contract with Georgia Tech. They found a hidden gem in Luke Schenscher, who became an unexpected presence in the middle of a very athletic starting five, but the team came up short on Monday night.

Connecticut will look back at this team in a few years and really appreciate how talented this team really was. There may be as many as 4 first round NBA picks on this team when all is said and done. They were clearly the best team in this tournament field. The difference was the huge and physical front line they possessed, a rare commodity in the current College Basketball landscape, as most true big men find themselves in the NBA draft early. Aside from Emeka Okafor, they have a solid big man in unheralded freshman Josh Boone, who wreaked havoc throughout the tournament doing the dirty work. The Huskies will lose Okafor and Gordon to the NBA, but if Boone stays they will have an anchor in the middle with Charlie Villanueva that will give the Huskies a huge front line once again and will continue to keep Connecticut battling for the top of the Big East. It is hard to project from season to season now, with all the early entries into the NBA draft, but if everyone who should stay in school decides to stay, a deep Connecticut team will once again be a factor next season.

As great as the Semifinals were, the Championship game was not, as television ratings validate. This game possessed the worst ratings for an NCAA Championship game ever. Partly because there was not a marquee opponent for Connecticut, and probably because the viewing audience did see this mismatch coming. Had the Duke-UConn game been played Monday Night for all the marbles, I would venture to say that it could have been one of the highest rated Championship Games ever played. Nonetheless, Georgia Tech has no reason to apologize. They earned this trip, and they earned the right to play this game. For a team who was picked 5th in their conference, they overachieved all season long. And this speaks volumes for coach Paul Hewitt, who has now etched his place in a league full of high level coaches. As for Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, he will certainly be a Hall of Fame entry next season and has taken a large step up the coaching ranks with his second Championship.

The book is closed on another College Basketball season, Spring has sprung and pepper is being played throughout the Country. In a year in which parody reigned throughout most of the season, Connecticut stepped to the forefront and grabbed the top prize. In an era in which parody will be much more prevalent than ever before, UConn looked the part of the most dominant College Basketball team in the Country, and were rightly awarded that title having been crowned National Champions.

After the dust settled on Semifinal Saturday of the NCAA Tournament, two teams surfaced to compete for the National Championship on Monday Night. In what could be the best Semifinal's of late, Connecticut and Georgia Tech will battle to claim the Championship.

The Story in the first game is what would be an unlikely hero, Aussie center Luke Schenscher. Despite the last second game winner by Will Bynum, Schenscher paved the way to the underdog Yellow Jackets victory. The Australian junior went for 19 points and 12 rebounds and set up his teammates with his pinpoint passing and consummate team play in the 67-65 victory. He was aided by streaky 3-point shooting by Marvin Lewis in the first half, who connected on 5 3 pointers. This opened up the lane for the one player on the court who was significantly taller than any other on the court, and took advantage of this throughout the game. Schenscher, a little used player in his sophomore season, was the anchor in this game. Georgia Tech's athletic starting five and deep bench played excellent defense, slowing clutch shooting guard John Lucas through much of the game. Lucas went 4-14 from the field, warming up towards the end of the game, when he delivered on a long three pointer to tie the game up with 26.3 seconds left. This set up a time out in which Tech coach Paul Hewitt set up the final play for Will Bynum, basically rolling the ball out to the Arizona transfer and letting him create and attempt the final shot. Bynum did just that, getting past John Lucas on the dribble and gliding through the lane to get off a runner with less than 2 seconds left to defeat the Cowboys and moving his team to Monday's Championship game.

In what was considered to be the marquee game, the Connecticut Huskies defeated the Duke Blue Devils in game 2, 79-78. There is a common theme for Semifinal Saturday, centers and the inside game. Just as in game one, the big guys were the key in UConn's win. It was a matchup of America's best player, Emeka Okafor and Connecticuts big front line, against Duke's interior play which is clearly Duke's biggest weakness this season. But it was not the play of Okafor in the first half, it was the lack of play in the first half, as he found himself on the bench for close to 16 minutes in the first half in a tightly called contest. UConn coach, Jim Calhoun, chose to sit his All-American with 2 fouls for the remainder of the half, refusing to put him back into the game despite Duke taking control without his inside presence. UConn relinquished a double digit lead once Okafor went to the bench and Duke's Sheldon Williams and Shavlik Randolph took full advantage of his absence. Where it was clear that Williams was looking over his shoulder at the defensive presence early in the game, he suddenly had full reign inside, and Duke's guards broke down the Connecticut's guard to set up Williams and Randolph. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was accurate when he said Connecticut had more ways to defeat other teams and more weapons to do so, and must have felt he could not afford to battle UConn's size without Sheldon Williams and Shavlik Randolph as both were successful in Okafors absence, but accumulated fouls in doing so. Both players found themselves in foul trouble late in the first half and early in the second, as Jim Calhoun placed Okefor back into the game. Despite Duke's attempts to hold off the Huskies, they had no answer for the Huskie center down the stretch, as Okafor was unstoppable with both Williams and Randolph on the bench having fouled out. It was his sure determination to take his team on his shoulders by Okafor that delivered the win. Once Connecticut's guards figured out that Duke had no answer for his inside presence, Connecticut finally moved ahead and on to victory.

On Monday Night the two centers will have an impact but in this game, Connecticuts inside game may be too much for Schenscher, For the Jackets to be successful, they will have to excel in their guard play. If Jarrett Jack, and B.J. Elder, along with Marvin Lewis, are able to hit the perimeter shots and control UConn's guards, they can stay with the Huskies. Let's not forget that Georgia Tech defeated Connecticut early in the season, but both teams are better now than they were then, and the Huskies were relying on a banged up Emeka Okafor and ironically, Luke Schenscher scored only 2 points in that game with only 3 rebounds. Despite these numbers, Georgia Tech won this game by 16 points. I don't think the odds are good that there will be a similar result in this one. With Connecticut the only team left in my bracket since the Elite 8, and my choice to win it all, I must remain true to myself and take them in this game. But it would not surprise me if the Yellow Jackets pulled the upset. They have been doing it all season long with wins at Duke, Wake Forest, and North Carolina among others. They have 9 wins over ranked teams and play with confidence. Paul Hewitt has done a remarkable job regardless of what happens in this game. The Yellow Jackets were picked 5th preseason in the ACC. This should be a very competitive game, and hopefully will live up to the games played on Saturday.

The NCAA Championship tournament is upon us and I expect all the thrills, spills and excitement of tourneys past. One thing that is predictable about this tournament is that it is unpredictable and that is one of the things that makes it great. Every team, no matter what their seed, can have their "One shining moment" on any given night. This is the tournament where giants will fall and Cinderellas will fit their golden slipper, it is just a question of who will play these roles this year.

I tapped into my tournament memory to come up with some of those memorable moments of tournaments past and came up with some of my favorite moments:

1983, N.C. State versus Houston, a true Cinderella story where nobody gave the Wolfpack a chance against Houston's storied "Phi Slamma Jamma". This was a Cougar team with future Hall of Famers Akeem Olajuwon, and Clyde Drexler. But on this Championship Night, N.C. State took down the mighty Cougars and shocked the world with a last second dunk by Lorenzo Charles. As Cougar players walked around stunned, Wolfpack coach Jim Valvano ran around the court looking for someone to hug. Great moment.

For North Carolina Fans, the 1982 NCAA Championship will forever be remembered by "The Shot". Where freshman, Michael Jordan, hit a game winning jump shot. A shot which launched the career of the games greatest player and gave legendary coach, Dean Smith, his first National Championship.

In 1981, Brigham Young star Danny Ainge, took the ball and dribbled the length of the court to score at the buzzer on a loaded Notre Dame team in an NCAA regional. This was a Notre Dame team which featured future NBA stars Kelly Tripuka and Orlando Woolridge, coached by Digger Phelps.

The 1974 NCAA Championships. The N.C. State Wolfpack ended UCLA's run of seven straight Championships, led by David Thompson, who in my mind is the greatest College Basketball player to have ever laced them up. Earlier in the tournament, Thompson who was a tremendous skywalker, fell to the floor and was unconscious for four minutes. I have a lasting image of Thompson wrapped with a bandage on his head. Thompson recovered and led the Wolfpack to a Championship against Marquette.

In 1990, Duke's Christian Laettner hits a last second turnaround jumper to defeat the Kentucky Wildcats, and advance on towards a National Championship. It took a 3 quarter court pass, and a quick catch and shoot for Laettner to hit this improbable shot. The looks of shock and disbelief on the faces of both teams is a great sports image.

In 1994, little Tyus Edney of UCLA took the ball the length of the court in 4.8 seconds against Missouri in a regional to defeat the Tigers and propel UCLA to it's first post John Wooden championship.

1981, Indiana's Isaiah Thomas dismantled the North Carolina Tar Heels on a day where the Country had other thoughts on their minds. The game was almost cancelled as President Reagan laid in a hospital bed after having been shot.

There are many more moments, but these are a few that stand out as we approach this years tournament. If this College Basketball season is any indication, this should be a tremendous tournament. With numerous teams capable of winning the tourney, it should create some memorable games. Who is this years Cinderella? I have a few teams to watch this year. I like Pacific, Manhattan, and Western Michigan to cause some problems for the higher seeds and potentially move on and make some noise. My favorite days of the tournament are this weeks Thursday through Sunday first two rounds. This is when the unknowns make themselves known. Beware, this is where some high seeded team will fall to a much lower seed. A few games to keep your eyes on are the Texas Tech-Charlotte game. Charlotte is a team when rolling could go deep into this tournament. Arizona and Seton Hall jumps out at you as an interesting first round game, as well as, Xavier and Louisville.

The ACC was the strongest conference in the Country this year, so it stands to reason that they would have at least one or two participants in the Final Four right? After crunching my brackets, I had no ACC teams in the Final Four, while I have several making it to the regional finals. This seems unlikely, but that is why it is called March Madness. I certainly feel as though three or four ACC teams have a chance to take it all, with Georgia Tech, Duke, and Wake Forest looking good, and North Carolina and N.C. State looking dangerous. Ultimately, I picked a Final Four of Kentucky, Texas, Pittsburgh and Connecticut. With Connecticut defeating Pittsburgh in an all Big East final. This could all change in a hurry if Omeka Okefor is not healthy. But that is the beauty of it all. There is usually at least one team who emerges from the pack and looks like a championship team, and it is not always a team that looks that way going in. That is why it is so important to just make the field, it is a fresh start from the battles of conference play, and it is wide open.

There is nothing like the NCAA Championships in basketball. On this level the kids really care. There will be tears of joy and pain shed during these next few weeks. It is the purest of athletic competition. These are young men who have not yet begun to face the real world, doing what they do best. Having fun and trying to win games. This is why there is no sporting event quite like the NCAA Tournament. Players are not doing it for the money, although some will be playing for checks in the near future. This is why you see players crying, and hugging others. This is why you see players holding hands in solidarity watching their teammates shoot foul shots. When you have players leaving it all on the court for a chance to move on and when you have a group of what appears to be outmanned teammates playing with as much emotion and intensity as possible to overcome all the odds. You have madness. This is what March madness is all about. Let the madness begin, I cannot wait.

The fans in New Orleans are starting to witness what the fans of Charlotte had to endure for over a decade. The true colors of their co-owner, George Shinn, are coming out. The most embarrassing owner in the NBA has his claws out and sharpened in an address towards his team in which Shinn criticized their lackluster effort on Tuesday. However, just as in Charlotte, Shinn only needs to look in a mirror to pinpoint his teams problems.

George Shinn developed a reputation, as owner of the Charlotte Hornets, as an owner who would only invest enough in his team to swim in mediocrity, to the point where free agents and others would not even consider playing for the Hornets. If you recall, Kobe Bryant was drafted by the Hornets, but refused to play for them and was subsequently traded to the Lakers. Shinn, notoriously mismanaged the basketball decisions of the operation with overblown contracts, poor drafts, and the ability to keep star players. At one point, the Hornets had young stars, Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning and Kendall Gill, by virtue of some luck in the lottery of the draft. In what appeared to be a promising future for the team, it deteriorated in a New York minute after a groundbreaking contract offered to a gimpy Larry Johnson, who was battling injuries and was never the player he was in his first couple of seasons with the Hornets. Alienated by the signing of Johnson, and looking for a long term deal for himself, Mourning did not tender offers made by the Hornets and signed with the Miami Heat. Soon, the promising trio was no longer and the Hornets were back to square one. George Shinn lost the support of the city of Charlotte because the reputation of poor basketball decisions and his own legal troubles that followed him. He disconnected himself from the city of Charlotte by moving to Florida and then lobbied for a new arena, which Charlotte shot down quickly and decisively. Shortly thereafter, the Hornets were in New Orleans and Charlotteans warned the Crescent City to be careful what they asked for. Now, it is New Orleans' problem and Charlotte was quickly awarded a new franchise spearheaded by owner Bob Johnson with a new arena in the works.

The New Orleans Hornets window of opportunity is closing with the current nucleus of players. They are an aging, injury prone team built around a young star in Baron Davis. The supporting cast of P.J. Brown, George Lynch, Jamal Mashburn and David Wesley, have seen their prime and while still good players, do not appear to be the players to take the Hornets deep into the playoffs. Jamal Mashburn is out, again, with injury and David Wesley is back from injury but has only played in 43 games this season. They have rising star Jamaal Magloire, but have aging veterans Darrell Armstrong, Stacey Augmon and Steve Smith. While Shinn offered Baron Davis a long term deal to stay with the Hornets, he has done little to infuse the team with quality young players to mix with these aging vets.

George Shinn made a bizarre move before the season even started. Replacing proven coach Paul Silas, the teams most winningest coach in history, with Tim Floyd who brought a lofty 49-190 career NBA coaching record into New Orleans. Silas has his Cavaliers, with one true star in rookie sensation Lebron James, in a position for the playoffs. A team who has not made the playoffs since 1998. The Hornets under Tim Floyd are only 4 games over .500. A team with a nucleus that has been together for several seasons and are being accused of underachieving by their owner.

On top of these problems, it appears the brief love affair with this team by the city of New Orleans, has come to an end. Last check, the Hornets were third from last in attendance barely edging out Orlando and Atlanta. This from a city who gave Shinn everything he wanted to move the team to New Orleans. Shinn, could have been sitting pretty years ago, had he made the right moves in Charlotte. Only a few years ago, Michael Jordan expressed ownership interest in the team with Jordan running basketball operations and Shinn running the business side. This, in a city and a state that adores Jordan. The state he grew up and played college ball in. The city where he has family. A city that likely would have built a new arena for Jordan, and with a history of supporting the Hornets, would have continued to do so. But Shinn's ego would not allow Jordan to have enough control to make it worth his investment, and Jordan became part of the Wizards organization, attempting a comeback as a player in Washington, as well. Meanwhile, Shinn attempts to pump fresh blood back into his franchise by hoping support will rise if he takes a bigger role in the marketing aspect. Apparently, he is attempting to stir the pot by criticizing his teams play. Well, Mr. Shinn, it is time to take responsibility for the state of your team in only it's second year in it's new market. It appears that the honeymoon is over, and Shinn's true color are surfacing again. Fortunately, for Charlotte, they are no longer surfacing here.

Mike Krzyzewski is the best coach in College Basketball today, and is one of the best to have ever coached the game. But after an embarrassing, obscenity laced tantrum in the first half of Wednesday nights game against Georgia Tech, and his continued rantings throughout, Coach K owes an apology to anyone who witnessed it.

Evidently, all of the FCC's Officers are still tied up on the Janet Jackson Super Bowl half-time breast exposure case. There was enough profanity spewed from Coach K's lips, in close up after close up, to make Eminem jealous. How he wasn't ejected raises the question as to what it takes to get ejected in the ACC. The fact of the matter is, Krzyzewski has been around long enough to know that the camera will be on him, a good portion of viewers on television are going to be children, and it doesn't take an expert lip reader to understand what he is saying. He should know better. I understand that in today's society, it is only an afterthought when it comes to the use of profanity, and I understand that there are plenty of coaches and players who use it during the course of a game. But does that make it right? At least have the wherewithal to keep it in the locker room or in the closed practices. I would invite Coach K to pan the crowd in any given ballgame and take note of the children who are present and can most definitely hear your "f" bombs dropped like tomahawks in Iraq.

Several years ago, Pittsburgh Steeler head coach Bill Cowher, after constantly caught on camera cursing, was asked by his wife to tone it down. He complied, and became aware that like it or not, the camera is going to be on him. Therefore, with the exception of the occasion bleep caught on camera, a viewer at home would think he never cursed at all. Does this mean he never uses profanity? Certainly not, but he has the presence of mind to understand that a large portion of the audience who watch these games are not adults. Mike Krzyzewski could take a lesson in this. It is said that NBA star and former North Carolina All-American, Antawn Jamison, ruled out attending Duke because his father refused to let him play for a Coach who used profanity to the level of Coach K. The argument can be made that if you don't like it, don't watch. Is that what we really want? I doubt very seriously that the schools do, as television money works it's way to their institutions, and it certainly would not be healthy to prohibit kids from watching the games. That is a lame argument.

I am not trying to be the morality police here, but enough is enough. Obviously, profanity is a part of society today, but these coaches and players who, like it or not, are looked up to by the kids are sending the wrong message to them by basically acting like juveniles themselves. And that is exactly what Coach Mike Krzyzewski did Wednesday night. For a coach who prides himself on giving back to the community, spearheading positive charities, and hyping the College game for it's greatness, he is not doing it justice by spitting out every conceivable four letter word at every turn, and exercising poor sportsmanship such as his actions on Wednesday night. In fairness, Coach K seldom loses it like he did on that night. So, Coach Krzyzewski, grab that bar of soap and wash out your mouth. And while you are at it, how about an apology for your actions towards those you may have offended. At least Janet Jackson had the decency to make a public apology for her debacle at the Super Bowl. Coach K, are you big enough to do the same?