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    tru what?

    Your NCAA Tournament viewing guide: Eight must-watch games & where to find them

    Jim Beviglia
    Mar 14, 2011 | 11:21 am
    • Shelvin Mack and Butler still make for must-watch TV a year later.
    • John Calipari knows he cannot look at Princeton as a pushover.
    • Jimmer Fredette is not letting BYU lose in the first round.
      AP Photo

    In past years, TV viewers were spoon fed early-round NCAA Tournament action by CBS, which often switched back and forth between games with a maximum of chaos and a minimum of common sense. No more. This year’s tourney, which culminates with the Final Four in Houston, will be shown on four different networks, which allows every single game to be seen (providing you can find truTV on your dial.)

    With that in mind, here is a handy viewing guide for the first two full days of tournament action Thursday and Friday (now annoyingly officially called the second round with the advent of the NCAA's new First Four early games). These are the games you need to pay attention to for each of the eight major viewing periods.

    No. 8 BUTLER vs. No. 9 OLD DOMINION (Southeast Regional, Thursday, 11:40 p.m., truTV)

    The Bulldogs' magical run to the title game is still fresh in everyone’s minds, and Butler returns several key components from that squad, including high-scoring guard Shelvin Mack and rugged forward Matt Howard. But the Bulldogs face off with a Monarchs team that has the stuff to make a long run themselves.

    They are rugged inside and play an impenetrable 2-3 zone. Regardless of who wins here, top-seeded Pitt will have its hands full in the second round.

    No. 4 KENTUCKY vs. No. 13 PRINCETON (East Regional, Thursday, 1:45 p.m., CBS)

    This has all the makings of a memorable matchup. Kentucky showed off its talent by dominating the SEC tournament, but its best players, Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, and Doron Lamb, are all freshmen.

    That inexperience can be problematic, especially when these guys get their first taste of tournament adversity. Such adversity might come in the form of Ivy League champ Princeton, hoping it can ride the echoes of Bill Bradley and Pete Carril to a stunning upset.

    No. 3 BYU vs. No. 14 WOFFORD (Southeast Regional, Thursday, 6:15 p.m. CBS)

    A lot of people are choosing BYU as a possible upset victim, especially considering how it's struggled without suspended forward Brandon Davies. But Jimmer Fredette is my choice for National Player of the Year, and that kind of transcendent talent can carry a team a long way in the tournament.

    That said, the Cougars' first round opponent, Wofford, is no slouch. Last year, the Terriers took Wisconsin to the wire, and they have most of the talent back from that squad to try and close the upset deal this time around.

    No. 6 ST. JOHN’S vs. No. 11 GONZAGA (Southeast Regional, Thursday, 8:45 p.m., CBS)

    There are several excellent choices at this late hour on Thursday, but this one promises to be a real donnybrook. St. John’s has been a great story this year under Steve Lavin, but the Johnnies have stumbled a bit late and will be without one of their top players, D.J. Kennedy, due to injury.

    They’re also a small team, which could be exploited by Gonzaga frontliners Robert Sacre and Elias Harris. The Zags seemed to gel late in the season, so the Red Storm could be in for a long night.

    No. 4 TEXAS vs. No. 13 OAKLAND (West Regional, Friday, 11:15 a.m., CBS)

    I personally thought that the Longhorns deserved better than a fourth seed from the selection committee. The result of that seeding is an unforgiving first-round matchup with an Oakland team that has one of the tournament’s finest relatively unknown players, 6-foot-11 senior center Keith Benson.

    This guy is NBA bound and he could wreak havoc on Texas’ undersized front line. Rick Barnes’ team better come out fired up about their seeding snub, or it could be on its way back to Austin quick.

    No. 5 ARIZONA vs. No. 12 MEMPHIS (West Regional, Friday,1:45 p.m., CBS)

    The parity is so great in college basketball this year that these teams, which play in a 5-12 game, seem to be practically inseparable. It’s been a rocky road for Memphis, but its extremely young squad righted the ship just in time for a come-from-behind win in the Conference USA championship game.

    Tigers’ coach Josh Pastner was a player and assistant at Arizona, where Sean Miller deserves Coach of the Year honors for getting this program back on track so quickly. Expect an up-tempo, entertaining affair here.

    No. 6 XAVIER vs. No. 11 MARQUETTE (East Regional, Friday, 6:27 p.m., truTV)

    Xavier has fantastic guard play, led by Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Tu Holloway, and teams with great guards usually do well in March. The Musketeers also boast a pair of bruisers inside, Kenny Frease and Jamel McLean, who can hurt Marquette’s soft middle.

    But the Warriors are a much deeper team, and they can do damage to Xavier on the wings with top scorers Jimmy Butler and Darius Johnson-Odom. Plus, they’ve been around the block in the best conference in the nation.

    No. 8 UNLV vs. No. 9 ILLINOIS (Southwest Regional, Friday, 8:20 p.m., TBS)

    Bruce Weber’s tournament record is solid, but his Illinois team is an uneasy blend of underachieving seniors and inconsistent youngsters. That strain showed during an underwhelming 9-9 Big Ten campaign, but there is a ton of talent on this squad that other coaches would love to have.

    UNLV was overlooked much of the year while San Diego State and BYU got the Mountain West attention, but the Runnin' Rebels have a great non-conference resume, their own proven coach in Lon Kruger and a new HBO special bringing back the Tark the Shark glory days.

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    Beyond the Boxscore

    Houston in line to get more Final Fours after 2016: NCAA officials expect it tobecome a regular

    Chris Baldwin
    Apr 5, 2011 | 7:07 pm
    • The success of Bracket Town meant almost as much to the NCAA as the success atReliant Stadium.
      Photo by Bruce Bennett
    • NCAA official Greg Shaheen praised Houston's Final Four efforts.
    • Kemba Walker wasn't the only one who flew high at this Final Four.
      Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

    When even NCAA officials are making jokes about the lowest-scoring NCAA Championship Game since 1949, you know they had a good time in Houston.

    That's what happens in the Final Four wrap-up press conference Tuesday. Greg Shaheen — the highest-ranking NCAA official in the room — opens his portion with a crack about the offensive woes Monday night.

    Shaheen notes that if more people had the motor shown by Houston Final Four Local Organizing Committee interim executive director Doug Hall then "we might have had a game last night where both teams scored 60 points."

    "You were on overdrive," Shaheen says to Hall.

    Yes, there is a whole lot of love in the room when the Houston LOC and the NCAA meet for the last time before this 2011 Final Four becomes part of the record books — and thoughts begin to slowly turn to the 2016 Final Four that will be held in Houston and the 2015 regional at Reliant Stadium before that.

    It does not figure to end in 2016 though. Shaheen — the NCAA's interim executive vice president of championships and alliances — tells CutureMap he expects there will be even more Final Fours in Houston in the future.

    "I don't see any reason why Houston wouldn't become a regular part of our rotation," Shaheen says.

    Shaheen would be the first to say that the NCAA's Basketball Committee will make the final call like usual on future sites, but he says the committee is thrilled with Houston's performance.

    "This is what a showcase event should look like," Shaheen says of a Houston event that set the Final Four record for total attendance (145,747 at the two nights of games) and also drew an estimated 140,000 to the Big Dance Concert Series (the concert figure is based on an "approximation" of the number of people who came through Discovery Green during all three concerts that lasted several hours each) and another 49,000 to Bracket Town at the George R. Brown Convention Center. "This is what a national championship should feel like.

    "It should be exhausting the next morning and be a seamless effort."

    Later Shaheen quips, "UConn is not the only winner here."

    Instead, Texas might be the biggest winner of all. For the Lone Star State has emerged as the NCAA's big event darling. Texas will host three Final Fours in a six-year stretch (Houston in 2011 and 2016, Dallas in 2014). And that type of dominance is not expected to end anytime soon either.

    "In the modern era, for both the men's and women's championships, I don't know that any state has emerged like Texas," Shaheen says. "And I think you have to include San Antonio (host of the 1998, 2004 and 2008 Final Fours) in that equation as well. There are a lot of things Texas offers the championships that are unique."

    Standing off to the side in the ballroom at the Hyatt Regency — which served as the headquarters for the coaches convention during Final Four week, housing all the big names who weren't coaching in the games — Robert Dale Morgan is sure of what makes Houston such a lure.

    Morgan, the president and executive director of the 2011 Houston Final Four LOC, held a similar position for Houston's 2004 Super Bowl and many credit his vision with helping the city see its big sports event potential, with a Super Bowl, Major League Baseball All-Star Game, NBA All-Star Game, Major League Soccer All-Star Game and now a Final Four all having been held here since 2004. Not that Morgan wants that recognition.

    He chooses to sit in the crowd rather than on the stage at the wrap-up press conference. He probably could have blended in to, wearing a Houston Final Four hat with his suit, if so many people on the stage didn't point him out. Bob Beauchamp, chairman of the Houston Final Four LOC, calls Morgan, "the best in the business."

    "Having six million people who care," Morgan says in explaining how Houston's positioned itself as the host city with the most. "Having a dozen Fortune 500 companies. And oh by the way, we have really great weather 300 days out of the year."

    Trash Talk Between Friends

    Houston hands off the Final Four to New Orleans, next year's host. The transition is a bit of intentional symbolism by the NCAA which wants to recognize how closely the two cities are linked and the Bayou City's role in helping after Hurricane Katrina.

    This will be the fifth Final Four that New Orleans has hosted and the city's LOC executive director John Koerner can't help but point out to Houston, the new city in "the rotation," how great every one of the NCAA Championship Games held in the Big Easy has been.

    "New Orleans has hosted some of the most memorable finals ever," Koerner says. "We had Michael Jordan's shot, Keith Smart's shot, Chris Webber's infamous timeout and Hakim Warrick's block at the buzzer."

    And from its first Final Four, Houston has? Well, a whole lot of clangs — and Butler's record-low 18.8 percent shooting.

    Not that anyone in the NCAA is holding it against the Bayou City. The organization credentialed 1,387 media members for this Final Four, loved the visibility brought about by having it in one of the America's biggest cities. Even if you have to wonder how much everyone was into it locally. The TV rating in Houston for the unsightly Butler-UConn national championship game only ranked 30th out of the 56 major media markets.

    Shaheen's not dwelling on that. Instead, he's sticking around Houston to take in more of the city without the pressures of the mega event.

    "I don't have a flight home," Shaheen says, knowing that Southwest Airlines' grounded jets have made it much harder than usual to land one last minute. "So I'll be staying here two, three, four, five more days. I may be looking to get an apartment and just become a resident."

    Shaheen laughs. Who says NCAA suits don't have a sense of humor?

    When they are happily in Houston, they sure do.

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