Kansas State is back in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season and fifth time in six years. Here are five things to know about the Wildcats: 1. Rodney McGruder leads the team in scoring. MCGRUDER! He averages 15.7 points per game, and 5.4 rebounds per game, and like the “McGruber” SNL skit, he can explode in a hurry. 2. They share the ball well. The Wildcats rank 13th in the nation in assists per game (16.0). Point guard Angel Rodriguez
Oklahoma State is into the Big Dance as a No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region. Here are five things to know about the Cowboys: 1. Point guard Marcus Smart nearly has Jason Kidd numbers. Seriously. The freshman is averaging 15.4 points per game, 5.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.9 steals. Kidd’s numbers as a freshman: 13 points, 5 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 3.8 steals. In other news… 2. Smart is the Big 12 Player of the Year. He carried Oklahoma State
The Kansas Jayhawks won the Big 12 championship and will be making their 25th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, more than any other team in the nation. Here are five things to know about the Jayhawks: 1. They’ve won nine straight Big 12 titles. Kansas dominates that league like no other. The Jayhawks have also won nine of the 17 Big 12 tournaments that have been played, including six of the past eight. They dominate the Big 12 like 2. Their numbers are
La Salle is back in the NCAA Tournament after receiving an at-large bid on Sunday. It’s been a long while since the Explorers crashed the Big Dance, but they have a rich tournament history. Here are five things you probably didn’t know about La Salle: 1. This is the Explorers’ first NCAA appearance since 1992. Most of the players on the roster weren’t even born yet, as scary as that fact may be. In fact, La Salle has won exactly two
Wichita State earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, marking the second straight year and third time since 2006 that the Shockers will go dancing. Here are five things you probably didn’t know about the Wichita State Wheat Shockers: 1. They’ve got some great NCAA Tournament history. Wichita State reached the Final Four in 1965, losing to eventual champ UCLA. The Shockers shocked everyone in 1981 by knocking off in-state rival Kansas in a regional semifinal and moving on
Creighton punched its ticket to the Big Dance by winning the Missouri Valley conference championship. The Bluejays will be making their 18th appearance all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Here are five things you probably didn’t know about Creighton: 1. Coach’s son Doug McDermott is one of the best players in the country. Doug, who is the son of head coach Greg McDermott, ranks second in the nation in scoring at 23.1 points per game. He’s also pulling down 7.5 rebounds per
Temple earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. The Owls will make their sixth consecutive NCAA appearance this season. Here are five things you may not have known about Temple: 1. They’re a Jekyll-and-Hyde team. The Owls own some terrific wins (Syracuse, Saint Louis, Villanova) and some puzzling losses (Canisius, St. Bonaventure). Temple has the talent to make a deep run in the tournament, but they’re going to have to start playing more like Jekyll in order to
Bracket-busting Virginia Commonwealth is back in the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year after earning an at-large berth out of the Atlantic 10. You may know that VCU advanced to the 2011 Final Four as an 11-seed, but here are five things you probably didn’t know about the Rams: 1. VCU is a Spike Lee joint. The precocious director visited one of the team’s practices earlier this season while he was on campus to speak at an assembly. He also