A TENNESSEE VOL IN NCAA TOURNEY?
Well, yes. At least a former Vol. When Hampton meets Kentucky tonight in Louisville's Yum! Center, former UT player Quinton Chievous will be a big key to any chance the school has to become the first No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1 seed. Chievous scored 15 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in his team's play-in game win over Manhattan on Tuesday night in Dayton, Oh., then told the media of facing Big Blue: "Just going in with a great mindset. Don't be intimidated."
That's just what Hampton coach Edward Joyner Jr. wanted to hear. Said Joyner of Chievous in a Lexington-Herald Leader story on Wednesday: "I hope he won't be awed. We definitely don't need him to be. I think it could be huge for us because he can talk to the other guys about how to understand the moment."
WILL EXPERIENCE MATTER?
The average playing experience for St. John's is 2.36 years, the most of any team in the field, according to KenPom.com. Overall No. 1 seed Kentucky is the youngest team in the field at .74 years of experience. The next four least-experienced teams are UAB, Kansas, Indiana and Duke. The most experienced teams after St. John's are Wyoming, Texas Southern, Ole Miss and Georgia State.
WILL HISTORY REPEAT?
Kentucky fans are no doubt happy to know that UK's path to the Final Four in Indianapolis will begin tonight in Louisville's Yum! Center against Hampton. Three years ago, the Wildcats also played their first two games in the Yum Center on their way to hanging NCAA banner No. 8 in 2012.
But Duke can possibly top that been-there/done-that department. Just as in 2010, when the Blue Devils won their last national championship, the Dookies began the tourney as a No. 1 seed with four losses that faced a regional final weekend in Houston and a Final Four in Indy.
BURSTING WITH BRACKETS
The number of people filling out brackets only continues to grow. This year, American Gaming Association projects that 40 million Americans will fill out more than 70 million brackets -- that's more brackets completed than ballots cast for President Obama in the 2012 election.
Of course, anyone filling out those brackets might want to steer clear of Obama's picks. After guessing right on 2009 champ North Carolina during his first year in office, the President's picked the wrong champ every year since. That can't make Kentucky fans feel good this morning, since Obama chose the Wildcats to win it all on Wednesday on ESPN.
THE REAL ORIGIN OF MARCH MADNESS
Though most believe either the NCAA or CBS came up with the phrase "March Madness," it was actually first coined in 1939 by Henry V. Porter, the Illinois High School Association secretary and a former high school coach.
In an essay titled "March Madness," Porter wrote: "A little March madness may complement and contribute to sanity and help keep society on an even keel."
IHSA trademarked the term in 1989 and still owns the branding on the high school level. After contentious legal battles, the NCAA acquired a license in 1996 to use "March Madness" after CBS sportscaster Brent Musburger first uttered the term during the NCAA tournament coverage in the late 1980s.