March madness special section
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THE KODAK MOMENT arrived without a camera in sight. It was in an area beneath the stands at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall on Saturday night, more than an hour after Temple beat Saint Joseph's for the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship.
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THREE WEEKS ago, there was a very good chance that no city team was going to be in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1977. Now, there are three.
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It still hasn't all sunk in for Temple. Less than 24 hours after defeating Saint Joseph's to win its first Atlantic 10 championship in 7 years in Atlantic City Saturday night, Temple was celebrating their 12th-seed selection for the NCAA Tournament at the Draught Horse on Selection Sunday.
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ROB FERGUSON was at the Embassy Suites near the Meadowlands to greet the team the night Saint Joseph's fell seconds short of the 2004 Final Four. Pat Calathes watched the last 10 minutes of that game at home in Florida, after playing in a high school all-star game.
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WHEN VILLANOVA walked out of the Palestra on Feb. 4, having lost to Saint Joseph's by 22 points, its NCAA Tournament aspirations didn't look, well, promising. It was the Wildcats' fifth consecutive loss, all by double digits. A team that had started 10-1 and was ranked in the top 20 had fallen to 13-8, 3-6 in the Big East. And they'd supposedly already played the softest portion of their conference schedule.
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A look at the East Region in the NCAA Tournament: My pick to win it: North Carolina. Tar Heels do not have to leave the state. They score more points than any team in the tournament. They are defending better. Ty Lawson's sprained ankle is much better. They played great down the stretch. They blew a big lead in the regional final to Georgetown a year ago. Too much talent, too much incentive.
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A look at the West Region in the NCAA Tournament: My pick to win it: A couple of weeks ago, I might have taken Connecticut. But now I'm kind of liking Xavier. At their best, the Musketeers have shown they can hang with just about anyone. Came real close in 2004 before losing to Duke in Final Eight. The Atlantic 10 will love Riverwalk. Hey, anyone can take UCLA.
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A look at the South Region in the NCAA Tournament: My pick to win it: Memphis has gotten to the Elite Eight the past two seasons, but couldn't make the jump to the Final Four. Texas has some homecourt advantage with the regional final being played in Houston. Not in love with Stanford. Pittsburgh is on a real roll. Temple? This is a tough one. Let's go with Texas.
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A look at the Midwest Region in the NCAA Tournament: My pick to win it: Went with Georgetown a year ago, and the Hoyas made me look good. And I like Bo Ryan. But it's just hard to go against the chalk. Bill Self finally makes a Final Four with Kansas, after getting close too many times.
- Virginia Tech and Arizona State are this year's Syracuse, and Hokies coach Seth Greenberg is suddenly sounding very much like Orange coach Jim Boeheim did last March.
- Local sprinters Latavia Thomas and Krista Simkins were among the stars at the NCAA Indoor Track championship meet at the University of Arkansas on Saturday. Thomas (West Catholic) won the women's 800 meters in 2 minutes, 5.7 seconds, and then ran the third leg on LSU's victorious 4 x 400-meter relay.
- One by one, North Carolina's players climbed onto the platform to snip a piece of the net to celebrate their Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship. There were plenty of smiles and laughter, yet the victory party seemed somehow subdued.
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