Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Fun Facts
From a brief guide to winning your office pool without ever having heard of Jameer Nelson, Josh Childress or Raymond Felton.Mascots: Look for mascots that match the nicknames for states. Tar Heels (North Carolina), Jayhawks (Kansas), Badgers (Wisconsin), Hoosiers (Indiana), etc. More than a quarter of the past 100 Final Four teams fall into this category.
Tuition prices: Stick with the public schools. Last year was an anomaly with two private schools in the Final Four -- the first time since 1989. Of the past 100 Final Four representatives, 78 have been public institutions and Duke took nine of the remaining 22 spots.
Colors: Purple, brown and green uniforms are the most troublesome. In the past 25 years, green's only saving grace has been Michigan State. Brown hasn't seen a Final Four since St. Bonaventure in 1970 and LSU has been the torchbearer for purple with two Final Fours in the past 25 years.
Hoop havens: Basketball-crazed states North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana and Kansas live up to their reputations in the Big Dance. A whopping 39 of the past 100 Final Four teams hail from the Big Four. Just once since 1979 has at least one of the four not been represented in a Final Four.
