The Horns always felt they could beat Duke.
It was there to be won. A tip here, a shot there. That’s the thing that’ll haunt these Texas Longhorns.
"We’ve got ’em right where we want ’em," Rick Barnes told his players in those crazy final minutes.
Later, he would salute their resolve and toughness.
"We never flinched," he said.
They hung in until the bitter end...
Damion James already had been banged so hard on his left arm that the pain in his nerve caused him to collapse at the scorer’s table. He’d missed a couple of shots and just been whistled for a pivotal foul.
So when he put up a 3-point attempt from the right corner in the final minute of the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night, he had one thought:
“Something good,” James said, “had to happen.”
Another award for Brian Orakpo. Orakpo received the Ted Hendricks Award for the best defensive end in college football.
The Cleveland Browns like Brian Orakpo.
The Browns signed six players in the early stages of free agency - four of them that played under coach Eric Mangini with the Jets - but none of them fills the need of a pass rusher.
Brian Orakpo was a defensive end at Texas, but at 6-31/2, 255 pounds, he would be an outside linebacker in the 3-4 defense the Browns play.
The Browns had 17 sacks in 2008, the second fewest in the NFL. Orakpo had 11.5 sacks as a senior last fall. When he spoke to reporters at the Scouting Combine in February he said he wants to pick up where he left off when he gets to the NFL.
"In a perfect world, I would just want to rush the passer first through fourth down," Orakpo said. "I want to go to a team that needs a pass rusher."
Take a number. Barking Carnival has issues with the refs in the game against Duke. And if you like beating your head against a wall, then you will enjoy the Duke post mortem.
CBSSports' Gary Parrish thinks Duke gets it done when it counts.
All that happened in the final 80 seconds, helped turn a 67-67 game into a 74-69 final margin and push Duke to the Sweet 16. Was it as impressive as what North Carolina did to LSU? No. Was it as impressive as what UConn did to Texas A&M? No. Was it as impressive as what Memphis did to Maryland? No. But this Duke team isn't like any of those teams, because this Duke team can't run by you (like UNC), dominate you physically (like UConn) or overwhelm you defensively (like Memphis). Instead, these Blue Devils must sink shots (7-of-14 on 3-pointers against Texas) and make what industry folks call "winning basketball plays" to get by, and because they did both this weekend they are now just a win over Villanova from advancing to their first Elite Eight in five years.
Basketball
Congratulations to the Sooners, Jayhawks and Tigers. Griffin and OU are heading for the Sweet 16. Missouri and Kansas made it, as well.
More love for Blake Griffin from CBSSports' Dennis Dodd.
That's our job. Deadspin has some fun at the Aggies' expense.
Football
How many Sooners does it take to use Google? SoonerSports has used GoogleMaps to plot all the high school stadiums of the 85 student-athletes currently on the Oklahoma football roster.
The Sooners need to replace the safety tandem of Nic Harris and Lendy Holmes. Quniton Carter wants one of those jobs.
Oklahoma's Quinton Carter spends his spare time watching old game tape of past Sooner safeties. His favorite, without a doubt, is Roy Williams.
"He was like perfect," Carter said. "Every rep he took, he went hard."
Carter tries to emulate what Williams did into his own performance. That shows whenever Carter is standing over another broken ballcarrier.
Is Oklahoma State now a defensive threat under new defensive coordinator Bill Young? From Matt Hayes and Dave Curtis, Sporting News:
Curtis: Not against the Longhorns and the Sooners, which is really all that matters when it comes to championships and the Big 12. Mike Gundy pumped his defense throughout 2008, and the group showed promise after some nice efforts against Missouri and Texas. But it gave up 56 at Texas Tech, 61 at Oklahoma, and 42 to Oregon in the Holiday Bowl. The Cowboys lose both defensive tackles and both starting safeties and still will need to outscore the best teams they play.
Hayes: No question. Young has proved his worth everywhere he has been, most recently at Miami and Kansas. It will be a lot easier than you think in Stillwater. The Cowboys have talent on defense, and some experienced direction and an understanding of the Big 12 -- remember KU's defense in 2007? -- will go a long way. Frankly, it can't get much worse: In the last three seasons, Oklahoma State has finished 93rd (2008), 101st (2007)and 89th (2006) in total defense.
The Cowboys may not have enough to jump past Texas and Oklahoma, but they certainly can get to the point where they're this year's Texas Tech -- and that means beating one of the two league heavyweights.
Nebraska found some magic last season.
The best part about comeback magic is that sometimes it can't be explained.
Nebraska found something that worked last year after four seasons of comebacks that never happened. The Huskers won two games they trailed at halftime, two others in which they were tied.
Nothing overwhelming, but at least a start for a program that was 0-17 under Bill Callahan when it faced a halftime deficit.
Have they completely given up football? According to the AggieAthltics.com on Sunday, March 22, at 7:45 P.M., there are absolutely no scheduled events for the A&M football team. At least that great football facility was being put to good use during the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. From AD Bill Byrne's weekly letter:
I heard great things about our ability to use the football practice area for warm-up, medical services, media interviews, organizing athletes for each event, and team meeting areas. In the hours prior to the start of the meet, we were still using the facility for football workouts, and I commend Clint Netherland and his staff at The Zone Club for transforming the venue in time to welcome the athletes.
Austinite and Kansas quarterback Todd Ressing wants to improve on last year's success.
ESPN's Tim Griffin looks at the Big 12 North flagship programs. A few actually have footbal listed.
The headline says it all. Weighty issues could hurt Javorskie Lane in NFL Draft. Lane should have listened to CSTV's Brian Jones last year.
We are all smart in Texas. Georgia's Matthew Stafford (from Highland Park High School, Dallas, Texas) scored a 38 on the Wonderlic test.
The Orlando Sentinel looks at the issue of NCAA penalties.
Hit schools where it hurts: in the checkbook.
The NCAA screams about the arms race in college athletics. Schools spend too much money on athletic facilities, it says. They're escalating coaching salaries too high, it says. Budget trends are non-sustainable, it says.
Well, OK. Force schools that cheat to cut back. Fine them. The bigger the penalty, the bigger the fine.
Fine them and put all of a school year's fines into an escrow account to pay for NCAA initiatives that will benefit athletes and schools that don't cheat.
The Sooners do not need a bailout. OU athletics is a multi-million dollar enterprise.
Bob Stoops' fence issues are back in the news.
Bevo's Daily Roundup will be posted only on Monday and Thursday until August. Once the Horns start practice for next season, we will be a daily post again. There just isn't enough news right now to warrant a daily post unless you want to cite all the stories about Lane Kiffin or SEC players getting busted for some crime or another. (Frankly, I don't give a rat's ass about the SEC... until we are playing Florida for the BCS title.) If something interesting comes up, I'll post it. Or if things pick up earlier, say July, we'll start our daiIy routine again.
Football season cannot get here fast enough.