All eyes on Dickau at morning madness

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- At least Dan Dickau and his Gonzaga teammates caught one break in the West bracket -- they can sleep through Morning Madness.

Then again, they probably would prefer to play at the crack of dawn.

"It'd be great. You'd wake up, get right on the court and get going," Dickau said Wednesday before practice. "You wouldn't have to sit around all day, thinking about the game."

With his mop-top flying, shooting from all angles and scoring more than 20 points per game, Dickau might be the most fun college player to watch. The senior guard was picked for the All-America team this week.

"It's more a reflection of this team," he said. "People see that we play with passion and with a love for the game. I think that's why people identify with us and support us."

"I noticed it a little more this year," he said. "We had people rooting for us wherever we played."

Dickau and his Zags will have to wait before facing Wyoming today in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Because while they're shutting off their alarm clocks, Missouri and Miami already will be dealing with shot clocks.

Local tipoff time at The Pit for the Tigers-Hurricanes first-round game: 10:40 a.m.

"I've been kidding them, 'You better win or no one's even going to know you were in the tournament,"' Missouri coach Quin Snyder said Wednesday. "People will get up for breakfast -- 'Was Missouri in the tournament?"'

The early start, set up to help coordinate television coverage across the country, startled Miami guard John Salmons.

"When I first heard it, I was kind of surprised," Salmons said. "I didn't know it was even possible to play at 10:40 in the morning."

No. 4-seeded Ohio State (23-7) and Davidson (21-9) will follow that game, and then comes the night session with the players and teams sure to draw the most attention.

Dickau leads Gonzaga (29-3) against Wyoming (21-8), before No. 3-seeded Arizona (22-9) plays UC Santa Barbara (20-10).