THE LATEST LINE: CAN UCONN PULL SHOCKER VS. DUKE?

My NCAA Tournament bracket took some serious hits along the way, but Duke and Connecticut -- the teams I picked to battle for the national championship -- are still standing.

Not that I had any kind of divine wisdom in making those selections. Entering the tournament, Duke was the heavy favorite to win it all and UConn was probably the best bet to come out of the other half of the bracket.

Still, it sets up an interesting matchup in Monday night's title contest between two of the most talented teams in the nation and the two squads that spent by far the most time ranked first in the national polls.

Duke -- hands down the country's most talented team, with as many as seven potential NBA players on its roster -- has only one loss, that coming early in the season.

UConn has lost just twice, once when the splendid Richard Hamilton was injured.

The best team often fails to win the national title because of the very nature of the single-elimination format that makes the tournament so exciting. And it's very rare that the country's two best teams ever advance to the finals.

But that has happened this time. And Duke vs. UConn should provide quite an entertaining matchup because both teams are loaded with tremendous athletes and like to push the ball relentlessly.

I'm expecting a close, highly competitive game. And I can see UConn winning if a lot of things fall right for the Huskies.

Ultimately, however, look for the Blue Devils to cut down the nets.

* Even the most optimistic fans of the St. Louis Cardinals have got to be mighty worried right now about the state of the Redbirds' pitching staff.

I wasn't all that high on the Cardinals' mound corps to begin with, but now that Matt Morris is out for season and Alan Benes is still hurting, St. Louis could be in some serious trouble.

Donovan Osborne heading up the staff doesn't exactly lend itself to feeling very cozy about things.

Of course, the NL Central as a whole doesn't look all that hot, so the Cardinals still should be in the title chase.

* Area high school coaches continue to drop like flies as Notre Dame's Chris Janet and Scott County Central's Todd Porter announced their resignations last week.

Janet and Porter are both good guys and had solid overall records coaching boys basketball at their schools.

In Porter's case, he simply could not live up to the lofty standards of all those state championship banners hanging in the gym. Given the circumstances, having to take over for legendary coach Ronnie Cookson, it's doubtful anybody could have truly succeeded in that situation.

As for Janet, who will remain as Notre Dame's athletic director, he simply didn't have the talent the past few years to successfully navigate the killer schedule he always put together.

Had Janet elected to play most of the area's weaker teams instead of all those larger schools, the Bulldogs no doubt would have won close to 20 games this year -- and some of those idiotic critics who permeate the area prep scene would have probably been singing his praises.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian