THE LATEST LINE: NCAA TOURNAMENT GETS OFF TO A WILD, WACKY START

They don't call it March Madness for nothing.

The NCAA Tournament has long been known for being a crazy, unpredictable event featuring favored, high-profile teams suffering early-round upsets at the hands of unheralded, little-known squads.

But never have things been wackier than they were Thursday and Friday as the latest edition of the roundball extravaganza got under way in earnest.

When all of the 32 first-round games had been played, it was hard to tell the so-called superpowers of college basketball from the mid-majors (count Southeast Missouri State University as a member of that latter group).

The early carnage included 13 lower seeds prevailing. That's the most opening-round victories by teams seeded ninth or lower since the event expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Talk about some bruised egos by the supposed big boys of college hoops.

How do you think No. 2 seed Iowa State felt after being stunned by No. 15 Hampton? I'm not sure the Cyclones had ever even heard of the Pirates, who have only been Division I for a few years and play in one of the nation's lowest-rated leagues, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

The MEAC is so lightly regarded, if SEMO had brought Hampton to the Show Me Center for a game this season, some of those local morons who know nothing about college basketball but like to rip the Indians' schedule would have thrown a fit about the Tribe playing such a weak opponent.

What do you suppose Wake Forest of the big, bad Atlantic Coast Conference was thinking at halftime, when it trailed Butler 43-10?

That the No. 7 Demon Deacons lost to the No. 10 Bulldogs was probably no great shock to people who follow the sport, but down by 33 points after 20 minutes? Against a team that hadn't won an NCAA tourney game since 1962? Who'd have thunk it?

And those were just two of the so-called upsets (we really shouldn't even call them that anymore) from an opening round that also featured No. 13 Kent beating No. 4 Indiana, No 13 Indiana State defeating No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 12 Utah State knocking off No. 5 Ohio State and No. 12 Gonzaga -- how were the Zags seeded that low considering their recent tournament history? -- downing No. 5 Virginia.

In addition, many other first-round games that heavily favored teams won went down to the wire, making for a delicious early smorgasbord of basketball that only figures to get better as the tournament progresses.

It's all a part of what makes the NCAA tourney the best sporting event in the land.

• I don't know about you, but I've already tossed my NCAA bracket in the trash can.

But at least my Final Four picks are all still alive, although for how long remains to be seen.

I tabbed Duke, Michigan State, Arizona and Maryland to be the last teams standing, with Duke beating Arizona in the title game.

• The events of the past several days that saw Terry Rogers and Bobby Smith charged with felonies are disturbing and disappointing, but I hope people aren't going to hold SEMO's basketball program directly responsible.

Under coach Gary Garner, who took over the basketball program four years ago, Indian players have, by and large, been high-character individuals. The same is true for just about every SEMO sports team.

But -- and I'm reserving judgment on Rogers and Smith until the legal system runs its course -- there is no fool-proof way in any walk of life to prevent certain things from happening.

Sports teams -- like work places -- try to attract the most talented and high-character individuals they can find. Coaches and bosses try to check out prospective players and employees as thoroughly as possible. They then hope they made the right decision.

Once somebody plays -- or works - for you, you can't be with them 24 hours a day. You just hope they turn out to be the kind of people you thought they were and they make the right decisions.

That doesn't always happen.

* One of the many reports on KFVS-TV regarding the Rogers/Smith cases referred to Rogers as the team's star center.

Since when did a guy who averaged 4.9 points per game in primarily a reserve role and played little over the last few weeks of the season become classified as a star?

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