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Season Begins Now?

Dan Dakich noticed a lull during the shootaround schedule Thursday, so Indiana's interim coach had a little fun: He invited a few dozen young fans onto the court, placed them in the lane and knocked down free throws over their screams and waving hands.

Then, during the Hoosiers' practice, a manager walked along the lines, slapping high-fives while urging the players, ``Let's have fun with this.''

UCONN Takes on SD

San Diego coach Bill Grier came up with a couple of ways to prepare for 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet.

``We had one of our kids get on the shoulders of another one of our kids and practice all week, then we held brooms up all around,'' Grier said Thursday.

He was joking.

But his ideas may not have been too far fetched. The 13th-seeded Toreros (21-13) haven't faced anyone with Thabeet's size and shot-blocking ability - a major concern heading into Friday's first-round NCAA tournament game against No. 4 seeded Connecticut (24-8) in the West Region.

Familiar Territory

Georgetown can't help but feel like it's been here before. That's anything but the case for Maryland-Baltimore County.

Once again, the Hoyas are a No. 2 seed, and they're spending the first weekend of the NCAA tournament in North Carolina for a second straight year.

Time to Get Serious

Deon Thompson and his North Carolina teammates looked at home in their RBC Center locker room, so much so that it almost felt more like an Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season game than the start of the NCAA tournament.

The Tar Heels merely had to hop on a bus for a short ride east on Interstate 40 to an arena where they play every season against one of their biggest rivals.

Start of Something Big?

Having survived five close calls in the last two weeks, UCLA seemingly has it easy in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The top-seeded Bruins are favored by 32 points against 16th-seeded Mississippi Valley State.

History is on their side, too. No. 1 seeds are 92-0 against No. 16 seeds in the tournament.