Oklahoma State

Seed: No. 4.Record: 23-9Conference: Big Eight (10-4, second)Last NCAA Appearance: 1994, lost in 2nd round to Tulsa, 82-80.NCAA history: 21-12Rank: No. 14Highest rank: No. 14Players to watchBryant ReevesPosition: CenterHeight: 7-0Weight: 292Strengths: Big Country has worked to expand his repertoire of inside moves. He's one of the nation's premier low-post players (a 61.7 percent shooter from the field for his career) and a fierce rebounder.Randy RutherfordPosition: GuardHeight: 6-3Weight: 188Strengths: The Big Eight's all-time three-point shooter, Rutherford has taken the bigger role the Cowboys needed of him this season.

Oklahoma State got its statement win. Critics of the Cowboys had questioned whether they were worthy of playing for the national championship. Their 44-10 win over Oklahoma proved they are ready for the big time. LSU's defense is really, really good. Looking disinterested for most of the first half, the Tigers relied on a huge punt return by Tyrann Mathieu, then forced three Georgia turnovers in the second half, including a Morris Claiborne interception return for a touchdown, to cruise to a 42-10 win. The Big Ten title game was a rousing success.

Three years later, Temple's Mark Macon is back where he started. He's back among the college basketball elite, back in the NCAA's "Sweet 16," back at the Meadowlands.And the 21-year-old senior guard says he won't be haunted by memories of that fateful first visit to Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., a devastating 63-53 loss to Duke in the 1988 East Regional finals."I forgot it 15 minutes later," Macon says.He is certain to be reminded before the Owls tangle with Oklahoma State tomorrow night in the East Regional semifinals.

Things no one could have imagined a month ago: •Boise State losing its first conference game at home since 1998 on another botched last-second field-goal attempt. •Oregon tailback LaMichael James returning from a seemingly season-ending elbow dislocation to rush for 146 yards against Stanford and possibly wrest the Heisman Trophy away from Andrew Luck. •The Bowl Championship Series working out of the morass of undefeated teams to find itself with its best two tracking toward a Jan. 9 showdown for the national title in New Orleans.

STILLWATER, Okla. -- It was, as standing ovations go, rather modest. For sure, it couldn't match anything Eddie Sutton experienced while coaching at the University of Kentucky, where the annual Midnight Madness practice that marks the official start of the basketball season draws 10,000 fans.But as the boots-and-jeans crowd of 2,805 in Oklahoma State's Gallagher-Iba Arena rose to its feet last Wednesday to salute him before his first game as the school's coach, an exhibition against Banik Cigel of Czechoslovakia, Sutton felt something special.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Temple guard Mark Macon settled in overtime what he came so close to accomplishing in regulation.After missing a short jump hook shot just before the buzzer thawould have won the game, Macon scored eight of his team's first 10 points in overtime as No. 10 seed Temple defeated No. 3 seed Oklahoma State, 72-63, to advance to tomorrow's East Regional final against No. 1 seed North Carolina."

Football and fate become fickle and fantastic when you can suggest Boise State needs to offer Oklahoma trick plays this week to help the Sooners defeat Oklahoma State. How about the "Statue of Stillwater," a variation of a play Boise State once used to win a Fiesta Bowl? Maybe Ian Johnson could fly to Norman this week and make another proposal. There has to be something left in Boise's bag of miracles that might help Oklahoma. Sometimes, in college football, your interests change.

SEATTLE -- Big men and little men usually are the players who most determine national championships, especially once a team reaches the Final Four. Recent history tells us it's the team with the good little guys that usually wins.UCLA is one victory away from its first national championship in 20 years because the Bruins were able to stop Oklahoma State's Bryant Reeves down the stretch and the Cowboys weren't able to shut down Tyus Edney in yesterday's NCAA tournament semifinal at the Kingdome.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Oklahoma State is fully expecting to see Seton Hall's stellar point guard, Shaheen Holloway, on the court tonight, injured ankle and all. "I'd be surprised if Holloway doesn't play some," said Cowboys coach Eddie Sutton. "He's a senior. I know he wants to play. You never know about ankles. Sometimes, they do slow you down a little bit. He is a great player, and if he doesn't play, it hurts their ball club. But [Ty] Shine was a very good replacement the other day." "Personally, I think Holloway will play just because this is a big game and he's been through a lot as a senior," said Doug Gottlieb, the Oklahoma State point man. "I'm sure he'll be ready to go."

The teams Georgia Tech (27-9) The Yellow Jackets, the No. 3 seed in the St. Louis Regional, have won eight of their past nine games, and are in their first Final Four since 1990. They got here by beating fourth-seeded Kansas in overtime, 79-71. Oklahoma State (31-3) The Cowboys, the No. 2 seed in the East Rutherford Regional, have won 10 consecutive games and are in their first Final Four since 1995. They got here by beating top-seeded Saint Joseph's, 64-62. Backcourts Georgia Tech Sophomore point guard Jarrett Jack had the game of his life, scoring a career-high 29 points, including eight in overtime, to lead the Yellow Jackets over Kansas.

THURSDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS NASCAR Nationwide Series: Top Gear 300 (T) SPEEDNoon K&N Pro Series: Iowa (T) SPEED6 MLB Orioles@Seattle (T) MASN9:30 a.m. Pittsburgh@Mets MLB1 San Francisco@St. Louis MLB8 Washington@Arizona MASN9:30 C. base. SEC final: Florida vs. Vanderbilt (T) ESPNU7:30 MiLB Lehigh Valley@Gwinnett TCN7 NBA Finals Dallas@Miami: Gm. 2 2, 79 Dallas@Miami: Gm. 2 (T)

When the first Bowl Championship Series standings came out this week with Oklahoma ranked first, many people scratched their head — nothing new when it comes to the BCS, which should be sponsored by a dandruff shampoo. The computers must have missed Oklahoma's home opener against Utah State, and two other close games, but these things have a tendency to work out. Or become nightmares such as 2000, '01, '03, '04, '06 and '07. If you have reached the point where you can't trust any rankings, well, feel free also to distrust these.

And now a word from my colleagues. To piece together my mock draft version 2.0, I simulated a draft by calling, in order, newspaper writers who cover the first-round teams on a daily basis. Some results were surprising. Center Maurkice Pouncey went earlier than I expected, USC's Taylor Mays and Everson Griffen fell out of the first round and Dez Bryant was the only receiver chosen. Scribes, you are on the clock: 1. Rams: QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma. (pick by Jim Thomas, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Two days after winning the Bob Cousy Award given to the nation's top point guard, Maryland senior Greivis Vasquez picked up three additional honors. On Saturday, Vasquez was named a second-team All-American by the NCAA, earned a spot on the State Farm Coaches All-America second team, and was one of 10 players chosen for the Wooden Award All-American team. Vasquez was joined on the All-America second team by Cole Aldrich (Kansas), James Anderson (Oklahoma State), DeMarcus Cousins (Kentucky)

EAST REGIONAL Buffalo, N.Y. •2 West Virginia 77, 15 Morgan State 50 •10 Missouri 86, 7 Clemson 78 Jacksonville, Fla. •12 Cornell 78, 5 Temple 65 •4 Wisconsin 53, 13 Wofford 49 SOUTH REGIONAL Jacksonville, Fla. •1 Duke 73, 16 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 44 •8 California 77, 9 Louisville 62 ...

John Wall, G, Fr., Kentucky Might be the quickest player in the college game and could be the quickest selection in this year's NBA draft. Evan Turner, G-F, Jr., Ohio State Numbers are incredible – 19.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 54% shooting – and so is his propensity for coming up big at the end of games. Sherron Collins, G, Sr., Kansas Keeps the freshman-laden No. 1 Jayhawks going. He also shot hit 38 percent of his 3-point attempts.

Bad weather forced No. 18 Mississippi to postpone its game against Arkansas that was scheduled for Saturday afternoon. The game will instead be played Sunday night in Oxford, Miss. A winter weather system was passing through the mid-South on Friday, bringing snow and ice and making it difficult for Arkansas to travel to Mississippi. The winter weather that shut down Oklahoma City's airport also grounded the Oklahoma and Oklahoma State teams. Oklahoma State is scheduled to play at Missouri and Oklahoma is to play at Nebraska on Saturday.

Colleges Short-handed Okla. State defeats Coppin men, 79-61 James Anderson scored 26 points, Keiton Page added 20 points and host Oklahoma State relied on its outside shooting to beat Coppin State, 79-61, on Tuesday night without suspended forward Marshall Moses. Moses watched the game from the Cowboys' bench in a gray sweater after being charged earlier in the day with possession of marijuana and driving with a suspended license. Moses, who was averaging a double double, was arrested early Monday morning, and coach Travis Ford decided to make him sit out one game.