How that feel: you watch in wonder. You watch and wonder. What's it like to get hit in the eye with a puck? Almost throw a perfect game ? Be a long snapper?

Sporting News, The, July 12, 2004

Another thing I'll remember: We usually have one guy from our local paper who talks to us after games. In Salem, there were press conferences, with long tables and microphones, and there were 20 to 30 reporters there. Even though it's Division III, it still felt like the big time.

In the title game, with the score tied, we got a rebound with about 13 seconds left. Coach called out a high-low set, and we were patient, didn't panic. I got pushed off the block, so I caught the ball facing the basket, about 12 feet away, on the right side. I faked left, then faded away on my right foot. The ball swished through the net. I looked up at the clock, and there were only 0.2 seconds left. I ended up on the bottom of a pile, but I could breathe, so it felt great.

When we got back to campus, we had a rally at the school, and we invited the whole community. That's when it started to sink in. It gets sweeter every day. I live with two teammates, Brian Bauer and Keven Bradley, and we're like, "We're the big dogs now." My other two roommates, Brett Maxwell and Ryan McMillen, play football, and they tell us all the time, "You guys are national champs!"

At my home in Huntley, Ill., my brother, Bradley, and I have five or six shelves apiece that hold all of our trophies. I put a little strand of the net that I got from Salem on one of the shelves, and it will always remind me of what we accomplished. We may come from a little place, but we're NCAA champions.--Kyle Veltrop

... to replace Eli Manning?

By Michael Spurlock Mississippi junior quarterback

It's a different feeling because it's a dream that I've had for a while. A dream that was vague, but now it's going to be very clear very soon. From the day I signed with Ole Miss, I knew it would eventually be like this.

People would tell me I'm crazy, that I'm not going to play for three years and I'll have to follow Eli after that. I don't think I could've gone anywhere else and get the experience that I've gotten by being behind him, playing behind him and learning behind him. It's hard to sit on the bench, but if you're on the bench behind the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, that's not too bad.

I think I have everyone's respect right now. At first, the older guys didn't really want to listen to one of the younger guys, especially a guy who is starting for the first time. But after spring practice, after we realized that we wanted to show that this team is more than Eli, things started to fall into place. I told them the train doesn't stop here, and that pushed some buttons and things started rolling.

I'm always going to be the guy who followed Eli. You can't be annoyed by it; you have to make the best of it. I've been asked about following Eli so many different ways, I just figure I'll have fun with it and come up with different answers every time. People here will never forget him. But if we win the SEC, we can make our own history.--Matt Hayes

... to score 50 when you average 17.37

By Jamal Crawford Bulls guard

The weird thing about the game was, it was near the end of the season and one of the reporters, Roman Modroski from the Sun-Times, told me it was going to be his last game covering the beat. So he joked with me and said, "Why don't you go score 50?" I just laughed and joked back. "That's nothing. I've scored like that before"