How'd we do?

Sporting News, The, March 18, 1996

We like to fancy ourselves as sports experts at THE SPORTING NEWS. Well, with the NCAA Tournament under way, we thought it would be fun to look back at our College Basketball Yearbook, where we forecast the 64 teams in the Big Dance, and see how smart we are.

Anytime we make predictions, we open ourselves to myriad "I told you so's" and "What were you thinking?"

Despite the prospect for embarrassment, we forge ahead with this hopefully painless self-examination.

The 22 teams we missed

Rank Comment 32 Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets struggled early, then jelled. 54 Clemson: We had 'em MT-bound. But maybe they should be. 55 Georgia: We shouldn't have underestimated Tubby Smith. 61 Tulsa: We had Golden Hurricane slotted for the NIT. Sorry, guys. 63 George Washington: The Colonials can go inside or outside. 77 Penn State: We knew about the backcourt; the frontcourt duped us. 78 Texas: The young Longhorns were supposed to be in the NIT. 79 Canisius: We said NIT. The Golden Griffins said NCM. They were right. 94 Virginia Commonwealth: The Rams claimed the Colonial bid by three points. 104 Boston College: We thought the Eagles would be postseason-less. 111 Kansas State: Tom Asbury wasn't supposed to do this with the Wildcats. 126 Montana State: The Big Sky door was wide open and the Bobcats walked in. 134 Iowa State: The Cyclones perhaps were the biggest

surprise in the nation. 144 Eastern Michigan: We picked the Eagles fifth in the MAC. Instead, they dominated. 166 Portland: Santa Clara let us down. No one had the Pilots winning the WCC. 170 Northern Illinois: Wisconsin-Green Bay's misstep opened the door. 171 Davidson: This senior-laden team ran the table in its league. 177 Mississippi Valley State: We just missed, pegging Delta Devils for second. 178 Western Carolina: They earned it by giving Davidson its first Southern loss. 197 South Carolina State: Surprise! The Bulldogs took it from Fang's Gang. 220 San Jose State: The Spartans picked right time to get hot in the Big West. 242 Central Florida: Maybe a losing record is key in the TAAC tourney.