FanHouse MattBouldin

North Carolina has been established as the tournament favorite by the odds makers. But before we blaze a path for them into the Final Four (or even the Elite Eight), perhaps we should take a quick trip down memory lane.

The Tar Heels and the Bulldogs have a fairly interesting history together. One that people are drawing on when looking at Friday's game.

Gonzaga and St. Mary's opened the WCC tournament final with Matt Boldin shooting a pair of technical free throws after the Gaels' Omar Samhan dunked in warmups.

That turned out to be the highlight of St. Mary's evening.

The Gaels were looking to make a big splash against the Bulldogs on national television and they did. Just not the splash they were looking to make. This game was a worst-case scenario for a team looking to go to the Dance, like an acne outbreak on prom night. St. Mary's made it's case for the NCAA tournament. The only problem was, that case was, "Please don't take us."

Now the only question is, does St. Mary's deserve an at-large bid?

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Gonzaga and St. Mary's opened the WCC tournament final with Matt Boldin shooting a pair of technical free throws after the Gaels' Omar Samhan dunked in warmups.

That turned out to be the highlight of St. Mary's evening.

The Gaels were looking to make a big splash against the Bulldogs on national television and they did. Just not the splash they were looking to make. This game was a worst-case scenario for a team looking to go to the Dance, like an acne outbreak on prom night. St. Mary's made it's case for the NCAA tournament. The only problem was, that case was, "Please don't take us."

Now the only question is, does St. Mary's deserve an at-large bid?

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Gonzaga was widely regarded as one of the two remaining speed bumps as Memphis continues its march toward an undefeated season, and today the Tigers dispatched of the Bulldogs, making yet another clear statement that they're the best team in college basketball.

The 81-73 win didn't come easy for Memphis, as Gonzaga played a very strong first half and kept things interesting most of the way through. Memphis coach John Calipari said after the game, "On a neutral court, they'd probably beat us." But Memphis, led by 21 points from Chris Douglas-Roberts and 19 from Derrick Rose, was clearly the better team.

The one player who kept it close for Gonzaga was guard Jeremy Pargo, who scored a game-high 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Matt Bouldin, however, was a huge disappointment. He made a couple of late baskets but did basically nothing all day and finished with six points on 2-of-9 shooting.

Memphis will stay No. 1, and now the question is this: Will anyone beat them? You can never rule out an upset, but there just isn't a team in Conference USA that seems likely to even threaten Memphis, let alone pull off a shocker. That means the Tigers' Feb. 23 date with Tennessee might be the last opportunity for anyone to stop Memphis before March.

Every year Cinderella captures our hearts in the NCAA Tournament. They begin fittings for their glass slippers in November, though. They Do Not Come From Nowhere introduces you to the teams that will be busting brackets nationwide come March.

Our first potential Cinderella is no stranger to the Big Dance. Mark Few has taken the Bulldogs to the ball in each of the last nine seasons. They no longer have to remind people how to pronounce the school's name or rely on the memory of John Stockton to tell people that they've been around a good long while. Still, they play in the West Coast Conference and are thus consigned to mid-majordom.

They return two talented guards in Jeremy Pargo and Matt Bouldin which means they won't miss departed leading scorer Derek Raivio all that much. Throw in Micah Downs and you have a typical Few team. They fill it up from the outside, move the ball well and put up points in bunches. Typically Few's teams also struggle defensively and that may be where this year's version surpasses recent versions.

The freshman Austin Daye is 6'10" with a 7'5" wingspan and could make life difficult on the perimeter for shooters used to open looks at the Bulldog hoop. He has eight blocks in his first two games and adds a new dimension to their defense. He's their leading scorer to boot and could be a major factor come tournament time.