Daily Vanguard

March 20th, 2008

Final thoughts

It’s a couple hours before tip-off here in Omaha. The team held a closed practice session this morning to go through final preparations before taking on Kansas, the No. 1 seed Midwest region juggernaut.

If you follow college basketball or have been tuning in to the Vanguard’s online Midwest Regional coverage, it’s likely you know the important stats, the key matchups, and the long odds Portland State faces this morning.

Here’s another number for Portland State fans to keep in mind: 92. The significance? As Vikings beat writer Tim Foster notes in his game preview, the NCAA held its first postseason basketball tournament in 1939. The NCAA expanded the field to 65 teams in 1985. All-time, No. 16 seeds are 0-92 against No. 1 seeds. Long odds, indeed.

At least Kansas fans are aware of the Vikings and seem to respect them, at least as much as you can respect a team dancing for the first time in March. Last night an older couple stopped by and chatted with us while we were eating a late dinner in downtown Omaha.

The couple, decked out in Jayhawks paraphernalia, knew Portland State and complimented the Vikings on a great year. And unlike some rabid fans that predicted an 80-point blowout as Portland State went through its open practice yesterday, these two were well aware of their team’s ability to underachieve from time to time.

They noted several disappointing tourney appearances by Kansas in recent years, and also a rough stretch for the team this year where they went 4-3 with losses to Kansas State, Texas and Oklahoma State. All three losses came on the road. In March, for mid-major schools, hope comes in small doses.

The Qwest Center is sold out for the Portland State-Kansas game and the atmosphere should be unlike anything most of the Vikings players have ever experienced. Win or lose, it is a momentous and historic day for the program and the university. And that’s an understatement. The Vanguard’s advice? Enjoy it, Vikings fans. It gets no better than this. Check back later for live blogging once the game begins at 9:25 a.m. PT.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 7:18 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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