NCAA Tournament: Lesser-Known Teams Play Big To Crack Field of 65

Senior Writer Written on March 13, 2008

Former Gonzaga University assistant basketball coach Bill Grier is dancing...literally.

In his first season as the head coach of the University of San Diego, he has taken the Toreros to the NCAA tournament—their first since 2003—by beating his former team and perennial powerhouse Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Rob Jones and De'Jon Jackson keyed a huge second-half run for the Toreros, who stunned No. 20 Gonzaga 69-62 to win the West Coast Conference tournament championship game.

The Toreros will join Portland State in their foray into the NCAA field, as well as Belmont, Winthrop, George Mason, Cornell, Butler, Siena, Drake, Mount St. Mary's, Austin Peay, Davidson, Oral Roberts, and Western Kentucky.

March Madness never fails to deliver.

Everything the tournament is supposed to provide and then some is back: the hokey story lines, the buzzer-beaters, the little guys who are just happy to get into the Big Dance, and the end-of-the-bench understudies who capture a few seconds of fame.

The NCAA Tournament is and always will be pure sport and excitement.

www.rawsportsblog.com

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written on March 13, 2008 Sports

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