It happens nearly every year: an unheralded player, maybe from a school few people know about, goes on a scoring tear or single-handedly carries his team through a couple of rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Two years ago, little Stephen Curry from Davidson dashed his way through the bracket, shooting the Wildcats past Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin on the way to the regional finals.
There was Wally Szczerbiak taking Miami (Ohio) to the 1999 Sweet Sixteen, Bo Kimble carrying Loyola Marymount into the 1990 regional finals after the death of Hank Gathers, Fennis Dembo hoisting Wyoming to the regional semis in 1987. Perhaps the greatest one-man show was Larry Bird in 1979, leading Indiana State to the title game against Magic Johnson and Michigan State.
So who could be this year's Curry, Kimble or Bird? The guys who aren't Evan Turner, Sherron Collins, John Wall or Scottie Reynolds.
All games on CBS-Ch. 12
TODAY
12:20 P.M.: Florida vs. BYU
2:30: Murray State vs. Vanderbilt
7:15: East Tennessee vs. Kentucky
9:45: San Diego State vs. Tennessee
FRIDAY
12:25 P.M.: Minnesota vs. Xavier
2:35: Missouri vs. Clemson
7:15: Georgia Tech vs. Oklahoma State
9:40: Houston vs. Maryland
Numerous Web sites offer automatically updated scores and news from tournament play. CBS will offer live video of every game online for free at CBSsports.com.
The video player used to show the games online comes with a special feature called the "boss button." Last year's version allowed viewers watching at work to make one click to simultaneously hide the video feed and produce a fake spread sheet to give the appearance of an employee hard at work.
Recent developments in social media, and its increase in popularity, add a unique experience to the tournament. Several college basketball players and coaches regularly give updates directly to the public from their Twitter accounts, including Kentucky coach John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari), Kansas coach Bill Self (@CoachBillSelf), Gonzaga guard Matt Bouldin (@mattbouldin15) and Ohio State forward Mark Titus (@clubtrillion).
-- Billy Byler, staff writer
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