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When Bob Huggins took the head coaching gig at Kansas State, it might have made bigger news in Cincinnati than Manhattan, Kansas. It certainly didn’t send significant shock waves throughout the college basketball landscape.

Well, that all changed yesterday when Huggins hired Dalonte Hill away from Charlotte and most likely stole Michael Beasley away from the 49ers. Beasley, a 6-foot-9 monster, will be a nice addition to Huggins’ cadre of talent and will make K-State a Big 12 contender in the coming season. Though the deal isn’t final, the writing is on the wall.

Huggins is about to turn to the Wildcats into an NCAA hoops power, and the Kansas State administration seems to have no qualms with the way Huggins conducts his business. When it’s all said and done, don’t be surprised to see Huggins back on top as one of the most hated men in college basketball.

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Before Gonzaga and UW-Milwaukee become modern Cinderella stories, the 1990 Xavier Musketeers, as a No. 6 seed, topped the No. 3 Georgetown Hoyas 74-71 to advance to the Regional Semis before falling to No. 10 Texas. In 2004, Xavier reached the Regional Final as a No. 7 seed, falling to No. 1 Duke 66-63 after upsetting No. 2 Mississippi State and No. 3 Texas. So it really should be no surprise that Xavier, even as a No. 14 gave the No. 3 Gonzaga Bulldogs more than they could handle in Thursday’s first round matchup in the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

Despite the 79-75 loss and Adam Morrison’s 35 points, the Muskies showed the Zags are probably headed for another one of their dissapointing tournament performances.

Cincinnati.com’s Dustin Dowd blogged the game over at Blogs @ Cincinnati.com. Check it out to see what he had to say about Xavier’s tough loss.

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Make no mistake - Gerry McNamara and the Orangemen took UC’s NCAA Tournament berth when McNamara hopped, skipped, and stroked the game-winning three-pointer Wednesday afternoon in the Bearcats’ first-round matchup against Syracuse. Had Syracuse’s improbable run ended the next day against UConn, coach Andy Kennedy and the overacheiving Bearcats wouldn’t be waiting on the winner of the Charlotte-Georgia Southern matchup. They’d be packing their bags for the Big Dance.

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