The Madness begins tomorrow as 64 teams vie for the men's college basketball Div. I National Championship. The pre-tournament coverage-with enough expert predictions to make it feel as though the actual games are of secondary importance-has been ubiquitous enough to render pre-game Super Bowl coverage seemingly inadequate. You can hear from almost anyone at CBS and ESPN that UConn is the most talented squad and thus a favorite to advance to Indianapolis, Ind. as long as Marcus Williams stays healthy. Villanova, armed with a lethal and risky four-guard offense, and Duke, riding the outside touch of J.J. Redick who is the most proficient scorer in ACC history, are also solid bets to stay alive late in the tournament despite a lack of size and a shortage of depth, respectively.

I will watch round one and beyond with several questions in mind. Will Duke and UConn live up to the hype? Can Syracuse parlay the dominance of a suddenly prolific Gerry McNamara into a series of tournament wins to follow up its dramatic tear in the Big East Tournament? Can UNC freshman Tyler Hansbrough singlehandedly compensate for last year's vast roster losses?

The most compelling storyline in the 2006 bracket is the ongoing battle for the national scoring title and the attention that the media and the public has put on Redick and Gonzaga's Adam Morrison. When was the last time the national college basketball spotlight focused squarely on such an exciting one-on-one battle? Some writers have compared the duel to the days when Magic Johnson's Michigan State team topped Larry Bird's Indiana State squad in the 1979 National Tournament. What is clear is that pitting two marquee players against each other works in the interest of the NCAA, and it helps that Redick and Morrison are divided by a continent and vastly differing styles of play-Redick literally runs around opponents, using screens to free himself for deep threes à la Reggie Miller, while Morrison plods his way through teams and exhibits versatility with a complementary outside shooting touch.

Looking ahead, it is seriously unclear whether Morrison or Redick will succeed at the professional level. Morrison is projected to go high in the 2006 draft lottery, and Redick likewise is expected to be picked no later than the first round. Neither one fits a typical NBA player model, though, and neither is guaranteed to have a great career in the pros. Morrison, it could reasonably be alleged, is too slow to score as a two-guard type, and lacks the strength (205 pounds) and back-to-the-basket skill necessary for a decent small forward. As for Redick, the case could be made that he is simply too small (listed generously at 6'4") to create his own shot against much bigger and stronger two-guard defenders in the NBA. Sure, it is conceivable to envision Redick fitting in with the Jazz or the Suns, but can you imagine him squaring up and finding space to launch a jump shot in the face of Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen, Vince Carter, etc.?

In his espn.com column two weeks ago, Bill Simmons said that there effectively exists no correlation between height and success in the NBA. "In the past three decades alone, guys like Ben Wallace, Dave Cowens, Paul Silas, Tim Hardaway, Dennis Rodman, Charles Barkley, Adrian Dantley, John Stockton, Isiah Thomas and others have proven that you should never, ever, ever, ever, EVER use somebody's height as a determining factor for whether you should draft someone," Simmons declared. "If you're good, you're good."

Let us first eliminate from this discussion the cases of Wallace, Rodman and Barkley, since as forwards and centers they bear no relevance to an analysis of Redick's chances. Now let us disregard the Cowens, Silas and Dantley citations insofar as they are too dated to offer any reasonable grounds for argument. So we are left with Hardaway, Stockton and Thomas-to be sure, three short guys who made it big in the pros. But Stockton played point guard and made a living finding Karl Malone; Redick's entire arsenal depends on his ability to score, which is much more prone to height-related troubles than passing proficiency. Hardaway, for all his crossover-invention glory, also thrived, but at point guard as well. Thomas offers the only interesting case study. At 6'1", 180 pounds, his body type is even less suited for the NBA than Redick's, yet Thomas succeeded on the NBA's greatest stage, leading his Bad Boy Pistons to consecutive championships in the 1980s. And he didn't do it by shying away from the lane. He took over games by doing exactly what critics say Redick won't be able to do-create his own shot. So the Isiah example creates hope for Redick. But the fact may still remain that NBA two-guards have grown stronger and quicker since Thomas' time. Redick must be drafted into a system where he can be run off of screens and set up for open looks. Even then, time will tell whether he can prove his detractors wrong.

Up in the air call gives U.S. shaky victory

In second round action at the World Baseball Classic, the Americans are fortunate enough to be a member of pool one, which consists of the U.S., Korea, Mexico and Japan. Note that the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Cuba do not stand in our immediate path. Nonetheless, the U.S. team is 1-1 in the second round after a decisive 7-3 loss to Korea and a controversial win over Japan. The Americans will likely advance to the semifinals against Japan by virtue of their weak second round pool.

In the contest with Japan, with the game tied at 3-3 in the eighth inning, Akinori Iwamura hit a fly ball to left field and Tsuyoshi Nishioka tagged up from third to score what seemed to be the go-ahead run. But the Americans complained, and an American umpire Bob Davidson overruled the initial call and declared that Nishioka left third early. Replays proved that Davidson made the wrong decision.

It is unfortunate that the Americans are struggling at the Classic, and even more unfortunate that we need to suffer the appearance of cheating in order to scratch out a win to advance to the semis.