MCCOLLUM'S COLUMN: Basketball from North Carolina to non-nailbiters

A March Madness version of "David Citations," for the interesting, weird and zany in sports:

CAROLINA FROM BEGINNING TO END: The basketball season began with a small North Carolina liberal arts school, Gardner-Webb, upsetting Kentucky at Rupp Arena. The North Carolina Tar Heels have been one of the top teams throughout the season and are the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Now, another small North Carolina college, Davidson, is in the Elite Eight and the Cinderella team of the NCAA tournament.

THAT COKE ZERO MAY NOT BE CUTTING IT: This comment from a Memphis cheerleader going into a halftime break at the NCAA South Regional tournament in North Little Rock: "Our fans need some Red Bull!"

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS: A University of Texas dance team member, arriving early for the Longhorns' game against Austin Peay in the NCAA Regional, passed up the VIP buffet, saying, "I'm not real hungry. I've had a cinnamon bun, a Snickers bar and a bag of chips."

BEST WORRY WART: Memphis coach John Calipari said his players told him he was too uptight for the Tigers' matchup against Texas-Arlington in the opening game of the South Regional: "Yeh, I'm uptight," he said he told them. "I did not want to be the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16 seed in the history of the NCAA tournament. That can get a coach uptight."

STORMIEST PLAY ON WORDS IN FIRST-ROUND MATCHUP: Miami Hurricanes vs. St. Mary's Gaels.

MOST INTERESTING EXCUSE FOR A MISSED LAYUP DURING A TOURNAMENT GAME: Memphis' Joey Dorsey relaxed on the bench and turned his head and smiled toward former Memphis standout Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, "The reason I missed that (layup) was I was tired."

MOST AMAZING MEMPHIS STAT THAT WAS OVERSHADOWED BY BAD FREE THROW SHOOTING: Against Mississippi State, the Tigers had one turnover in the first half and five for the game. "That tells me we can play even faster," Calipari said.

BEST NAME FOR A PLAYER WHO PLAYS FOR THE ST. MARY'S GAELS: Ian O'Leary.

STARRY TIMES IN THE LONE STAR STATE: In NCAA tournament history, the Memphis Tigers are 12-2 in Texas.

BEST UNDERSTATEMENT: Greg Gumbel, noting the series of routs Friday night in Sweet Sixteen games involving Davidson, Texas, Kansas and Memphis, say, "Nailbiters are non-existent tonight."

(Sports columnist David McCollum can be reached at 505-1235 or david.mccollum@thecabin.net)