Congratulations, Cleveland State (and some other thoughts)

The Cleveland State Vikings last night clinched their first NCAA Tournament berth since that magical run in 1986, by beating heavily favored Butler, 57-54. For those too young to remember, those '86 Vikings were a 14 seed and upset Bob Knight's Indiana squad in the first round, then made the Sweet Sixteen before falling to a Navy team led by future Hall of Famer David Robinson.

At 25-10 against a Horizon League schedule, this Cleveland State team will also be a low seed, but they'll ultimately be in the same situation as 63 other teams. Win six games, and you're the champs. And every game starts at zero-zero.

* The Cavaliers nearly laid an egg last night against in L.A. against a bad Clippers team. They trailed by 19 early in the fourth quarter. But Mo Williams' three-pointer with 6.6 seconds left capped a furious comeback that also included LeBron's fifth triple-double of the season, and put the Cavs ahead to stay. I'm guessing I'm like most of you in that I didn't stay up for the end (the game started at 10:30 our time), but I did see our guys' early struggles. They're going to have to play better than that to win a championship. Give them credit, though. It's not easy to make up 19 points in one quarter in the NBA, even against a team that came in 15-48.

* I don't know how many of you are following the World Baseball Classic, but I've found it very entertaining so far. The U.S. team (featuring new Indian Mark DeRosa) won a tough game against Canada and then blew out Venezuela to move into the next round. They've got a rematch against the Hugo Chavez boys tonight to determine seeding.

* I didn't see either of the Dutch team's upsets of the Dominicans, but that's got to rank right up there with Chaminade over Virginia or the Miracle on Ice in terms of sheer magnitude of the upset. And they did it twice! Dominicana (as it says on their uniforms) outplayed the Netherlands in every phase of the game except defense — and, of course, that's why they're done. They made costly errors in both games, and the Dutch boys capitalized. And that's why they play the games, ladies and gentlemen.

* If you play fantasy baseball in a keeper league, you can sympathize with this: A league I'm in has five keepers per year, so you've got to make some tough, tough choices. My five keepers are David Wright, Josh Hamilton, Tim Lincecum, Brandon Webb and Joe Nathan. That's a fine group, to be sure, and I'm happy to have them all. But I had to leave off Prince Fielder, who had a bit of a disappointing year in '08, but still hit 32 home runs and knocked in 102 runs, and is only 25; former Indian Ryan Ludwick, the steal of last year's draft, who hit 37 dingers for the Cardinals; Cole Hamels, who had bad luck with wins and losses but struck out 196 hitters and posted a 3.09 ERA for the champion Phillies; and Alfonso Soriano, who hit 29 homers and stole 19 bases last year. Not to mention Kerry Wood, the supposed savior of the Tribe's bullpen. But the league commissioner wouldn't let me keep more than five. It hurts a little, but I'll get over it.

Vikings hung in ... for a while

Cleveland State fell behind 14 early in last night's Horizon League championship game against No. 10 Butler, but the Vikings fought their way back to tie it with 1:50 left in the first half; Butler then went ahead four at the half. With 14 minutes left in the game, Butler was only up two (43-41). But then the Bulldogs got off a 17-3 run, and our guys had nothing left in the tank. But still, it was a strong effort against a darned good team.

"I told our guys to keep their heads up," said CSU coach Gary Waters, who took Kent State to the Elite Eight a few years ago. "One game doesn't change your whole season."

Well-said, sir. Well-said.

Cleveland State's probably going to the NIT, which isn't the Big Dance, but it's a significant accomplishment nonetheless. This city should be proud of these young men.

On the Horizon

For those who might be unaware, the Cleveland State Vikings play for the Horizon League championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament at 9 tonight against Butler. The Butler Bulldogs are 10-point favorites, but it's worth noting that the boys from Cleveland have more to play for. If the Bulldogs lose, they'll be 28-4, and that will get them into the Big Dance. At 21-11, the Vikings need to win tonight to get that automatic bid.

Butler may look pretty unbeatable, but the Dogs have lost three games this year, and one of them was to Cleveland State. So it can be done. Of course, if Cleveland State gets in, that'll be one fewer at-large bid available for teams like Ohio State; and the Buckeyes, like their opponents in the tournament title game last year, Florida, are on that proverbial bubble. But with big wins over Purdue and Michigan State in the past week, I think OSU will get in anyway.

It should be interesting. Go Vikings!