Missouri's my story, and I'm sticking to it

Random remnants from the first week of the NCAA Tournament:

ŸLet's get this part over with right off the top. Missouri, my choice to win the national championship, lost its first game. To Norfolk State. Of all teams.

So now you expect me to issue a mea culpa, right? No way. There's no “me” in mea culpa. OK, there is. But there isn't a yours truly.

My defense against ignominious idiocy always is to refuse admitting being wrong.

Missouri still will win the national championship after NCAA violations render every other team in the field ineligible.

Yes, fans, Missouri is my story and I'm sticking to it.

ŸOne last response to Lehigh eliminating Duke: Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey-hey-hey, goodbye.

ŸNo. 13-seed Ohio of the Mid-American and No. 10-seed Xavier of the Atlantic 10 reached the Final 16 to perpetuate the progress of non-power-conference teams in the tournament. Earlier in the tourney there was that Lehigh, a No. 15 seed like Norfolk State, upsetting Duke, a No. 2 seed like Missouri.

All this reminds me of being courtside at Providence, R.I., in 1985 for the first No. 16 vs. No. 1. Lehigh was the 16, Georgetown the 1 and the outcome was as expected. The little guys in the 1980s were a bad combination and losing proposition of slow, small and about as athletic as the last players picked in a YMCA pickup game.

This Lehigh team is no relation to that Lehigh team. Even the school's nickname was changed from the more cerebral Engineers to the more combative Mountain Hawks.

No wonder a school like Butler advanced to the last two title games and a school like Virginia Commonwealth joined the Bulldogs in the 2011 Final Four. Any year now a 16 is going to beat a 1.

ŸSpeaking of VCU, head coach Shaka Smart's season is over and he likely will have to decide whether the rest of his life will resume in an old job or start in a new one.

Smart is the obvious choice to replace Bruce Weber. At least he should be from a Fighting Illini perspective, with the rest of the candidates tied for second place.

Some of the other names mentioned for Illinois also were in and out of the NCAAs' first week — including Wichita State's Gregg Marshall, Alabama's Anthony Grant and Duke assistant Chris Collins. Among the speculated Illinois targets still alive are Marquette's Buzz Williams and Baylor's Scott Drew.

Of course, heaven forbid, Illinois probably will hire somebody as blah as new football coach Tim Beckman.

ŸThe NCAA Tournament is a less colorful event when eligibility issues sideline somebody with the name Fab Melo.

ŸThe top half of my 10-player vote for the Wooden Award went like this: 1. Anthony Davis, Kentucky; 2. Thomas Robinson, Kansas; 3. Jae Crowder, Marquette; 4. Draymond Green, Michigan State; 5. Jared Sullinger, Ohio State.

ŸWhy can Wisconsin and Marquette be in the Sweet Sixteen when Illinois and DePaul haven't advanced that far for way too long?

ŸThe Big Ten put the BIG into Big Ten with four teams among the Final Sixteen.

ŸMissouri plays the famous “40 minutes of hell” style, which is how Illinois should play.

However, basketball experts tell me it's nearly impossible to win a national championship that way these days.

I'm still insisting they're wrong.

Go you Mizzou!