Yes, the Big 12 had three teams going into Saturday night's Elite Eight, and the ACC still had two national champion hopefuls.
But what school has a former coach in the Final Four and another with a shot? The one on South University Avenue in the great capital city of Little Rock, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. And let it be known once and for all that when UALR decided to change its name, the resistance here was because of the basketball success of Joe Foley and Mike Newell. It was the UALR Trojans who went to three men's NCAA Tournaments under Newell and four of Foley's five women's appearances.
Porter Moser and Loyola-Chicago punched their ticket with Saturday's win over Kansas State, and Chris Beard and Texas Tech take on Villanova this afternoon with a trip to San Antonio on the line.
Beard made his name at UALR when he beat Purdue in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2016. He beat the Boilermakers again to get to today's game.
Television announcers mention UALR a lot, but they haven't noticed UALR is without a men's coach right now.
There are lots of rumors about what is going on and who is a finalist for that job, but unlike two years ago, no one has announced the list of finalists, which ended up embarrassing two of Arkansas' greatest adopted sons.
The job ended up going to Trojans assistant Wes Flanigan, who had a good resume as an assistant coach and whose father, Al, is a high school coaching legend. Wes was terminated a couple of weeks ago after going 7-25, a UALR record for losses.
One rumor was that phone interviews and on-campus interviews were completed last week and maybe a decision will be coming soon.
While his acquaintance has not been made, it does seem Chancellor Andrew Rogerson's idea is a university should complement a city and the two need each other because all great cities have an institution of higher learning.
A winning athletic department enthuses a community, and it did that under Newell, almost 30 years ago, and then Beard just two years ago.
Winning attracts fans and students, and UALR needs that now more than ever.
Beard was packing the Jack his last few games.
Moser was the head coach of the Trojans from 2000 through 2003, when he left for Illinois State. Moser had been an assistant at UALR and was promoted despite the fact the Trojans were 4-24 the previous season. In his first season the Trojans were 18-11. He won 18 games in each of his three seasons here, and attendance was growing.
As the head coach of Loyola-Chicago, which has seen its T-shirt and cap sales jump 500 percent in the past two weeks, he is now a household name.
Beard has led Texas Tech to three consecutive NCAA Tournament wins and could give the Red Raiders their first Final Four appearance.
UALR has benefited from mentions of its connections to the coaches, and now Rogerson and Athletic Director Chasse Conque are on the cusp of finding the person who will do what Beard did and make the Trojans more than a background check.
Someone who will spark local interest in a local university. Someone who wants to be on University Avenue.
It has been a quiet, private process, and no one knows for sure when Eddie Fogler -- a consultant who found Beard -- was hired, but he was hired, although apparently at least one strong candidate pursued the job on his own because he wants it.
The question that needs to be answered is who is best for UALR and the capital city, because they need each other.
Sports on 03/25/2018