Quick Raptors notes before we get to the tournament:

T.J. Ford had 19 points and 9 assists, while Chris Bosh had 26 points and 9 boards as the Raps pelted the Milwaukee Bucks 108-93 victory last night…Ford, who was obviously motivated against his old team, had 12 points and 6 assists in the first quarter...so, for all the doubters how’s that trade going so far this season…Charlie Villaneuva had 1 point in 10 minutes last night and did not play in the second half, as whispers of his dogging it in practice are starting to filter out of Milwaukee…oh and I loved Ford sticking his nose in there after Bucks centre Andrew Bogut gave Chris Bosh a 2-handed shove in the back as Bosh drove by him for what would have been an uncontested monster dunk…Bogut was immediately T’d up and ejected, but Ford got right in his face about the foul, getting a T of his own telling Bogut what a punk move it was…Stat-head note: this was Toronto's fifth road win by at least 15 points this season; they had only four such wins over the previous five seasons combined…not important, but the fellas at Elias have to do something to pass the time…

OK, now on to more important things, like the tournament…First off, Syracuse (lost at home to Wichita Sate), West Virginia (beat UCLA, but only 4-8 against the top 100 RPI), Kansas State (no big wins outside of Big 12) stop whining…you deserve the NIT, not the NCAA..

Now the real snubbees:

Drexel: The Dragons beat Syracuse, Villanova and Creighton all on the road and goes 13-5 in their conference and they don’t get in? Brutal…

Appalachian State: They beat Wichita State, VCU, Davidson, Virginia and Vanderbilt on the road…for a mid-major, that’s ridiculous…

These 2 teams should be in instead of:

Arkansas: a 7-9 record in a very average SEC, 2-8 in road games and the only significant win was Vanderbilt on the road…

Stanford: 18-12 overall and only 10-8 in their conference…

Good Article here about pro prospects for all 65 teams:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/chris_ekstrand/03/12/draft.prospects/index.html

Interesting results from a study of Division 1 basketball freshman graduation rates (FGR)…some highlights:

10% of Ohio State's basketball players received degrees at the school, according to a study that examined the freshman classes entering from 1996-99.

Using the yardstick Graduation Success Rates -- which accounts for players who transfer to other schools and receive degrees _ players entering from junior colleges and those who receive degrees more than six years after enrollments, 9 percent of Florida A&M players, 19 percent of Eastern Kentucky and 50 percent of Oregon players were graduated…

Other NCAA tournament-bound programs with low FGRs were: Tennessee (8 percent), UNLV (10 percent), Maryland (13 percent), Texas A&M (15 percent), Virginia Tech (17 percent), Gonzaga and Louisville (22 percent), Georgia Tech, Kentucky and Oral Roberts (23 percent), Memphis and North Texas and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (25 percent).

At the other end, the schools with the highest FGRs were Holy Cross (86 percent), Butler (82 percent), Creighton (78 percent), Davidson and Michigan State (75 percent). Penn and Air Force didn't report FGRs.

Based on the GSR formula, 68 percent of teams bound for the NCAA men's basketball tournament graduated 70 percent or more of their white players, but just 30 percent graduated 70 percent or more of black players. While 76 percent of white basketball players receive degrees, just 51 percent of black players do.

Lapchick said 41 Division I schools, including seven headed to the tournament, didn't graduate any black players. Twenty-one schools, including tournament-bound Eastern Kentucky, didn't graduate any white players.