I can’t say that I never heard of UMBC before.  A former colleague is a curator at the gallery there. And I knew that it was in the Baltimore area.  But I thought it was actually located near the Inner Harbor – that’s a different school in the University of Maryland family – and I certainly didn’t know it had a Division I basketball team.

Well, that’s changed.  But the thing I like the most about their one-for-the-ages upset of Virginia, however, is not the upset but the two articles about the school in the NY Times.  One gave an overview of a college that has become a leading research university and one of the leading sources of African Americans with PhDs; the other looked at the rather low level of excitement the upset produced on campus.  It’s good to see that a school can accomplish something in intercollegiate sports without entirely losing its soul.

And now we get ready for a Sweet 16 with only seven seeds ranked 1 to 4, and only the East resembling chalk.  The South winner will be a 5 seed – Kentucky – or higher.  And while two top seeds remain, I don’t think anyone is confident in any predictions. Should be exciting.

Elsewhere, the sports world buzzes about:

• The Jets trade for the #3 pick.  Is it worth it?
• Nine days till baseball season
• Get well soon, Ty Lue!
• Rory McIlroy wins for the first time in two years, and Tiger contends again.  The Masters might be very good.

As ever, all sports topics welcome.