Bucknell thrills, Hopkins chokes, Indiana wastes money

By Jacob E. Osterhout

Welcome to the greatest Dean's List to be published since the last time someone converted thongs into robbery masks and the British Transport Police tried to ban drinking on London's subway system.

The Honor Roll

Bucknell senior Matthew Wilson (right) threw a complete-game shutout against powerhouse FSU. AP

• Somebody build this kid a statue, or maybe just give him a plastic trophy like we used to get when we won our division in Little League. Bucknell senior pitcher Mathew Wilson pitched the game of his life on the opening night of the NCAA tournament. Wilson threw a complete-game, six-hit shutout against -- now here's the really impressive part -- perennial powerhouse Florida State as the Bison pulled off an improbable 7-0 upset. The Seminoles entered the game ranked fourth in the nation with a 48-9 record and a .350 team batting average, but Wilson dominated from the mound, tossing the fifth overall shutout of his career and his first nine-inning complete-game shutout. To make it even sweeter, the victory was Bucknell's first ever in the NCAA Tournament.

• How's this for an analogy: Western Washington is to D-II women's rowing what Tiger Woods is to golf. They're so good, the only way to beat them is to pray for an injury. The Vikings, who were ranked No. 1 all season long, receiving every first place vote out there, won their fourth straight national title this weekend. To put that in perspective, no rowing team in any division has won three straight championships, never mind four. Led by four seniors Metta Gilbert, Samantha Marikis, Staci Reynolds and Amelia Whitcomb -- all of who are undefeated in their college careers -- Western finished with a perfect score and brought to fruition a forgone conclusion.

• As the Clemson tennis coach for 33 years, Chuck Kriese dedicated most of his life to Tigers tennis, but now Coach Kriese is moving on. After leading Clemson to 10 ACC titles and 24 NCAA tournament appearances, Kriese is relocating to Bangkok to become Thailand's national coach and Southeast Asia's technical director of tennis. Imagine that, a guy who's spent three and a half decades perfecting the forehand in rural South Carolina suddenly up and moving 9,000 miles to the 22nd largest city in the world. That takes some courage. Nice to see the get-up-and-go hasn't got up and gone. (Note to Coach Kriese: If you ever miss home. just get yourself to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party and you'll forget all your problems).

• I'm not sure if this is Honor Roll or Detention List material, but Notre Dame's become the Penn Station of college athletics: athletes coming, administrators going, but no one just hanging out. The Fighting Irish's athletics department seems to be stuck in a constant state of flux. First Mississippi State's Ben Hansbrough, who helped the Bulldogs advance to the second-round of the Tournament last march, announces that he's transferring to play for Notre Dame. Then, Purdue's 6-foot-8 freshman forward Scott Martin, an agile and talented lefty, says that he's joining Mike Brey's squad, as well. Now, Athletic Director Kevin White holds a press conference to say that he's leaving South Bend to take up the same position at Duke. In this case, I'd make that trade: two solid ballers for one average athletic director.