It takes some serious mental gymnastics to bend your mind around the idea of Indiana as the underdog, or even a sentimental favorite. The tradition has a habit of getting in the way.

But if you don’t have a geographical or alumniacal (today’s new word) interest in the final eight teams in the Tournament, you could do worse than send some positive vibes Mike Davis’ way.

He deserves it. He has won over the Indiana faithful with his integrity and honesty. And his players? The way they came back from 17 down against Duke is all you need to know about how they feel about him.

After his team’s win over UNC Wilmington to make it to the Sweet 16, Davis stood in a noisy corridor of Sacramento’s Arco Arena. He praised his players and then said, unapologetically, "This is great for me. I hear so much about me as a coach. I hear I have to prove myself, I have to prove myself, over and over I hear the same thing. Well, now that we’ve won 20 games two years in a row and we’re in the Sweet 16, I hope now I’ve proven myself. I hope people can now look at it and say I can coach."

It’s easy to say now: He can coach. And perhaps most importantly, he’s an Indiana coach who demands discipline from his players and holds himself to the same standard.

This Week’s List

Introducing Kent State: The new Gonzaga.

Just when you thought it was safe to praise CBS’ Tournament coverage, Thursday happened: In my time zone, they stayed too long with the over-and-done-with West Region games (Arizona-Oklahoma and UCLA-Missouri) while both of the South games (Duke-Indiana and Kent State-Pitt) were close late.

I usually don’t care enough to yell at my television, but: If you stay with a 10-point game while another one is tied with less than a minute left in overtime, you might as well put the "Baby Bob" promo on the endless loop and ask us to sit there till drool runs out of the collective corners of our collective mouths.

We’re insulting your intelligence and hey, we just rubbed your nose in it: The announcers even said, "UCLA has thrown in the towel" and still they stayed with the game.

And, because too much is never enough: Then they gave us the last 5.5 seconds and acted like they were doing us a big old hanging favor.

There might be exceptions, but not many: In the NCAA Tournament, if you have your choice between tall guys and wide guys, take the wide guys.

The fact that his team had the lowest GPA of any on campus and a flat zero graduation rate might strike some as ironic, but it strikes us as perfectly fitting: Fran Fraschilla, who resigned this week at New Mexico, was the chairman of the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ Committee on Academics.

Just for the heck of it: Marty Headd.

Too rich for embellishment: Derek Bell and Operation Shutdown.

And then there’s the Jeff Kent saga: Operation Falldown.

Even taking into consideration his injury history, when you read that Pedro Martinez put on 10 to 12 pounds of muscle this offseason, don’t you come away with just one simple question: Why?

Yet another really bad and really big decision by a guy not old enough to know better: Cal freshman Jemal Sampson, declaring himself -- and his 6 points per game -- ready for the NBA draft.

Underrated aspect of the NCAA Tournament: The vocal ebbs and flows of local radio broadcasters, always an easy insight into the team’s fate at any given time.

Example, based on underdog team hanging tougher than expected, with the announcer fighting hard not to get carried away, knowing there are still 30 minutes to play: "… he hits a three and it’s 32-30 and there’s a steal in the backcourt …"

Meanwhile, in the NBA: It has reached that wonderful time of the year, when fans of horrid teams say, "He should have been playing all year" as they get excited over the play of previously little-used rookies.

Example: Gilbert Arenas, Warriors.

Other past and present Warriors who have been part of the tradition: Vonteego Cummings, Adonal Foyle, Damon Jones.

The overriding rule of the women’s NCAA Tournament: 64 is about 32 too many.

They say everybody starts out even on Opening Day, but there are times when you have a better view of the road ahead: Joey Hamilton, Opening Day starter, Cincinnati Reds.

If you need your team to be fired up in a hurry, you need: Indiana’s A.J. Moye.

And finally, the sport has never been more popular, so it’s obviously time for each player to take the course saying, "I am Mahatma Gandhi": The PGA is making a big issue of calling upon its players to have better manners on the course, because you never know when the random grimace might evolve into a full-blown frown.

Tim Keown is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at tim.keown@espnmag.com.