Go Mutts!

I’m trying to stay optimistic about SIU’s chances against Kansas, but stuff like this makes it damn difficult:

COLUMBUS, Ohio - You'd have to search a long time to find a better-looking basketball team than the Kansas Jayhawks.

They're the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament's West regional, and they look like they were ordered out of a basketball team catalog or were cast for a movie. Coach Bill Self's Jayhawks are long, lean and athletic. They sure look the part of a Final Four team, and anybody with cable TV has seen a lot of Kansas.

Then you have Southern Illinois, the Jayhawks' opponent in Thursday night's regional semifinal at San Jose, Calif. The SIU mascot is the Saluki, an elegant Egyptian hunting dog. But the basketball team more resembles a mongrel from the pound or even a pit bull.

…

When the Jayhawks (32-4) take the floor against the Salukis (29-6), they will get a close look at a not-so-pretty team. They will see Bryan Mullins' oft-broken nose, Young with scars from his stitches and Tony Boyle's bruised cheek. And they'll eventually encounter Randal Falker's elbows.

And on it goes. Yes, we're a bunch of over-matched, ugly, broken soon-to-be losers but at least we don't, ummm, live in Kansas.