A real yawn

It didn't help East Coast viewers that tonight's NCAA basketball championship started around 9:30. What really put them to sleep, however, was UCLA's woeful performance -- probably the worst game I've seen the Bruins play this season outside of a 71-68 loss to Southern Cal back in February.

Sure, shooting 29 percent (29 percent!) for most of the game isn't going to get it done, but the biggest problem for Ben Howland's team tonight was shoddy interior defense. Florida got away with one backdoor after another, convincing me that even Princeton could have had a shot in that game.

Here are a few notes I took on the game:

Incorrect pronunciations of Mbah A Moute: 2 (not bad for Billy Packer)

Ads featuring Coach K: 3

Times CBS mentioned this was the 25th time the network was broadcasting the Final Four: 7 (6 too many)

Random Jim Nantz quote of the night: 6 minutes to go in the first half and Ryan Hollins of UCLA is shooting free throws. Nantz is complaining about the Bruins poor foul shooting then says "...he looks up at the basket and through the window at a banner with a school's name on it -- Indiana -- they have banners here with all the schools in the tournament, and Kelvin Sampson just introduced as the new coach of the Hoosiers, what a great opportunity there..." I have no idea where that came from.

Worst dressed: Dick Enberg -- I've got no gripes about his suit, but that magenta tie was horrendous.

Best dressed: Who else but Rick Pitino who was in the stands to watch his former player at Providence, Billy Donovan.

Cliche watch: I have to give the CBS people a hand for only using the phrase "rekindle the magic" twice. Bonus points for only referencing "wizards" once.

Trivia question: So Florida is the national champion of the NCAA Tournament. The Gators during the regular season lost to South Carolina (the champions of the NIT) twice. When is the last time the NIT winner beat the NCAA champion in the same season? How about twice?

I'll have the answer for you tomorrow.