Cornell-Missouri preview

Here we are, two hours away from Cornell's chance to do something truly great.

Coach Steve Donahue has seemed awfully optimistic about the 14-seeded Big Red's matchup with third-seeded Missouri. On a conference call with reporters earlier this week, Donahue emphasized several times that a second postseason is far different from -- and easier than -- the first, and that this Cornell team is far more experienced than the Tigers. (And on paper, that's true.) He added that his players have been more composed and focused than they were during last year's Tournament preparations. Take those claims for whatever you think they're worth, but Donahue is not normally one to throw around stuff like that for the heck of it. He better be right, because Vegas has pegged the Tigers as a 12-1/2 point favorite.

If you have time to kill before the game starts, here are previews from The Cornell Daily Sun, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Sporting News, The Ithaca Journal, The Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune, The Kirksville (Mo.) Daily Express, The Elmira (N.Y.) Star-Gazette, The Kansas City Star, The Missourian, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Orlando Sentinel, USA Today, MSNBC and Jon Jacques, a forward for the Big Red. And here are profiles of forward Ryan Wittman, guard Louis Dale, center Jeff Foote and Donahue of Cornell, as well as forward DeMare Carroll, former coach Norm Stewart and current coach Mike Anderson of Missouri. The Journal also has an interesting story on how Donahue is trying to exploit Cornell's moment in the spotlight to recruit prospective Big Red ballers.

Enjoy the game.