Watchdog

As Cornell's NCAA hopes sank slowly in the West - actually, sank quickly in the West - I found time to ignore the game and informally discuss with CBS types their decision to show Duke vs. Belmont in New York and many other places rather than Kansas State vs. USC.

This was controversial in some quarters because many hard-core hoops fans wanted to see Michael Beasley face O.J. Mayo.

CBS' thinking was that Duke is a powerful enough brand name, especially among casual fans who never have heard of Beasley and Mayo, to merit a wide showing, and that if the game got out of hand early there was ample time to switch over.

Well, as is often the case in the NCAAs as in life . . . you never know.

As I write this Belmont is hanging extremely tough with Duke late in the first half while Beasley and Mayo do not seem to be doing much in Omaha.

Of course that could change in the second half. But for now New York has the better game.