Round 1 of the 2008 NCAA Tournament kicks off tomorrow. The Terps don't play until Sunday, but the Big Dance officially gets underway Saturday at noon.

And that means we are now entering that one-and-done time of year. Every team, no matter what their ranking -- whether they're a Number 1 seed like Maryland or a Number 16 seed like Coppin State -- knows when they step on the court that if they win, they survive and advance, but if they lose, their season's over, their seniors have played their last game, and their underclassmen and their fans can only look forward to next year. But that's what makes post-season play so exciting! So to get in some practice before the Terps' Easter Sunday opener, you can catch plenty of other teams' action on ESPN and ESPN2 beginning Saturday at noon EDT.

Now if you're wondering why we chose to use Blue (not red) in the graphic for this post, the explanation is that we want to give a BasketCases shout-out to pre-Terp and JUCO Player of the Year Dee Liles and her Gulf Coast CC teammates. Tonight the 3rd seeded Lady 'Dores upset the 2nd seeded University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, 72-67, in a nail-biter of a contest to advance to tomorrow's National Junior College Championship final. Unfortunately we don't believe there's any TV coverage for Dee's game, but if you'd like to listen in, try the link here beginning at 8 PM EDT tomorrow for WKGC's web broadcast of the radio play-by-play. Congratulations to Dee and the 'Dores (sounds like a girl-group from the 60s!) and good luck tomorrow in the final!