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Rhymed Wrap: NCAA So Far, In A Poem

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

We're down to 32 teams in the NCAA tournament. Last night, the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles upset the second-seeded Georgetown Hoyas. And in the day's other huge upset, La Salle downed Kansas State. It is, of course, hard to catch each and every game. So, we bring you a summary, in verse, of all the games played in the round of 64 as offered by NPR's Mike Pesca.

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Today, the Georgetown Hoyas wonder how'd we let those guys work us? Well, here's a clue about FGCU:

(SOUNDBITE OF BASKETBALL GAME)

PESCA: Temple outplayed NC State; Colorado State handled Mizzou; the Akron Zips had the yips and were disrobed by VCU. As a 13-seed La Salle dealt Kansas State a big surprise - well, to everyone but Jerrell Wright, who claimed:

JERRELL WRIGHT: There was no butterflies.

PESCA: More animals.

JOSH PASTNER: People talked about the monkey.

PESCA: That's Memphis coach Josh Pastner. His Tigers won, as did the west's number one:

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Gonzaga will escape disaster.

PESCA: Indiana ousted JMU; San Diego State was Oklahoma's dispatcher and Ole Miss benefitted from...

(SOUNDBITE OF BASKETBALL GAME)

PESCA: Duke outdueled Albany; Syracuse manhandled Montana; Colorado lost to Illinois, delighting most of Champaign-Urbana.

BRAD STEVENS: They jam your guards and they sink their bigs.

PESCA: Coach Brad Stevens was heard to utter. Somehow his team adjusted, as Bucknell bowed to Butler. Carolina outlasted Nova; Marquette was down versus Davidson, until...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #4: Vander Blue has cut it to two.

PESCA: And Marquette would go on to win. Both Ohio State and Kansas advanced, though the Jayhawks had it rough. Oregon won, helped by their Iranian who delivered...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #5: Elevation and the flush.

PESCA: Creighton won, Harvard did too, setting off some crazy Cambridge scenes. Congrats to the Billikens, the Shockers and the Michigan Wolverines. Indiana triumphed, and against Iowa State, Notre Dame folded like origami. Cal won, otherwise their coach said to the press...

MIKE MONTGOMERY: You'd all be chewing my fanny.

PESCA: Minnesota and Arizona both beat teams whose nicknames are the Bruins. Florida rolled, Miami cruised, the Spartans left Valparaiso in ruins. Credit is owed to Turner and CBS for the audio they lent us. If it's OK, we'd like to quote Coach K who said:

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I'm OK if people don't show up against us.

PESCA: No chance of that. March has people talking of the games, the thrills...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #6: The monkey.

PESCA: Mike Pesca, NPR News, Lexington, Kentucky.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: This is NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Mike Pesca first reached the airwaves as a 10-year-old caller to a New York Jets-themed radio show and has since been able to parlay his interests in sports coverage as a National Desk correspondent for NPR based in New York City.