Breaking News - Final Four First

Huskies forfeit tournament
From wire reports

In light of the playing of Bryce Cochran, a little used freshman reserve, in last Sat night's game against Alabama, the UConn Huskies have been forced to forfeit the tournament and all other victories in this years NCAA Championships. Bryce, a walk on, was declared academically ineligible in Feb.

When asked for his reaction over the devastating decision, coach Jim Calhoun had this to say, "For the most part I'd like to apologize to our fans. To come this far, and have something like this happen is simply devastating." Bryce apparently had asked assistant Steve Shickoney if he could dress for the regional final game, as his family was in the stands. Under NCAA regulation, in tournament situations only, a player declared ineligible may dress, but is strictly forbidden from playing. "It was in the game, and I was unaware of exactly what was taking place, I was discussing the most recent play with Ben Gordan. I had told Steve to place in some of our back ups in order to get some late game pt. He apparently asked Bryce to go in as well. I'm not sure Bryce understood the ramifications of this, and obviously both he and Steve were caught up in the moment. It's a terrible way to end the season, this is going to sting for a very long time. I don't know what else to say."

The Huskies were to play the Duke Blue Devils in the National Semi-Finals this Friday, however, now the Blue Devils with the forfeit win, will await the winner of the Oklahoma St/Georgia Tech match up to decide the national championship game played on Monday night. In past tournaments a team has been forced to give up wins and other acknowledgements after the tournament, however no team has ever been forced to forfeit during tournament play. More updates to follow.

---Stan Huffman AP - April Fools!