When my friends and I graduated from high school here in Memphis, there were four of us. Afterward, they bolted town as quickly as possible, but I stayed to attend The University of Memphis. It wasn't the cool choice, they said, but it was the one that made the most sense to me.

The rivalry was trivial. The 100-pound trophy of bronzed bones was unimportant. Even bragging rights were deemed irrelevant. What mattered for the 25 seniors on The University of Memphis football team was suiting up to play for the last time at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Saturday against UAB.

When Josh Pastner took over as coach of The University of Memphis men's basketball team in April, the number one thing he was known for was recruiting. Although he essentially watched the recruiting class he worked so hard to assemble as an assistant crumble before him, the class he's put together for 2010 may be even better.

When Josh Pastner looks at tonight's match-up against No. 1-ranked Kansas, he doesn't see all of the hype that surrounded the game when it was first scheduled. Instead, he sees it as just another contest. Especially as all of that hype is now gone. "The whole point of the game was meant to be No.

Elliot Williams doesn't believe in moral victories. Following Tuesday's 57-55 loss to No. 1-ranked Kansas in St. Louis, Mo., in which the 6-foot-4 sophomore guard had a chance to win the game on a three-pointer in the closing seconds, Williams stood in the locker room disappointed.