If they don't meet up in Orlando, my suggestion from last December might still hold up: Georgetown @ Maryland. But that's the 1995 squads playing at Cole Field House.

An interesting solution to say the least. And you don't need to sell me on the idea of playing any game at Cole.

I'm curious how much demand there really is from fans on both sides for Georgetown-Maryland --- and how much there really has been for the last decade?

(Random stat before moving on: Georgetown and Maryland have been ranked at the same time in the AP poll 28 weeks in the 12 post-Iverson seasons --- half of them in 2000-01, when the teams met in the NCAA tournament. There's roughly 18-20 ballot weeks a year, so it's not like both programs were perceived as really good at the same time all that much in recent years).

It's a shame there isn't a true neutral site in D.C. to possibly play this game at. Even if Verizon Center wasn't Georgetown's home floor, Maryland could still point to its abysmal 2-8 record in the building over the last six seasons as a reason to balk.

I'm not sure anyone else in the country is interested in seeing maryland vs. georgetown. But I know many, many people in this area who would love to see these teams square off in the regular season. On another note, Greg Monroe is on Georgetown next season. Didn't he almost go to Maryland or was that a rumor?

I'm going to go ahead and say that was a bad, bad rumor.

According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Monroe had visited Louisiana State when he committed and was planning to visit Connecticut, Duke and Texas before making his decision.

As for a series, it would obviously be cool if there was some way for it to be as exciting and highly anticipated as, say, Cincinnati-Xavier (which is truly one of the most underrated rivalries in college basketball) in Cincy.

Guess there's only one way to find out.

Enough of the trash talk about local teams. I am interested in the upcoming NBA DRAFT LOTTERY. Mr. Stevens, please give us your mock lotter picks at this time. (I am in an NBA draft pool)
-Chris

An NBA lottery pool? Now there's a game of chance for you.

How soon do you need to have your picks in? Seems sort of unfair to have it any sooner than mid-June, what with college guys going back to school and GMs falling in love with the Euroball flavor of the week (sometimes rational) or the athletic big with far more potential than production (almost never rational). And of course there's the annual road to Secaucus, with the ping pong balls and the team representatives and everything.

Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose should go 1-2, though not necessarily in that order. I'll reserve judgment on the rest of the lottery for now.

Our mocks are due long before the June deadline to pull out. One of the specific questions I had involved Congo native Serge Ibaka, who reminds me of a young Maceo Baston. Someone told me he has a chance to slip into the late lottery and I was wondering whether I should take a chance with him as a sleeper. Thoughts?

I won't lie --- I had never heard of Serge Ibaka until you mentioned him.

But I HAVE heard of NBA teams taking fliers on athletic 18-year-olds with no hope of contributing anytime in the next few years during the lottery portion of the draft festivities.

So Ibaka might be worth a flier. Ditto for Nevada's JaVale McGee, who could probably use another year of school but seems like he could land in the lottery (at 7-0 and 240ish, with decent range).

Bottom line is, guys who are tall and athletic will often go higher than they're really worth, regardless of actual production. Here's hoping that strategy helps you a little bit in your pool.