Specifically, Ainge was asked if BYU needed to continue to prove itself, despite 22 post-season appearances. He replied: "You do. It's all about what we've done lately, and it's been awhile since we won a game. I think that we do have to prove ourselves ... people aren't just going to hand it to you."

And they didn't.

There certainly could have been an easier assignment for the Cougars. For starters, they were seeded a so-so eighth of 16 teams in their region. Playing the regular-season champion from the Atlantic 10 isn't an easy task, either. Then there was the long and time-consuming journey to Lexington. There are few if any non-stop flights from Salt Lake to the middle of horse country. In fact, it's debatable whether you could get there faster by horse.

Meanwhile Rupp Arena, sight of the South Regional, is just an 85-mile drive from Xavier. If not a home game for the Musketeers, it was at least in the area code. Yes, the NCAA tries to seed teams in regionals as close to their own campuses as possible. It just happened to work out that the closest BYU could get was, oh, 1,600 miles. The Cougs could have been farther away, but only if the South Regional was in France.

Still, the beauty of the NCAA tournament is that teams show up and play, wherever, whenever. The better teams move on. That isn't to say BYU didn't try. The loss had nothing to do with effort and a lot to do with Xavier.

Said Rose: "They (BYU) left everything on the floor, and that's all a coach can expect."

That and an occasional stay for longer than lunch.

---

E-mail: rock@desnews.com