Bruins starting to live up to preseason expectations

SMU coach Schellas Hyndman is about as positive a guy as you could ever hope to meet, but the Mustangs' boss sure didn't sound too confident in his team's tourney chances when we ran into him at an MLS Cup soiree in Frisco, Texas, Friday night.

"I hope we didn't peak too early," a cautious Hyndman said as his team prepared for Wednesday's opener against UC Santa Barbara.

UCLA Athletic Department/Other

Sal Zizzo scored twice to lead the Bruins past Harvard.

Turns out SMU, which finished the regular season atop the NSCAA/adidas rankings, did just that, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Gauchos in Dallas to mark the biggest upset of the NCAA Tournament so far. It was only the second loss of the season for Hyndman's charges, but the Mustangs hadn't played well for weeks and seemed entirely beatable going into the game.

"We liked the matchup with SMU from the start," UCSB head coach Tim Vom Steeg said after the big W. "We had the guys ready to play and believing they could beat this team."

The Gauchos, who made a memorable run to the College Cup final two years ago, will next face an Old Dominion squad that pulled off an upset of its own, squeaking by No. 14 North Carolina 1-0 on Wednesday.

As for Hyndman, his distinguished career at SMU might have ended with the Mustangs' season. Several recent reports have called him the front-runner to take over the vacant coaching gig at MLS club FC Dallas, and word is that Hyndman will take the job he previously turned down if he is offered it again. If Hyndman bolts for FCD, it will easily replace Wednesday's result as SMU's biggest loss of the year.

Everybody thought the Maryland-St.John's affair would be the most hotly contested match of the second round, but the title-holding Terrapins dispatched the Red Storm 2-0 in College Park with surprising ease.

Maryland outshot St. John's 17-6 and allowed only two of those shots on goal, neither of which tested sophomore superkeeper Chris Seitz. The Johnnies had arrived at Ludwig Field in scintillating form, holders of a school-record 674-minute shutout streak and going seven consecutive games without conceding a goal.

Maryland will host Notre Dame on Saturday after the Irish knocked off Illinois-Chicago in soggy South Bend on Joe Lapira's NCAA-leading 21st goal of the season. With the win, the Irish advance to the Sweet 16 for the second time in as many years.

For UIC, the loss marked the end of a great season. The Flames finished 13-3-5, upset two Top 25 teams on the road and were ranked nationally for a school-record 10 consecutive weeks. They also trounced in-state rival Western Illinois 3-0 in the first round of the dance and had alum Jay DeMerit emerge as a starter in the English Premier League. With eight seniors graduating, it is unlikely UIC will enjoy similar success next season, but these Flames deserve tons of credit for all they accomplished in 2006.

Sixth-seeded West Virginia missed two penalty kicks en route to being upset by UNC Greensboro 2-1 in overtime. Greensboro's All-American attacking duo of Scott Jones and Randi Patterson took full advantage of the Mountaineers' miscues, with Jones setting up his running mate for a goal before notching the game-winner himself in the 113th minute. The Spartans move on to the third round for the third consecutive season. Can they finally make it past their bogey stage? The Saint Louis/Northwestern winner awaits (that game was postponed a day due to weather), but if Jones and Patterson stay hot, they have to like their chances.

UCLA, looking to reverse its recent fortunes in tourney play, busted out in a big way, smoking Harvard 3-0 in Westwood. The Crimson seemed like a dangerous foe for the Bruins to open against: The Ivy Leaguers entered the game as the top offensive team in the nation, averaging 2.5 goals per game. But the Bruins did what no other team had been able to do to all year -- shut Harvard out. Sophomore midfielder Sal Zizzo bagged the first of his two goals in the second minute and the Bruins never looked back.

But we won't know for sure if UCLA is the real deal until Sunday, when a powerful Clemson team comes to town -- provided the Tigers beat plucky Gardner-Webb (which eliminated giant-killing UAB on penalties in its opener) on Thursday night.

Wake Forest is flying high after trouncing Hofstra 5-1 and should have little trouble with Towson this weekend. Duke took care of Brown, 2-0, on goals by junior midfielder Michael Videira and sophomore forward Mike Grella, and will face a Lehigh team that has lost just once all year. Still, the No. 1-seeded Blue Devils should move on with little trouble.

Indiana will face Santa Clara, which bounced resurgent Washington (3-0 winners over Creighton in the first round) in a 3-2 thriller that wasn't settled until Jide Ogunbiyi found the net in the 93rd minute.

The big game to keep an eye on this weekend is undoubtedly Virginia versus California. Cal got a bum seed at No. 13 and has to travel to Charlottesville to take on the fourth-seeded Cavaliers. Virginia exploded for four goals in its opening shutout win over Bucknell, and the Golden Bears got past New Mexico 3-1.

Of course, only one team can move on to the elite eight. While Virginia is the fave, the Cavs are going to need a complete performance to get past a Cal team with something to prove. It will be interesting to see how this one shakes out.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer columnist for ESPN The Magazine and ESPNsoccernet.