Of course, being a pioneer can be tough. Since Case was the first coach to cut down the nets, arena workers didn't have a ladder at the ready for his big moment. Instead, his players had to hoist their coach onto their shoulders as he did his snipping.  Case might not have been the true inventor of the net-cutting tradition, though. While he deservedly gets credit for being the college coach who popularized the net-cutting ritual, some sources -- including Tim Peeler's "Legends of N.C. State Basketball" -- claim Case actually brought the tradition with him from Indiana, where he'd been a hugely successful high school coach before coming to Raleigh to coach the Wolfpack.  Either way, cutting down the nets may have remained an obscure Hoosier State tradition had Case not brought the practice to the national stage.  What about the other big postgame tradition, the tourney highlight montage set to "One Shining Moment"?  Glad you asked. Any hoops fan can tell you that the song is pretty cheesy and more than a little over-the-top. It's also one of the best parts of CBS' annual coverage of the Final Four. Where the heck did "One Shining Moment" come from, and why do we only hear it once a year?  To be fair, there are really only so many opportunities to play a slightly sappy song about basketball. Peter Hyman of The New York Times wrote a profile on David Barrett, the composer of the tune, in 2007. The song is actually the product of an ill-fated attempt to woo a woman.
The men's NCAA Division I hoops championship game is tonight, and we can't tell you whether UConn or Butler is going to win. We can predict two things, though. The winning team will cut down the