The NCAA yesterday apologized to the New Mexico State athletic department and stated that it will "evaluate its travel policy after the Aggies had to fly home in the middle of the night" following a loss to San Diego State on Thursday night in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, according to Bernie Wilson of the AP. NMSU AD McKinley Boston yesterday talked to NCAA VP/Men's Basketball Championship Dan Gavitt. Boston said, "He said it was inconsistent with their efforts to provide the full NCAA experience." Wilson noted both NMSU and SDSU were told before the game that the loser "would have to fly home that night" from Spokane. The game ended later than expected, in part because the preceding North Dakota State-Oklahoma game went to OT, causing NMSU to arrive at the airport around 1:00am PT. The plane departed at about 2:15am and arrived in El Paso at "around" 7:00am. However, only "one bus was waiting" on the travel party. The team and some boosters were driven to the school's Las Cruces campus, while "everyone else had to wait for the bus to make the 2 1/2-hour round trip to pick them up." Boston: "That part of it was probably the most disappointing thing for me." Wilson noted the incident "might not have made ripples beyond Las Cruces" if SDSU coach Steve Fisher had not "ripped into the NCAA in his postgame news conference" (AP, 3/24).
