Tuesday, March 12 Sporting Eye: "Polish up the glass slipper for an unexpected NCAA hoops champion."

No, I didn’t predict three weeks ago that the Indiana Hoosiers would advance to the NCAA National Championship game tonight; in fact, I had them going out in the second round against USC. And I’m not here to pat myself on the back, because the other prophecies I made for those early brackets were, for the most part, abysmal (although Kent State did me proud, and Duke and Cincy did go out early). However, the column was not about specific predictions that day. It was about preparing for surprises — a long shot, a Cinderella, a team that might emerge out of the blue and perhaps even shock the world. Yes, the gist of my tourney preview that day came down to this:

It has been way too long since college basketball has seen a team come out of nowhere to win the national championship. The last one was the 1985 Villanova team, which as an eighth seed stunned top-ranked Georgetown by a deuce. Strangely enough, that voodoo ending also took place on an April Fool’s evening. Before that, the NC State Wolfpack stunned the roundball world two years earlier by knocking off highly touted Houston with a last-second basket. Since then, Cinderella has made brief public appearances early in the festivities, but never advanced to the final quartet.

But somewhere, somehow, there is a lower seed out there that is going to spring its magic on somebody, and I don't mean beating a fourth seed in the second round. I think we’re going to see a bona fide sleeper make it all the way to the Final Four, and maybe even win the whole enchilada.

Let’s just say we’re due for another miracle, on the heels of the vaunted Yankees’ astonishing loss to Arizona in the World Series, and the supposedly invincible Rams’ demise at the hands of our hometown boys.

Indiana has shown its mettle; they’ve already knocked off a #1 seed (Duke) and a #2 (Oklahoma) just getting to the final game, along with beating a red-hot Kent State team that was on a 20-game winning streak. Can they beat Maryland? My head says that the eight-point spread favoring the Terrapins is justified, and that former BC coach Gary Williams is due for a championship. But something tells me that a game for the ages is in store, and I’ll go with my heart rather than my noggin and say that Hoosier coach Mike Davis dispels the ghost of Bobby Knight and brings home to Bloomington the first men’s national title for that hoops-crazy state since 1987.

Then — particularly in 1985, when Villanova shot the lights out to knock out favored Georgetown — as now, it’s all about making shots. This is simple logic: if one team gets hot, and one team does not perform up to its capabilities, the hungrier team wins. I have little doubt the Terps want to win for the long-suffering Williams, but Indiana seems to have the karma, and may have suffered a lesser letdown after its semifinal win over the Sooners than Maryland did in its jihad against Kansas.

Cinderella will show up at the ball Monday night in Atlanta; whether the glass slipper fits will be up to the guys in the red jerseys. Methinks a dandy game is in store, and another sports upset will come to pass.

In 1986, the Red Sox opened the season in Detroit, and it was the first game of the Major League Baseball season to get under way that day. Dwight Evans, now the Sox’ hitting coach, batted leadoff that day and hit the first pitch of the season off Jack Morris for a home run. Though the Sox ultimately lost that opener in Tiger Stadium, 6-5, we all know that John McNamara’s boys went on to win the American League East championship, advanced to the World Series, and were one pitch away from their first world championship on October 25 before bad things began to happen.

I only bring that up because Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, in Monday’s cover story, mentioned how the team’s charter plane was struck by lightning as it returned from Houston Sunday night. And on Sunday night the Globe’s Gordon Edes, on WBZ-TV’s Sports Final, told a story from last season about how one of the train cars carrying the Sox home became disconnected — the one that held then-manager Jimy Williams. Say what you will about omens, but they sure make you wonder sometimes.

A word of calm to the worrywarts alarmed about Pedro Martinez’s balky shoulder: remember how nervous Bruins fans were coming into this season about the health of goaltender Byron Dafoe? His knee and groin were potential problem spots, and the local hockey krishnas held their collective breath as Lord Byron came out of the gate last September. Well, Dafoe has been the anchor of the B’s defense, and has not missed a game to injury this season. Granted, Pedro’s health is a constant concern, and the first sign of trouble could derail the Sox’ perceived championship express, but let’s just let the man pitch and not get all wound up about what " could " happen. Dafoe could very well be hoisting the silver chalice this June, and in a perfect world collect a Conn Smyth trophy along the way.

The Bruins, by the way, continue to drive us to drink. In their last 10 games, they won eight, which is all well and good, and dropped only two. What’s dicey is that every game in that stretch has been decided by one or two goals, a nail-biting trend that has been the team’s hallmark all season long. Defense wins championships, but it would be nice if the Black and Gold had a few blowouts along the way to make watching a Bruins game relaxing, rather than an exercise in hair-pulling frustration.

Results are what count, though, and Joe Thornton’s return should not only provide him with added stamina for the rest of the way, but lend depth to a team already riding a hot streak as it cruises into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Sporting Eye runs Mondays and Fridays at bostonphoenix.com. Christopher Young can be reached at cyoung[a]phx.com