Bubble teams shoot prayer ball

San Diego State and Saint Mary's are on the outside looking in as the NCAA Tournament prepares to tip off Thursday. But give the Aztecs and Gaels credit for trying to go to a higher source than the men's selection committee for help.

Aztecs coach Steve Fisher said after losing Saturday's Mountain West Conference Tournament final to Utah that he would go to church Sunday and light an extra candle and put an extra dollar in the collection box.

Saint Mary's center Omar Samhan said after his team lost the West Coast Conference Tournament final to Gonzaga that everyone would be going to church before the selection show Sunday.

"Say a prayer for us," Samhan asked the media.

So much for divine intervention.

It should be noted that only one school had a priest on its bench during the WCC's four-day run at the Orleans Arena. Perhaps it's no coincidence that team was Gonzaga.

• RECORD INTERVIEW -- ESPN is claiming an in-house record for most interviews by one person in a five-hour time slot.

Andy Katz, ESPN.com's college basketball insider, attempted to interview the head coaches of all 65 NCAA Tournament teams Monday. He got 63 of the 65, missing on Cal State Northridge's Bobby Braswell, who had a scheduling conflict, and California's Mike Montgomery, who had assistant Jay John pinch hit for him.

Katz reportedly made 175 calls in the five-hour span, and at one point, he interviewed Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, Illinois' Bruce Weber, Tennessee's Bruce Pearl and American's Jeff Jones within eight minutes. While trying to reach Boeheim, Katz somehow kept getting the Syracuse biology department.

For his next project, Katz will Twitter all 16 College Basketball Invitational coaches in two minutes.

• OUT OF TIME -- Sean Williams might want to call Katz to see if he can borrow any minutes remaining on Katz's cell phone, after the New Jersey Nets forward was arrested in Denver on Monday.

Williams was at the Park Meadows Mall in suburban Denver at around 2 p.m., before the Nets' game with the Denver Nuggets, and he got into an argument with an employee at a cell phone store. An irate Williams allegedly threw a computer monitor, causing between $1,200 and $1,300 worth of damage.

He was arrested by Lone Tree, Colo., police and taken to Douglas County Jail, where Williams was charged with suspicion of disorderly conduct and felony criminal mischief.

Williams did not play in the Nets' 121-96 loss to the Nuggets. He did not return to New Jersey with the team after the game as he had to stay over for a Tuesday court appearance. He posted a $6,000 bond and is scheduled to reappear in court May 1.

• NCAA PROPS -- The folks at BetUS.com like to come up with some offbeat proposition wagers. Here's a few interesting ones for the NCAA Tournament:

Coach most likely to get ejected -- Southern California's Tim Floyd is the favorite at 2-1, followed by Louisiana State's Trent Johnson and Connecticut's Jim Calhoun, both at 3-1.

First technical foul in the tournament -- Once again, USC's Floyd is the chalk at 2-1, followed by Siena's Fran McCaffery at 5-2.

Odds that you fill out your bracket 100 percent correctly -- 1 in 150,000,000.

Good luck, and please wager responsibly.

COMPILED BY STEVE CARP LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL