THE ELEVATOR

A special NCAA tournament edition of who's going to the penthouse in local sports - and who's getting the shaft:

GOING UP

UNLV

Despite the snub from Cheech and Chong or whomever was responsible for the NCAA bracket, it has been a season to remember for the 28-6 Rebels.

UNR

Despite the snub from Martin and Lewis or whomever was responsible for the other side of the NCAA bracket, it has been a year to remember for the 28-4 Wolf Pack, too.

Reggie Theus (above)

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest-looking coach of all in this year's NCAA tournament? That's easy - it's former UNLV great and sartorially splendid Reggie Theus, who has guided New Mexico State to a handsome 25-win season after inheriting a team that won just six games two years ago.

Mountain West tournament attendance

After averaging 8,322, 8,974 and 7,549 spectators during its three-year exile in Denver, this year's men's event at the Thomas & Mack Center attracted an average of 10,984 paying customers and Doug Flutie. Saturday's UNLV-BYU championship game set a Mountain West record with a crowd of 16,204. And nobody complained about the Thomas & Mack being too small.

GOING DOWN

NCAA tournament committee

This just in: UNLV, UNR, Kansas State, Syracuse receive top seeds in the Antarctic Regional. Duke gets bye to finals.

Kyle Shiloh

Leggo that logo - or something like that. The UNR guard, the heart and soul of the Wolf Pack defense, missed the WAC semifinals against Utah State after slipping on the midcourt logo during a quarterfinal victory against Idaho and pulling a hamstring. No word yet on whether the logo, which also caused players to lose their footing when the WAC tournament was played here several years ago, will be replaced with a nonslip bathmat.

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