March Madness - Notable Alumni Edition

You may or may not have ever thought about what famous person - actor, athlete, politician, President - has gone to your school.  I'm going to tell you who went where - Sweet 16 Edition.

University of Kentucky

• Ashley Judd, the best looking Wildcats fan around
• Governor of North Carolina Beverly Perdue
• Mitch McConnell, current US Senate Majority Leader

Indiana University

• Straight No Chaser, acapella group that attended IU from 1996-1999
• Scott A. Jones, better known for inventing voicemail systems
• Lee Corso, ESPN college football analyst

Baylor University

• Trey Wingo - ESPN SportsCenter host
• Jim L. Turner - former CEO of Dr. Pepper/Seven Up Bottling Group
• H. Bentley Glass - Geneticist and columnist

Xavier University

• John Boehner, Speaker of the House
• Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning
• Charles Geschke, President and co-founder of Adobe Systems

Michigan State University

• Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Hall of Fame basketball player
• Offensive lineman Flozell Adams, just because he has a great name
• Geoffrey Fieger, attorney for Jack Kevorkian

University of Louisville

• Inventor of the first safe intravenous fluid, Donald Baxter
• Arnold Grishwold, developed the first blood bank, emergency room, and ambulance in the US
• First overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft, Pervis Ellison

Marquette University

• Dwyane Wade, NBA player for the Miami Heat
• Thomas R. Callahan II, better known as Tommy Boy
• Co-founder of Texas Instruments, Patrick E. Haggerty

University of Florida

• ESPN beauty Erin Andrews
• Denver Broncos preacher quarterback Tim Tebow
• Kendra Todd, winner of season 3 of The Apprentice

Syracuse University

• "The Express" and first black Heisman Trophy Winner Ernie Davis
• Dick Clark, everyone's favorite personality on New Year's Eve
• Crooner Lou Reed 

University of Wisconsin

• Aviator extraordinaire Charles Lindbergh
• Dick Cheney, former Vice President of the USA under George W. Bush
• Actress who appeared in Working Girl, In & Out, and High Fidelity, Joan Cusack 

University of Cincinnati

• Sex and the City "star" Sarah Jessica Parker
• David Laughridge developed the Nerf Ball for Parker Brothers
• Engineer and builder of the Golden Gate Bridge, Joseph Strauss

Ohio State University 

• Roy Plunkett, the original "Teflon Don", actually invented teflon
• One of the biggest busts in NBA Draft history (because of injury) Greg Oden
• Country music star Dwight Yoakam

University of North Carolina

• Former President of the United States James K. Polk
• #23 Michael Jordan
• Jim Beatty, the first person to run a 4-minute mile indoors  

Ohio University

•  Author of The Color of Money Walter Tevis
• Head Coach of the WV Mountaineer basketball program Bob Huggins
• Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt 

North Carolina State University

• NFL quarterback and often loudmouth Philip Rivers
• Donald Bitzer, father of the plasma television
• Henry H. Shelton, former chairman of the US Armed Forces 

University of Kansas

•  Don Johnson, the guy who made white pants cool and star of the original Miami Vice
•  Criminal Minds actor and tenor vocalist Mandy Patinkin
•  Discoverer or the former planet Pluto, Clyde Tombaugh

Overall, there are some pretty notable alumni from the 16 schools still represented in March Madness.  It'd be a tough call deciding who'll win based on alumni.

I picked Kentucky and I'll stick with Kentucky.

I hope this column enlightened you a little.