The Front Row with MARK NELKE March 25, 2012

Red chili or green chili?

That's one of the first questions you are asked once you set foot in Albuquerque, as we did last week for the first and second - er, the second and third - rounds of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

According to one website, that question is also considered the official state question of New Mexico. Who knew each state had an official question? Imagine what Idaho's might be?

Even one of the players at the pre-tournament news conference - a Vanderbilt player hailing from Hobbs, N.M. - was asked whether he was a "red chili or green chili guy."

That question at least made some sense, as opposed to the Super Bowl, where on media day a player might be asked "if you were a tree, what type of tree would you be?"

In any event, green chili is considered to be a bit hotter, while red chili is said to be milder but more pungent.

Whatever. In much the same spirit of mixing your eggs and hash browns together, I hedged my bet by ordering a little of each chili, and mixing them together with the beans and rice and enchiladas and lettuce and whatever else came on the plate and called that good. It's possible the sweat atop my head at the end of the meal came from the green chili, but I guess we'll never really know.

ASIDE FROM our adventures in fine dining, enjoying the 70-degree weather and dodging cars that apparently thought they, not we, had the right-of-way in the crosswalk, there were some basketball games to watch.

It had been 10 years since we had journeyed to "The Pit" to watch NCAA games. They still insist on making most of the seating bleacher seating, which is fine if you don't mind shelling out $5 per session for a cushion, or if your own built-in cushion is suitable. If not ...

Seating a cozy 13,752 for NCAA games, there isn't a bad seat - viewing-wise, anyway - in The Pit, and the atmosphere was fine.

Things got a little bit rowdy when UNLV and Colorado were getting ready to play in the last game of the evening session. Being somewhat nearby, both schools brought more fans than their NCAA-allotted cheering section could hold, so as fate would have it, many of their overflow spectators wound up sitting behind us — with only an aisle to separate them.

The trash-talking began during the preceding game — Baylor vs. South Dakota State. Each group had a ringleader who seemed a little bit left of normal, and they were jawing at each other pretty good. Given this is a family newspaper, you’ll have to take my word for it.

However, once the game started, UNLV fans didn’t have much more to say anymore, as the Rebels missed 3-pointer after 3-pointer (they would finish 9 for 36 from behind the arc) and fell behind by 20 points before making it somewhat interesting with a too-late comeback.

I remembered seeing UNLV at the tourney during its glory days in the 1980s and early 90s, so it was nice to see some of the old traditions remain — like the fans chanting “Re-bels, Re-bels,” and doing the “Jaws” chomp with their arms, an ode to former coach Jerry Tarkanian, nicknamed Tark the Shark, coaching his UNLV teams in their home arena dubbed the Shark Tank.

But one thing was missing from UNLV — a team capable of a Final Four run — and so it was Colorado, in its first NCAA tournament since 2003, that got to stay ’til Saturday.

Colorado’s fans — who kept chanting “COL-o-RAD-o” throughout the two games — were at least entertaining until their gritty, gutty team, which won four games in four days as the No. 6 seed in the rugged Pac-12 tournament to make it into the NCAAs (OK, the Pac-12 was WAY down this year, and SOMEBODY had to make the tourney), gave Baylor everything it wanted until fading in the final 10 minutes of an 80-63 loss.

As for Baylor, our eyes are still adjusting from the neon green uniforms — and neon-colored socks, and neon-colored shoelaces — the Bears subjected us to for their games against South Dakota State and Colorado. Made it hard to focus on what guard Brady Heslip was signaling with his fingers after each of his 3-point baskets — and there was a lot of signaling. The 6-foot-2 sophomore with the ’50s-style haircut made 14 3s in the two games, including 9 (out of 12) against COL-o-RAD-o.

If you’re not wide awake when Baylor tips off against Kentucky this morning in the South Regional final, you will be after you get a dose of that neon.

And as for Wisconsin, after watching the Badgers efficiently if not entertainingly work their way to a couple of wins in Albuquerque, it was disappointing to see them botch the last possession against Syracuse five days later, have to hoist up a 30-footer in the closing seconds and lose to the Orange in the regional semifinals.

TOURNEY OFFICIALS at The Pit were woefully unprepared for the changes in technology since last the NCAAs visited Albuquerque, in 2005. For no apparent reason, arenas at NCAA sites are notoriously bad at providing fans updates on other tourney games, and this year was no exception. Many went to their smartphones, but there wasn’t enough bandwidth in the arena to handle the crush, so some couldn’t get through.

Fans grumbled after Thursday’s games. The bandwidth problem wasn’t fixed by Saturday — and may need to be addressed if Albuquerque wants to host future NCAA games — but at least they offered up the occasional score updates from other games.

FAR, FAR away from The Pit, Gonzaga went 1-1 in the tournament for the third straight year, bowing out at the hands of No. 2 seed Ohio State. After getting blown out in their second game in the past two NCAAs, Zag supporters proclaimed to be encouraged this year, their seventh-seeded Bulldogs only losing by seven points to the mighty Buckeyes.

Meanwhile, two other No. 2 seeds — Duke and Missouri — lost in the first round to No. 15 seeds.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.