MEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT / MIDWEST REGIONAL : It’s a Real Fab Fest: Michigan-Maryland

Once, they were young.

At 20, one almost can’t remember how it felt to be an 18-year-old freshman on Michigan’s Fab Five.

It felt incredible.

It felt sort of the way Maryland feels now.

Tonight in the Midwest Regional, the remaining Fab Four meet Maryland’s Fab Two Plus Three, an improbable entry that starts two freshmen and three sophomores, finished the regular season by winning four of its last 12 games, then caught fire in the tournament.

In 1992, when the Wolverine pups made their first run into the NCAA Final Four, all five of Maryland’s starters were in high school, rooting them on.

“We did see those guys playing in the NC-double-A,” said Maryland point guard Duane Simpkins, then a senior at DeMatha High in suburban Washington.

“You know, you had to feel a little proud of them because they went out on a limb and at the same time, they made it look good. They were cocky and everything.

“But a lot of people at this point in time feel that since we looked at them and we were in high school and everything, we’re kind of like in awe. But I know we don’t hold them in awe. We’re here to win this thing, like they are.”

Not that anyone would admit it if he was in awe, but without Chris Webber, playing in the NBA, the Wolverines are now merely good, no longer scary.

They finished second in the Big Ten, No. 11 in the final Associated Press poll. Arkansas is the big dog in this regional, the Wolverines merely seeded No. 3.

They didn’t blow out anyone to get here, either. Pepperdine had two leads on them in the last 1:39 of regulation in their first-round game. Michigan slid by Texas to get here as center Juwan Howard, a single tower now, had 34 points and 18 rebounds.

“People say we’re not intimidating as we were the last two years because we don’t have a guy who blocks shots or who’s big in the paint like a Webber or who takes up space,” Howard said.

“But it wasn’t just Webber that we lost. We lost Eric Riley, Michael Talley, James Voskuil. . . .

“Without those guys, it’s not like we’re trying to prove things to people. Still and all, we’re in a good mood. We feel like we’re playing good Michigan ball.”

Of course, Michigan ball isn’t what it used to be.

The cockiness remains, the trash talking, the calf-length trunks, black socks and sneakers. But a lot of points, rebounds, blocks and dunks walked away with Webber.

Despite its youth, Maryland bears only a passing resemblance to the Fab Five. All the Michigan freshmen were nationally recruited stars, enrolling in a program that had won an NCAA title two years before.

Their precocity was frightening. One of the upperclassmen they forced to the bench, Riley, was a No. 2 draft pick of the Houston Rockets.

The Maryland kids were recruited with the promise that they would play right away. They joined a downtrodden program, racked by years of scandals.

Their top player, freshman of the year Joe Smith, was considered too skinny at 6 feet 9 and 210, and ranked behind the stars of his class--Rashard Griffith, Rasheed Wallace and Marcus Camby.

Once at Maryland, though, Smith started putting up numbers. He averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds. In two games of the NCAA tournament, he has scored 51 points.

Ask someone who has been there, a surprising freshman and a mixed bag of underclassmen still don’t add up to a Fab Five.

“I don’t think anyone’s upset,” Michigan’s Ray Jackson said. “I just think everyone wants their own identity.

“We see Maryland as a totally different team than we were coming in. They’re a good team in the same sense that we were, but they’re made up of totally different players.

“But there’s no animosity or bad feelings because of that.”

In college basketball, your last hurrah comes up quickly. Howard and Jalen Rose are considering leaving after this season.

If they do, the five will be two. What was will be a memory.

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In the first game, mighty Arkansas, seeded No. 1, meets UCLA-slayer Tulsa, seeded 12th.

The Golden Hurricane rained three-pointers on the Bruins and second-round victim Oklahoma State.

Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson rumbles a warning: Don’t miss.

“When they fall, you’re in trouble,” Richardson said.

“When they don’t fall, then things change.”