COLLEGE BASKETBALL / DAILY REPORT : NCAA MEN’S FINAL : 3,000 Welcome Champions

As the weary coach left the airport Tuesday in Fayetteville, Ark., the chant rose from the crowd: “No-LAN, No-LAN, No-LAN.”

About 3,000 fans welcomed the Arkansas Razorbacks home the day after Nolan Richardson’s team won the NCAA basketball championship by defeating Duke, 76-72.

“It’s a great feeling to finally win it, but I go back to work tomorrow,” Richardson said on the tarmac at Drake Field. “I’ve not been to sleep yet. I can hardly wait to get home.”

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Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski broke down and cried halfway through a 15-minute speech to a welcome-home crowd of about 2,000 cheering fans at Durham, N.C.

“I feel an emptiness for me,” said Krzyzewski, who had called this team his favorite. “The journey from Nov. 1 until now was a journey that not one bit of my fiber wants to end. I loved coaching my team.

“They made me better. They made me happy. They never made me sad. They made me proud.”

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Monday night’s game drew a 21.6 rating, the lowest since 1991, according to figures released by the A.C. Nielsen Co.

With each rating point representing 942,000 households, it means an average of 20.3 million households were tuned in throughout the telecast on CBS. Network research officials claim that about 51.4 million viewers watched at least a portion of the game.