Kevin Millar vows to be a little more careful about accepting basketball tips from a former national baseball writer.

Peter Schmuck, a columnist at The Sun with a deep baseball background, approached Millar in the Orioles' clubhouse earlier this week and guaranteed a Southern California victory over Kansas State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Millar has a long memory, so he took a short break before yesterday's game to relay the story.

"Tell Schmuck to stick to writing. He's no NCAA basketball prognosticator," Millar said, fully aware that 11th-seeded Kansas State upset the sixth-seeded Trojans, 80-67.

"He comes up to me and says, 'USC's a sleeper.' Yeah, OK. I look up and they're down by 20. OK, Dick Vitale, thanks."

Millar ran back to his teammates, still smiling, and continued to warm up before batting practice.

The USC loss was a bracket-buster for some fans. Millar did a little busting of his own yesterday.