When everyone thought the University of North Carolina would wallop Kansas University – N.C. Sen. Elizabeth Dole included – former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole took up the challenge in defense of his alma mater.And he put it all on the line: dog walking responsibilities for the fan of whichever team lost. The Raleigh News and Observer reports:On Friday, the Salisbury Republican and her husband, former Sen. Bob Dole, agreed to a not-so-friendly wager on the NCAA tournament game Saturday between UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Kansas.The loser of the bet had to donate $1,000 to the academic scholarship fund of the winning team’s school as well as assume dog-walking duties for the couple’s miniature schnauzer, Leader.”One North Carolina team already had Kansas on the ropes, and now it’s time for the Tar Heels to finish the Jayhawks off,” Elizabeth Dole said in a statement.There has been no word from the Dole household now that the Jayhawks beat the Tar Heels, but Leader won either way.Catch a ride Shuttle buses to tonight’s Final Four watch event at Allen Fieldhouse will begin running from the Park and Ride lot at 7 tonight. Parking in the lot is open to the public. Doors to the fieldhouse open at 7:30 p.m.KU basketball academics take a knock In a Saturday column appearing in the Los Angeles Times, the KU basketball team takes a knock for not graduating enough of its players:If Sweet 16 victories were based on the graduation rates tracked by the federal government – the percentage of scholarship players who enrolled from 1997 to 2000 and graduated within six years – who would come out on top?The results are not the Final Four matchups happening in San Antonio. In fact, only one of the top seeds – the University of North Carolina, with a 60-percent graduation rate – would make this academic Final Four.KU and Memphis wouldn’t have made it even to the Elite Eight. UCLA would have been knocked out by Xavier University’s 67-percent graduation rate, meaning Ben Howland’s Bruins wouldn’t be headed to the Final Four for the third straight year. Instead, Xavier or Stanford University would be headed to the championship game, where they would play Davidson College.Even more disturbing are the graduation rates of black players at many of these elite basketball schools. At UCLA, for example, the graduation rate for black players is only 20 percent, in comparison to 100 percent for white players. These coaches and universities have a responsibility to ensure that all of their athletes are given the tools to graduate.According to the LA Times, KU’s grad rate for scholarship players was 40 percent, and 58 percent for all players.