Much of the crowd in Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym on Saturday night saw a couple dozen middle-aged guys walk into the building in blue and gold kilts, with bagpipes and drums, headed for the seats assigned to UC Riverside's band, and thought: "How cute."

Chancellor France A. Cordova came into the interview room after Saturday's loss to North Carolina gushing about the way the bagpipe band was received by the crowd. Highlanders players talked about their excitement level when the fellows in kilts arrived.

Does UCR even have cheerleaders? This Space has presumed that they do, but that may actually be a rumor. For the two most important games in the history of the school's women's program, last week's Big West Tournament final in Anaheim and this weekend's NCAA Tournament appearance, they were no-shows.

Again, if you're keeping score, those are students who were entitled to be here, on the NCAA's dime, but weren't. The only undergraduates here in an official capacity were the mascot -- at least I presume the mascot, hidden by that huge Scotty Bear head, was a student -- and representatives from the school paper.

Band and spirit squads are extracurricular activities, true. But students privileged enough to accompany their teams to events such as the NCAA Tournament are exposed to a unique educational experience, complementing what they learn in the classroom.

After all, college life isn't only learning facts and numbers and theories. It's learning to grow up, to think for yourself and to deal with different situations and people. A road trip like this would be a perfect opportunity to do so -- but the message at UCR seems to be that if you're not on athletic scholarship, that avenue is closed to you.

The other part of my problem with this: Quirky and unusual draw momentary attention to your school and your program, but that doesn't translate to respect.

Quirky and unusual draw snickers, raised eyebrows and condescending pats on the head. That's a long way from the concept that this school, this program, is capable of holding its own on the big stage.

But the thought crossed my mind late in Saturday's game, while hearing the bagpipers play a song I didn't recognize during a timeout, that they provided an atmosphere more suitable for an NYPD funeral than for a college basketball game. You want fight songs, popular tunes, something sassy that the cheerleaders and song girls can move to.

And, as my colleague Dan Bernstein pointed out last week, you want band members that care enough to fire up their own team and, just maybe, heckle the opposition and the refs a little bit.

This is the bottom line: UCR, still relatively new to Division I, is enjoying rapid success in some sports, less so in others. Yet its image regionally -- and now nationally, to those who saw Saturday night's game on ESPN2 -- is that of a program unable to handle the trappings that go with it.

The athletes and coaches are handling their end with remarkable poise and aplomb and as much efficiency as they can muster. But the people above them -- yes, all the way up to the chancellor's office -- need to step up and do the same.

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