i guess i'll just pop my fred t-shirt...

"Whenever somebody does something good these days, the first thing they do is pop their jersey," Texas Tech forward Devonne Giles said. "Guys want to give their college some credit. They're trying to show love to everybody at their school."

Popping the jersey, as it has become known, is more common than the backdoor pass. When Donald Brown helped 14th-seeded Bucknell topple third-seeded Kansas last week, he raised his jersey high enough to cover his chin. When Niagara won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament this season, two players popped for the photograph.

The pose has been struck in major conference showdowns, at the N.C.A.A. tournament play-in game, even at the National Invitation Tournament. There is a new rule in college basketball: After you stretch the nylon, you have to pull the polyester.