It is that time of year, March Madness so I am going to take a break from the NBA and talk college basketball. The conference tournaments are over and some teams are going into the games extremely hot. One team that just after watching several times that I think could make some noise is Vanderbilt. They are a five seed in the east region. They proved they can hang with anyone beating Kentucky in the conference championship, which I thought was an amazing game. They would have to get through Syracuse eventually if they wanted to continue to New Orleans which is do-able for this squad.
Whoever comes out of the south region will be battle tested, in my opinion that region is stacked. I like Baylor over Duke to possibly play Kentucky in the elite 8. Baylor has been a streaky team but, their athleticism may be too much for Duke and with a win over Duke it could be the jump start to give Baylor a spark to make its way to the Final Four.
Another hot team is Missouri I have seen several games where they have played Baylor and Kansas and wonder how Missouri with a 4 guard line-up can win. A simple answer is they shoot the ball. With 4 guards there is plenty of shooters to find on a drive and kick. This team will go as far as their hot shooting can take them which could be into the final four.
Interesting thing in the Midwest region. If North Carolina and Creighton win their first games they will be matched up against each other. The interesting part is it puts former teammates against each other, Doug McDermott and Harrison Barnes. Both played together on the State Championship team Ames in Iowa.
This division could be dominated by the top two seeds in Kansas and North Carolina. This blog post was really random but, thought I would share some things that I thought are possible during the greatest time in sports. Let me know who you think could be a sleeper or who you have in your Final Four.
Michigan State! Mizzou cant guard their size, nor can they compete on the glass. Otherwise I like Kentucky, FSU, and UNC
ReplyDeleteAs for sleeper teams, I like USF to possibly beat Temple and perhaps even beat Michigan in a potential second round game. They have a relatively talented squad, especially for a 12 seed. I also wouldn't sleep on KSU beating Cuse in round 3. They have a loaded squad led by Rodney MacGruber, so that'll be an interesting game--I have Cuse, but I could see it going either way (don't be surprised if Cuse wins by double figures either, they're hit or miss). Louisville comes into the tourney relatively hot. Although I don't have them upsetting Mich St. in a potential round four (which I still call the third round) match-up, don't put it passed the Cardinals. Another upset I could foresee happening pertains to the game between Georgetown and Bucknell. I like G'town to win, but they've been bounced in the first round (technically the second round) in each of the past two seasons and Bucknell has played some stiff competition this year, so they're battle-tested.
ReplyDeleteAs for final four, I've filled out 4 brackets, but my favorites are as follows: from the South, I like Kentucky just based on consistency--I wouldn't be surprised if Duke, Baylor, or even INDIANA (which handed Kentucky one of its two losses, albeit at Indiana) got out of that region, but I like Kentucky as the favorite.
For the West region, I actually like Marquette to face Michigan State in an all out war for a spot in the final four. I think Missouri has the potential and talent to win that region as well, but I think Marquette's size will certainly bother Missouri (Jay Butler is just filthy good). I didn't personally pick Marquette because I tend to go conservative, but I could definitely see it. I'm taking Michigan State, but don't sleep on Marquette or Missouri for that matter.
For the East, I like Ohio State and here's why: Jared Sullinger can score at will against almost any single defender in college, so in order to effectively stop him, you must send double teams (which leaves perimeter shooters open, and boy, does Ohio State have a lot of those) or bother him with length--however, the East doesn't have a great deal of length so I see Ohio State having a solid road to winning that region. They also have William Buford, a clutch senior who may be hungrier than any other player in the nation to get back to New Orleans, as well as Aaron Craft, who is arguably the best defender in the nation at any position.
Finally, I like Kansas to play UNC in the elite 8 game for a spot in the final four out of the Midwest region. This match-up is certainly a head scratcher--I personally believe UNC is the more talented of the two teams, but for some reason, I think Kansas has the wherewithal to get the win. Thomas Robinson has such a sad life story up to this point that him being denied of making it to New Orleans just doesn't seem fathomable to me at this point. I think Kansas has a clear cut leader, something that UNC lacks and desperately needs. It'll be a good game, but for argument's sake, I'm taking Kansas.