Well, Tuesday begins the 2nd best 3 weeks in college sports. It's time to go dancing, America. In this post, I'll talk about what I think of the field: the No. 1s, the Snubs, possible cinderellas, and sleepers. If I'm not too tired, I'll add some of my insight. Off we go!
We'll start at the top of the board with the Number 1 seeds. Louisville, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, and North Carolina all grabbed the top lines of their brackets. Lousiville was able to edge out Pittsburgh for the top overall seed, thanks to a Big East tournament championship, and Pitt's failure against WVU in the Big East quarters.
UNC looks to have the easiest road to the Final Four, despite being the 3rd overall seed. The second round brings LSU or Butler to the table against the Heels. Pitt would face either OK State or Tennessee, UConn would draw BYU or Texas A&M, and UL would get the winner of Ohio State/Siena. Many think that the Cardinals have the easiest 2nd round game, but Ohio State beat 2nd seeded Michigan State in the Big 10 tourney by a 12 point margin. Neutral court wins are huge, and Ohio State could be a force to be reckoned with.
Snubs are always a huge topic after the brackets are announced. This year is no different (I say this as I watch Dickie V argue for St. Mary's) I agree with Vitale that maybe Arizona shouldn't have gotten in over St. Mary's. But my biggest problem with this year's tournament is that Auburn is not in. They had 22 wins, and 10 in conference. I do understand that had Miss. St not won the SEC tournament, the Tigers may have been dancing. I disagree that Davidson is out, despite being the cinderella story of 2008. Again, Temple stole the A-10's auto bid from Xavier, giving that conference more bids than it deserves (3).
Cinderellas. My absolute favorite part of this tournament is who becomes someone that noone expected them to be. Davidson was last year's cinderella story, riding the Curry Wave. This year, I think that Tennessee has the best shot at becoming America's sweetheart this year. The Vols play hard core defense, and have one of the best half court offenses in the SEC. OKST offers a tough challenge to start the dance off. Winning that game would put the Vols in the face of top seeded Pitt, who was exposed in the last 2 games.
Few people think about sleepers until it actually happens. Looking over the brackets this year, the first team that strikes me as a sleeper is Washington. The Huskies drew Miss St. with a 4-13 matchup. Washington is seeded below UConn, Memphis and Mizzou in their bracket, but would only run into one of those teams in the Sweet 16 or later, giving hem time to build some momentum. I like the Huksies to make a small run this year.
My Final Four: I like Kansas, Memphis, UNC, and Duke to make the trip to Detroit.
Now America, Let's Dance!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Bubble Talk
Well, welcome back fans. As of late, the three of use have been quite busy with work, school, and personal commitments. But that's not the point of this post, now is it?
With Selection Sunday less than 3 weeks away, let's take a look at some of the teams that need to jump-start their game-quickly. We'll narrow the post down to one team from the Big East, SEC and Big 12 conferences, to keep the length reasonable.
Big East
I'll start in South Bend, where the Irish really need to come up big in their last 2 games (both at home). The losing streak last month didn't quite help, as the Irish would be locks if it weren't for that. As it sits right now, Notre Dame needs to beat both 'Nova AND St. John's to have a chance at the Dance. That would put them at 9-9 in the conference, which should be good enough to get in. But if Notre Dame drops one of those games, it's an 8-10 finish in conference play, and the selection committee could very well leave the Irish at home (unless of course the NIT picks them up). Of course, a run in the Big East tourney would help....
SEC
South Carolina, even at 20-7, doesn't look like the team they were in December. The Gamecocks absolutely layed an egg (no pun intended) against both vanderbilt and Miss St. recently. They're 2nd overall in the SEC and atop the standings in the East division, but they need to pick up their game now. Tennessee comes to town Thursday, and then they visit Georgie next Sunday to finish off the regular season. Wins in both would tremendously help the resume (I know UGA is 11-17, but come on, wins always help). Their signature victory this year is against Baylor, but their non-conference schedule is TERRIBLE (ranked 260 nationally). that loss to College of Charleston hurts don't it boys? SEC tournament may have to be the place where USC earns that invite.
Big 12
Last but not least, Kansas State. Count your lucky stars that you beat Nebraska, because that was the game that saved your season (so far). With OKST and Colorado to finish up this week, K-State needs to win both to finish 10-6 in league play and look "decent" enough for the selection committee to even look at their resume. Excuse my language for a second, but Baylor bitch-slapped them IN Manhattan on January 21st... Not exactly what the Wildcats needed to go onto the resume. Kansas State needs to step up here soon- starting tuesday at OKST.
With Selection Sunday less than 3 weeks away, let's take a look at some of the teams that need to jump-start their game-quickly. We'll narrow the post down to one team from the Big East, SEC and Big 12 conferences, to keep the length reasonable.
Big East
I'll start in South Bend, where the Irish really need to come up big in their last 2 games (both at home). The losing streak last month didn't quite help, as the Irish would be locks if it weren't for that. As it sits right now, Notre Dame needs to beat both 'Nova AND St. John's to have a chance at the Dance. That would put them at 9-9 in the conference, which should be good enough to get in. But if Notre Dame drops one of those games, it's an 8-10 finish in conference play, and the selection committee could very well leave the Irish at home (unless of course the NIT picks them up). Of course, a run in the Big East tourney would help....
SEC
South Carolina, even at 20-7, doesn't look like the team they were in December. The Gamecocks absolutely layed an egg (no pun intended) against both vanderbilt and Miss St. recently. They're 2nd overall in the SEC and atop the standings in the East division, but they need to pick up their game now. Tennessee comes to town Thursday, and then they visit Georgie next Sunday to finish off the regular season. Wins in both would tremendously help the resume (I know UGA is 11-17, but come on, wins always help). Their signature victory this year is against Baylor, but their non-conference schedule is TERRIBLE (ranked 260 nationally). that loss to College of Charleston hurts don't it boys? SEC tournament may have to be the place where USC earns that invite.
Big 12
Last but not least, Kansas State. Count your lucky stars that you beat Nebraska, because that was the game that saved your season (so far). With OKST and Colorado to finish up this week, K-State needs to win both to finish 10-6 in league play and look "decent" enough for the selection committee to even look at their resume. Excuse my language for a second, but Baylor bitch-slapped them IN Manhattan on January 21st... Not exactly what the Wildcats needed to go onto the resume. Kansas State needs to step up here soon- starting tuesday at OKST.