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Few weekends ago, we were celebrating the beginning of March Madness, which is well known as the NCAA National Tournament. Now, time has passed through and we know the four teams that are going to play the final. The Final game is going to be played at Indianapolis on April 3rd, 2010. Read the rest of this entry »
This Thursday we are having a interesting game between the The South Florida Bulls and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The venue will be the Rutgers Stadium located at the nice city of Piscataway at New Jersey. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 PM ET and is going to be televised on ESPN and ESPN360. Read the rest of this entry »
Is hard to reach this point and see how hard the Michigan’s State Coach is stating that they are going to loose. “If we play good and they play good, we’re losing. That’s the way I look at it”. Izzo Said….. Now we are facing this statement and of course we are going to be witnesses of a total success from North Carolina, so, we know that they will play good, and based in Izzo statement we will see how Michigan State is going to loose. The game will be played at the Ford Field in Detroit Michigan at 9:20 PM ET and is going to be televised in CBS Sports.
While there are still 16 teams vying for a National Championship, it should be noted that in no time in history, since the field expanded to 64 teams, have the four number one seeded teams advanced to the final four. A part of that is mind boggling, as in suggesting that the teams that are the best in the land aren’t able to advance, but the other part of it is what makes the NCAA Tournament filled with so much drama. However, this season all four number ones are still in it. UNC has looked the most dominate of the four teams. Defeating Mt. St. Mary’s by nearly 50 in the first round, and then coming out strong against Arkansas in the second wrong, never allowing them even in the game. The analysts have said that UNC has the toughest road to the Final Four, but so far they have made that statement a laughable one. In the round of 16 UNC will take on Washington State.
Kansas and UCLA have also not really been tested. Kansas blew by Portland State in the opening round, and after a close game for about ten minutes, was able to establish themselves as the better team against UNLV. UCLA handled Mississippi Valley State handedly in the first round, and actually struggled a bit against Texas A&M, but the result was never really in question.
Texas Arlington played Memphis the closest out of the number one seeds, but were never quite really able to put any doubt in viewers minds on who the winner would be. Then Memphis played Mississippi State, and was barely able to hold on to the win, a three point victory, after being up by double digits most of the game. Mississippi was a three-pointer away at the buzzer from sending the game into overtime.
Kansas appears to have a nice game awaiting them, one against Davidson. Davidson has beaten Gonzaga and Georgetown, however. Also, being that they will be a huge underdog, most of the stadium will be pulling for them. UCLA is playing West Virginia, who shocked most people by handling Duke fairly easily. UCLA appears to have too much talent, and inside presence for West Virginia, but they have made it this far, who knows they might be able to pull off another big upset. Finally, Memphis is playing Michigan State. Michigan State might not even be considered that big of an underdog, especially after the way Memphis played in their last game.
This has been just a quick preview of some of the top teams in the tournament still to beat. I, as long with everybody else, would find it very exciting to see some more of these huge upsets. It must be noted that no mid-major team has ever won the entire tournament. It’s also true that the highest seed to ever win it was an eighth seed. However, they play the games to change history, not to repeat it, and there is nothing saying that a Davidson or Western Kentucky can shock the world and cut down the nets on April 7th in San Antonio.
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Each year the NCAA Tournament Selection committee says they don’t purposely make intriguing match-ups, yet every year a handful of games have a story behind them. Also, there are the games that despite the seedings, are just very hard to predict a winner. This year is no different, on both accounts, as every region seems to have at least one game that leaves the viewer saying, “This could be a great game.”
Let’s take a look at each region, and some of these interesting looking games.
East
Three games jump out at me in this bracket, two of them just because of one team. George Mason is playing Notre Dame in the first round in a 12 vs. 5 game. George Mason made an incredible run two years ago that didn’t end until the final four. While Mason isn’t a particularly good shooting school, especially from the perimeter, they do take care of the ball very well. Notre Dame is certainly no pushover, and most experts are picking them to beat George Mason, but then again two years ago George Mason was close to a double digit underdog in all of their games.
The Winthrop Eagles out of the Big South Conference are beginning to make the trip to the NCAA Tournament a routine occurrence. Winthrop actually had a bit of an off year this year, finishing 22-11, but they did win the Big South Conference. They will take on Washington State in the first round. The Cougars started the season red hot, but cooled off as the season progressed; this is a very scary game for the Cougars.
Finally, South Alabama in the 10th seed is playing Butler in the 7th position. South Alabama, despite being the lower seed, gets a virtual home game, as the first round game will be in Birmingham, Alabama.
Midwest
(6) USC vs. (11) Kansas State is possibly the most intriguing game of the entire first round. On one end of the court you have O.J. Mayo, super freshman of the USC Trojans. On the other end of the court you have another super freshman, Michael Beasley. On top of being just freshman, they are also both in the running for player of the year. Beasley leads the nation in double-doubles, and has had a handful of 40 point 20 rebound performances. To have one a season is good, but to have a few is amazing. Both of the freshman have been inconsistent at times, but we can only hope they bring their A game for the NCAA Tournament.
Other potentially interesting match-ups in this region include Siena vs. Vanderbilt, and Gonzaga vs. Davidson. Gonzaga pretty much brought mid-major teams into the spotlight throughout the late 90’s, and Davidson is hoping to be among the next generation of small schools to make a major impact.
South
Temple is back in the tournament for the first time in a few years, and their defense might be able to pull off an upset against Michigan State. This is a 12 vs. 5 match-up, and it seems at least every year one or two of these goes to the 12th seed.
The Miami-Saint Mary’s game, a 7th vs. 10th seed, seems like an upset possibility. For starters, Miami as a 7th seed seemed a little high, and on the same page Saint Mary’s as a 10th seed seems low. Saint Mary’s is every bit as good as most of the teams in the top-25, and they could potentially show that by beating Miami in the first round
West
Western Kentucky was one of the last teams to make it into the tournament, and with the exception of a few late season losses, they were a pretty decent team. As a 12th seed they have to take on Drake, who is one of those mid-major conference teams trying to make a name for themselves. I feel this game is a pick’em. Both teams are not used to big games, and it doesn’t get any bigger then the NCAA Tournament.
This was just a brief preview of some of the things that could happen. However, what makes the NCAA Tournament such a joy to watch is the things that happen that nobody predicted. Will this be a year that a 16th seed finally beats a 1 seed? Will a double-digit seed, like George Mason, make another run to the NCAA Championship? All the action begins Thursday.
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Missouri and Oklahoma may both be on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA tournament, but the Sooners may have a little bit of a shot. The Missouri Tigers are 15-14 overall with a 5-9 record in the Big-12 conference. Missouri would most likely need to win the Big-12 conference tournament to make the Big Dance. If they finish above, or at .500 they would be eligible for the NIT tournament. At times the Tigers have looked good this season, but they were never consistent enough to get above .500 in the tough Big-12. Oklahoma is 19-10 overall with a 7-7 record in the Big-12. Assuming they beat Missouri, which I feel they will, they will have an above .500 record in the league. If they are able to win a game or two in the Big-12 conference championship then they could be able to sneak in depending on what the other bubble teams do, and if any top seeds are bounced early in their conference, meaning they would still make the dance.
The Sooners have three players averaging double digits in scoring, but they are led by Freshman Blake Griffin. Griffin is averaging 15 points and nearly 10 rebounds a game. If Griffin sticks around for a while he could develop as one of the top centers in the country, but sometimes the all mighty dollar of the NBA makes decisions for the young players. Oklahoma is playing for more in this game. While I think Missouri could pull off the semi-upset, I think Oklahoma, riding the waves of a 64-37 victory over Texas A&M, will take this one, and get one step closer to the NCAA March Madness tournament.
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Unless one of these two teams pulls off a near miracle and wins the ACC conference championship, then both of these teams will be watching the NCAA tournament from their dorm rooms. Boston College is 13-14 and 4-10 in the tough ACC conference. Boston College almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year against UNC last week, but in the end the Tar Heels pulled it out. Junior Tyrese Rice scored a career high 46 points in the loss. On the year Rice is averaging 21 points a game, and hopes his good ending this year rides into next year. If Boston College can finish above .500 for the year they will be eligible for the NIT tournament. Georgia Tech is one game ahead of BC in the conference standings, but have an overall record of 12-15. Georgia Tech seems like they have a pretty good unit set in place for the next year or two. The entire team only has three seniors on it, meaning they will be bringing back 3/4ths of their team. With a lot of other teams losing seniors, and other players to the NBA, the experience could bring the Yellow Jackets in the following season. To qualify for the NIT you have to have at least a .500 record, and without a little work Georgia Tech won’t be able to do that. However, as mentioned, they looked pretty set to make a run in the upcoming years.
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Baring any major upsets, the UNC Tar Heels seem a lock to get a number one seed heading into the March Madness tournaments. They are currently ranked second in the nation. Junior Tyler Hansbrough has been a beast all season, averaging a double-double consisting of 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. The junior is in the running for player of the year. Hansbrough does things that don’t show up in a stat book, and what could only be considered “hustle points.” UNC has two losses this season. The first one came as a bit of a shock to the University of Maryland, but the second came against their arch rival Duke. They weren’t at full strength at Duke in that contest, and they are hoping to repay the Blue Devils when they play them again at the end of the season.
Boston College is having an off year, sailing at right about a .500 record. They are most likely looking at an NIT bit, unless they are able to pull a near miracle, and win the ACC tournament. They got off to a decent start, but the ACC schedule had done them in, as they have lost eight of their last nine contests. Junior Tyrese Rice has tried his best to keep the team afloat averaging 20 points a game, but without much of a supporting cast the attempts have been futile. In the ACC, you never know, but I’m favoring UNC big in this one. The Tar Heels are looking for another deep run to at least the final four, and a loss to BC this late in the season would be embarrassing.
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The Big East hasn’t always been considered a great basketball league, but this year has changed that. For starters, they have five of the countries top-25 teams in the nation, led by number 10 Georgetown Hoyas. They also have a very good chance of bringing at least seven teams to the Big Dance, with a possible chance at eight, nine, or possibly even 10. The Hoyas are currently tied with Louisville at 12-3 at the top of the conference, and has showed some signs of slowing down recently, after playing tough all year. They dropped two of three, a few games ago, to Syracuse and to Lousiville. However, they’ve been able to turn it around recently, winning two in a row, including a victory on the road at the better than expected Cincinnati Bearcats.
Marquette is playing some of their best basketball of the year at the present time. There is no better time to get hot then when heading into the Big Dance. They have won four games in a row, and after dropping out of the top-25 temporarily, they are right back in at 21. While a Big East regular season title seems out of the question at this point, they could still make a serious run and get themselves a nice seed in the March Madness tournament. The Golden Eagles haven’t had this much hype surrounding them since they had a player by the name of Dwayne Wade on their squad. This team is not a one man team though, as they have four players averaging over ten points a contest. This is a very tough game to call, but because of the Golden Eagles playing so well, and the game being at home for them, I will take them in a mini upset.
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When you usually see a battle between these two teams you think of a big time football game. While the rivalry on the hardwood isn’t as big as the one on the gridiron, it is still an exciting time when these two meet. Wisconsin is currently ranked 10th in the nation, and have compiled a 21-4 record. They are right in the mix of things in the Big Ten championship with teams. However, just a few games ago they lost to Penn State, at home. The Badgers are known for their stellar home record, and to think they have already lost twice their year is a fairly big shock. Wisconsin has three players that average right around 12 points a game, but the leader of the team is Brian Butch. Butch also leads the team in rebounding with seven a contest.
Ohio State is probably considered a bubble team this year, despite being the national runner-up last year. The Buckeyes seemed to progress well enough, steadily improving as the season wore on, but unexpected losses to Big Ten bottom dwellers Michigan and Illinois might have them on the outside looking in come tournament selection time. A victory over Wisconsin of course would be a huge boast to their resume, and their overall team moral, but despite them even playing at home, I think the Buckeyes will have their number in this one.
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