Tonight’s matchups in the NCAA tournament has some intriguing games and are worth taking a closer look. Here is the way I see these four games playing out…
Midwest Region
Can Northern Iowa keep their Cinderella story going?
Tennessee vs. Ohio State
This game comes down to who has the most dominant player between the two. Ohio St. has possibly the best player in the tournament in Evan Turner. Turner is the type of player that can carry his team on his back. The Buckeyes have taken care of business so far and is a team focused on the Final Four with Kansas being knocked out of their region. Both teams have a lot of talent, but the Buckeyes have the outside shooting along with Turner that will be the difference in this game.
Prediction: Ohio State
Northern Iowa vs. Michigan State
Northern Iowa is becoming the Cinderella story of this tournament with their recent victory over the top seeded Kansas Jayhawks. They have all the ingredients that it takes to win this game and get to the Final Four ala George Mason a couple of years ago. They have a lot of momentum and confidence that should carry them to victory. The Spartans showed some resiliency in their victory over Maryland inspite losing their best player Kalin Lucas. No Lucas and a couple of more beat up players spells a loss. Northern Iowa keeps the slipper on.
Prediction: Northern Iowa
South Region
St. Mary’s vs. Baylor
St. Mary’s is another intriguing story in this tourney and are coming off a impressive victory over Villanova. They are a patient, good shooting team that make good decisions on offense.. They will need to play their offensive best against a very good and athletic defensive team in the Baylor Bears. Baylor has won their first tournament games in 60 years. Baylor came in as a number three seed and are playing near home in Houston. The combination of being near home and hunger will propel them to victory.
Prediction: Baylor
Duke vs. Purdue
Duke has looked impressive on the defensive side so far and will pair up against another stellar defensive team in Purdue. Purdue is another team that has showed resiliency in their two close victories including their last one against Texas A+ M in overtime.They have advanced without their star Robbie Hummel. Duke will make it too hard on Purdue to score, and Hummel will be sorely missed in this one. Duke should roll in this one.
Prediction: Duke
Hopefully these games are both exciting and competitive. These type of matchups make March Madness live up to the hype year after year.
The NCAA Basketball Tournament has been trimmed down to sixteen teams and it has been a wide open tournament from the opening tipoff. The #1 overall seed Kansas Jayhawks were shocked in the second round with a loss to Northern Iowa, and the third seeded Georgetown Hoyas did not even taste victory as they were bounced in the first round by Ohio. How does the tournament shape up with the remaining survivors is the question? Here is the way I see it…
MIDWEST
This region saw the aforementioned upsets above with Kansas and Georgetown wondering why they were sent packing. With those teams out, it is set up nicely for the Ohio St. Buckeyes to come out of this region. They have been workmenlike like so far, and they should take out Tennessee in their next game and then the winner of the Michigan State/Northern Iowa game. Ohio St. looks real good for the Final Four.
WEST
Will the Kentucky Wildcats hang a championship banner from the rafters in 2010?
The West region still has their number two seeds remaining in Syracuse and Kansas St. Syracuse has looked impressive including yesterday’s victory over Gonzaga. Kansas St. has looked true to form also and knocked off BYU in their latest victory. These two teams are on a collision course to meet in the Elite Eight and that should make a incredible game. But in the end, I see the Orangemen advancing and being a little too much for KState to handle.
EAST
This region has my prediction champion Kentucky Wildcats playing as well as anyone in the tournament. Kentucky is coming off a thirty point blowout over Wake Forest and are riding on a high. They will have stiff competition down the road in Big East champion West Virginia. That game sets up for a very intriguing matchup. Kentucky is too deep and talented to the Final Four pass them by.
SOUTH
The South hosts the #1 seeded Duke Blue Devils. Duke has advanced with smothering defense and looks like a lock to get to the Eight where they will probably face a hungry Baylor team that has won their first tourney games in sixty years. I think Baylor will take out Duke and become the best story of the Final Four.
As you can see so far, anything can happen in this tournament. This makes it very tough to predict but makes the watching that much more exciting. I am looking forward to Thursday to see what transpires. It has left me wanting more!
This years NCAA Basketball tournament appears to be wide open. My predictions have chalk in them but also have a bit of a surprise in them compared to what most of the experts are going with. Here are my Final Four predictions…
March Madness is upon us. It is time to pick your Final Four.
This is where my surprise come in. Kansas is the top seeded team in this tournament, and most people have them not only making it to the Final Four but winning the whole thing. I do see Kansas getting to the Elite Eight, but I see the Georgetown Hoyas beating them there. Georgetown has a tough path to get to Kansas including possibly playing Ohio State on there way to Kansas. I like the way Georgetown plays and are coached. They run a good offense, have a good defense are were so close to winning the Big East tournament. They are peaking at the right time.
Prediction:Georgetown
WEST
I see this region as the chalk winning it. Syracuse is the #1 seed. I see the Orangemen winning this region even though they have limped into the tournament and do have a injury concern. Cuse has a pretty easy road to the Elite Eight where they will likely face Kansas St. I think by then, they will be both healthy, and a team playing at their best. Syracuse is the class of this region and is too talented to let the Final Four pass them by.
Prediction:Syracuse
EAST
The East region features the freshmen talented Kentucky Wildcats. I think Kentucky has the most talent of any team in the tournament, and they will show they can play as a team with that talent. Kentucky won a lot of close games this year including a unlikely win in the finals of the SEC tournament. This type of winning brings a team together. Kentucky has become a team with awesome talent and will be tough to beat in this tournament. Kentucky takes out West Virginia to get to the Final Four.
Prediction:Kentucky
South
The South region features the Duke Blue Devils as the #1 seed. Duke has the easiest road to the Elite Eight and should not have much of a problem getting there. They are more than fortunate to get this kind of draw. While I would like to pick the Blue Devils because of their fortune, I do not believe on they will get to the Final Four. I am going to go with the Villanova Wildcats. Nova did not end the season on much of a road as they had a very tough schedule to end it. I think that with their hard ending schedule, the competition of the Big East conference, and the talent they have as a team, Villanova will come out of the South and take out Duke.
Prediction:Villanova
My final four has two number ones, a two and a three. I have three Big East teams making the final four. I see Kentucky taking out Georgetown in the finals. The Wildcats with three freshmen cut down the nets.
Looking at the #1 seeds in this years NCAA Basketball Tournament leaves me with the question on what the committee was thinking when they put together the brackets. Kansas is the #1 overall team in the nation but was not treated as such. Here is the way I see how the #1 seeds have it in fashion with difficultly…
How do the #1 seeds have it in March Madness?
The fore mentioned Kansas Jayhawks have the hardest road even though they were the #1 ranked team to end the season. Kansas, in the MIDWEST bracket, will have to go through Maryland to get to the elite Eight and will then in probability take on the Georgetown/Ohio State winner. Those two teams are among the best teams playing right now and will give Kansas a tough run to the Final Four.
The West bracket has the Syracuse Orangemen as the #1 seed and they have it pretty good. They should cruise to the Elite Eight where they will probably take on Kansas St. or Pittsburgh. This is a easier matchup than what Kansas has to deal with. Syracuse was lucky to be a #1 seed as they limped into the tournament, but they seemed to get rewarded for it.
The East bracket has the Kentucky Wildcats as the #1 seed. Kentucky is the hottest team in the NCAA right now but have a tough road to the Final Four. They will probably have to face a talented and underachieved Texas team along with Temple on their way to the Elite Eight. If they are fortunate to get there, they will probably face either West Virginia or New Mexico on their way to the Final Four. A tough draw for the red hot Wildcats.
The South bracket has the Duke Blue Devils as the #1 seed. Duke has the easiest road to the elite eight and should make it with not much of a problem. There, they will probably face either Villanova or Baylor. Not a bad draw by any means. If Duke can get there, they should be the freshest team in the Final Four.
While all this is speculation and prediction, I see Duke having the easiest road to the Final Four followed by Syracuse, Kentucky and Kansas. We will have to see how this all plays out, but I am ready to see it. MARCH MADNESS is only a couple of days away.
You may not have heard these here first, but you still heard them here. Upsets and the Little Guy are two of the most gripping things about March Madness so here are six games in the first weekend that will go to the underdog…in no specific order:
Houston (13) over Maryland (4)- Midwest Region first round
Murry State (13) over Vanderbilt (4)- West Region first round
Washington (11) over Marquette (6)- East Region first round
Siena (13) over Purdue (4)- South Region first round
St. Mary’s (10) over Richmond (7)- South Region first round
Cal (8) over Duke (1)- South Region second round
Siena (13) over Texas A&M (5)- South Region second round
The theme here is the 13s over 4 seeds, and no 12s beating any of the number 5 seeds. The five seeds always look strong then get caught and while I know I am missing at least one but this could be the year of the 13 seed and doesn’t just about everyone outside of West Lafayette have Purdue going down to Siena?
Riding the Siena bandwagon into the Sweet 16 is a stretch but 4 guys in double figures and Ryan Rossiter’s 13.9 ppg and 11 rpg combined with 17-1 in the Metro Atlantic have me believing in these Saints.
Cal over Duke is already getting a little buzz and you have got to like a group of seniors like Cal has who can score from inside and shoot the 3-ball like they have in Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher and Theo Robertson.
Washington is underseeded and they should be able to expose Marquette in the backcourt. Quincy Pondexter and Lazar Hayward should be an interesting matchup to watch within this one with their athleticism and length.
St. Mary’s just looks like team that isn’t going to allow anyone to take them out of their game and they won’t be disheartened if they fall behind. They have shooters and Ben Allen is going to be a tournament favorite especially for people who haven’t seen St. Mary’s.
Murry State is just a gut-feeling and Houston over Maryland is more of a shot at the ACC than anything else and don’t be surprised if only one ACC team is standing after the first round.
The North Carolina Tar Heels suffered another loss last night, and their nightmare season keeps getting scarier. This time they lost against their fierce rival Duke 64-54. Carolina shot a pathetic 35%, a season low, and it was their lowest point total under current coach Roy Williams.
Roy Williams is irate on how the Tar Heels are playing this year.
They have shot poorly all year long ,and they have also turned the ball over way too much. They fell to 13-11 and just 2-7 in conference. Carolina has lost eight of ten and four in a row.
Duke was lead by Jon Scheyer who poured in 24. Duke is now 20-4 and 8-2 in conference. Duke was bigger up front and used that to advantage with second chance opportunities.
The defending National Champions and preseason Top five will have to likely win their conference tournament just to get invited to the dance. It has been a colossally disappointing season thus far for the Tar Heels and they would never imagined they are fighting for their tournament lives.
Beyond the losing, it is the way they have lost. There have been too many blowout losses and embarrassing defeats. The fans of Chapel Hill are not used to this. Coach Williams and the team are in a state of shock. Williams does not know what to do at this point and has even questioned his techniques that have been successful throughout his coaching career.
Carolina is likely looking at a NIT bid unless they have a amazing turnaround. Their season is in real jeopardy.
It’s the end of the year. Its the end of a decade. Nothing great ever ends without a list and a debate over that list. Today, we focus on the 10 greatest sports teams of the 2000 decade and the accomplishments that defined their greatness.
10. Penn State Women’s Volleyball (2006-Current)
Penn State’s girl volleyball team is a trendy selection given their recent headlines at the top of the sport section. On December 20th, the Nittany Lions won their 102 consecutive game at the Division I level and won their third national championship in a row. Feeling the pressure, the Nittany Lions went down two sets to #2 ranked Texas and stormed back for a five-set victory. What’s make the accomplishment so special is that women’s volleyball has now become a national sport, thanks in part to Title IX and the Nittany Lions. Dominated by the West Coast, 16 of the first 19 NCAA Champions crowned came from the West Coast, primarily beach locations. The latest decade saw the emergence of the Big Ten and Big 12, led by Penn State. In short, Penn State girls volleyball proves you don’t need the beach for greatness.
9. Boston Celtics (2007-2008)
Danny Ainge was on the hot seat. It was put up or shut up time. He butted heads and pushed head coach Jim O’Brien to resign. He sent popular players such as Antoine Walker, Tony Battie and Eric Williams packing. He brought in recently fired coach Doc Rivers whom tumbled in flames during his first head coaching stint. It all hit rock bottom with coaching Red Auerbach’s death in 2006 and the second-worst record in team history at 24-58, including a franchise record 18-game losing streak. Ainge masterminded the trades which brought in Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo prior to the 2007 season. Alongside Paul Pierce, they would generate one of the greatest turnarounds in sports, improving their won-loss record by 42 games and posting the 6th best single-season record in NBA history at 66-16. The season ended with the Celtics getting their 22nd championship in a 39-point blowout of the rival Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
8. Florida Gators Basketball (2006-2007)
In a rare display of sportsmanship at the college level, the Florida Gators welcomed back its underclassmen that recently won an NCAA championship the previous season. They would leave the NBA’s riches on the table to attempt becoming back-to-back champions. Led by wunderkin coach Billy Donovan, the Gators would finish their regular season stumbling in early February, ending the regular season with a 26-5 record. They would then march through the SEC tournament, earn the top seed for the NCAA tournament and cement their status as one of the decade’s best with a dominating run to the championship.
7. Chinese Olympic Team (2008)
The cold war dominance of the Summer Olympics by the Russians and Americans was put to rest by an upstart Chinese team hosting their first Olympics. Traditionally stereotyped as a power in gymnastics and table tennis, the Chinese arrived in 2008 as the future of Olympic sports. The Chinese won medals in 25 different disciplines, including its first ever gold medals in sailing, beach volleyball and field hockey. With its strong financing and development of Olympic athletes, the showing in Beijing appears to be the beginning of the next era in the Summer Olympics.
6. New York Yankees (2009)
The Yankees shelled out $423 million in contracts prior to the season for Mark Teixiera, C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett to win their 27th World Series championship. Based on payroll, they were supposed to win…although the Yankees expenditures had delivered nothing since 2000. After missing the playoffs in 2008 for the first time since 1996, the Yankees re-tooled for a big run. The season got started off with a steroids controversy swirling over Alex Rodriguez. The team stayed focused through a rough April, persevered by posting 103 wins and became the only MLB team in the decade to win over 100 games and capture the World Series title. In a sport that rarely crowns the best team for 162 games as it did in its pastime, the Yankees helped make baseball relevant and exciting again.
5. Miami Hurricanes NCAA Football (2001)
Perhaps the best single season team in NCAA football history, posting a 13-0 record and simply dominating everyone in their path. The Canes’ average margin of victory was 39 points, as they steamrolled over five Top 25 ranked opponentsm including a 37-14 blowout victory over Nebraska in the National Championship game. The roster read like the NFL’s All-Pro starting lineup with standouts that included Clinton Portis, Ed Reed, Andre Johnson, Jeremy Shockey, Jonathon Vilma, Bryant McKinnie and D.J. Williams. An amazing collection of talent that superceded expectations and succeeded in spite of a lack of coaching prowess in Larry Coker after Butch Davis’ departure.
4. Misty May / Kerri Walsh Volleyball
If you told me at the beginning of the decade that this list would contain two volleyball teams, I would have chuckled at the thought that even one would make the list. But how can you look past the accomplishments and dominance of Misty May and Kerri Walsh, the two-time Olympics champions in beach volleyball. Even President Bush specifically sought them out in Beijing for a picture op. Leading up to the 2008 Olympics, they had a 101 match winning streak, rarely losing a set in the process. The streak finally came to an end at 112 shortly after their Olympic repeat.
3. Duke Men’s Basketball (2000-2001)
College basketball’s version of the Miami Hurricanes football team. Led by Shane Battier, this squad developed 6 NBA players and left their collegiate competition in the dust. This team posted a 35-4 record for the season while winning is game’s by an average margin of 20.2 points. While the team stumbled in the rough and tumble ACC during the season, they blossomed at tournament time. They won the ACC Tournament while blowing out #6 ranked rival North Carolina by 26. They then ran the table in the NCAA tournament, defeating opponents by an average of 16.7 points and winning every game in the tournament by double-digits.
2. New England Patriots (2007)
Okay, so they lost the Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter. Even the most hardcore New York Giants fan will tell you that the 18-1 Patriots they defeated were the better team. Head and shoulders better. It was just one game…you can’t win them all. The Pats posted the first undefeated regular season in the NFL since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Not only did they win, they dominated most everyone they played. This team shattered offensive records across the league with its explosive superstars that included Tom Brady and Randy Moss. Their invincibility was shattered by one circus acrobatic catch by David Tyree from Eli Manning. The rest is history.
1. Connecticut Women’s Basketball (2008-2009)
The last decade ended with the USA Women’s Soccer team displaying “girl power” in the World Cup that would serve to define the next decade. No other team defined excellence in the manner that the UConn women’s basketball team in the 2008-2009 season. A perfect 39-0 season, an average winning margin of 31.5 points and an invincibility that would even make Michael Jordan genuflect. They won the Big East tournament over Louisville by a score of 75-36. Just how much better they were they than every other team? Their NCAA Finals matchup was against that same Louisville team they had pounded into submission just weeks prior. They captured the crown with a 76-54 victory. But what stands out most in their undefeated season, which makes them the team of the decade, is that they won every game they played by double-digits.
