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!
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.
Kentucky became number 1 in the pools this week and promptly showed why they did not deserve to be there. South Carolina (12-8,3-3 in the SEC) handed the Wildcats(19-1,4-1) a 68-62 loss last night. The Gamecocks outplayed and out rebounded the recently crowned number 1 team in the nation. Their stay will be short and they should fall more than a couple of spots…
South Carolina was lead by Devan Downey, who poured in 30 points and kept the Kentucky defense off balance all night long. Kentucky was lead by Demarcus cousins who had 27 points to go along with their 12 rebounds. Kentucky seemed to have the number one let down and must learn to be more focused down the stretch when they are on the road. Kentucky’s resume’ of victories is less than impressive which makes this loss not that much of a surprise to me.
Kentucky has one real signature win to their credit. They had a road victory in Connecticut. They also do have a another victory over North Carolina but that is less credible now considering the recent play of the Tar Heels. They were overrated 19-0 and if you look at their schedule , you will know what I mean. I want to see how they respond to the rest of the season when their schedule gets tougher and the rigors of travel come into play.
So, who should be number 1 now. My vote would go to the Syracuse Orangemen. Syracuse is coming off their fresh demolition of Georgetown 74-57 on Monday night. The Orange(20-1,7-1) have been impressive all season long. They have victories over Cal by 22,NC by 16,at Florida by 12 and at West Virginia by 1. They have more impressive victories than the other two teams ahead of them, Kansas and Villanova. Kansas (19-1) sports victories over Temple and Baylor with their loss coming at a under manned Tennessee squad.Nova (18-1,7-0) has victories over Dayton and Georgetown and loss at Temple.
It is hard to determine exactly who is the best team in the nation right know, but it looks to me to be Syracuse. They have had the most impressive victories so far this year and the teams ahead of them can’t measure up to their victory resume’ thus far. I would bump them up from number four and put them to the top of the pools. I am not a big fan of the pools, but it does give sports fans something to debate about. The real season begins in March, there is nothing better than the tournament. Can’t wait for MARCH MADNESS.
