Coach K will be looking for his fourth National Title tonight.
Tonights NCAA Basketball game features a team with a storied history versus a team looking for a Cinderella story ending that no one could of envisioned.
Duke will be looking for their fourth national championship ,while Butler will be looking for their first. Even though Butler has not loss in over three months and have been ranked in the top ten all year, they are decided underdogs on home turf and will be looking to shock the sports world tonight in Indianapolis.
Duke i s playing their best basketball of the year. In their last victory over West Virginia, they showed a true team effort and all their players know their role. The big three of Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler all played great last game. If they play as well tonight, it will be a long night for the Butler Bulldogs. These players can beat you both inside and outside ,and Butler will have to play tenacious defense to keep these players at bay. Add to the fact that Coach Mike Krzyzewski has called this the closest team he has ever coached, and you have a team that is going to be very tough to beat. Coach K has also expressed how much he truly loves this team. Duke has a lot going for them tonight both on and off the court.
Butler has used their defense to secure a spot into tonight’s championship game. They grinded out a victory over Michigan State on Saturday night. They are lead by their superstar Gordon Hayward. Hayward will need to carry the offensive load to try to match the fire power of Duke’s offense. Point guard Shelvin Mack will need to manage the tempo of this game possession by possession to keep Duke form having the ball. This will be crucial and a must to pull off the upset. Center Matt Howard is questionable with a concussion. Butler will need his defense and rebounding. If he dopes not play, they will need a minor miracle to win. Butler needs a lot of things to go right to come out victorious tonight.
I would love to see Cinderella win tonight, but I do not think it will happen. Duke has too much offensive fire power and continuity for Butler to handle. Duke wins championship number four.
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.
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.
The college bowl schedule kicks off today with two opening games on the schedule as Wyoming meets Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl and Central Florida hooks up with Rutgers in the St. Petersburg Bowl. College football fans will be treated to 34 games over 20 days culminating with Alabama and Texas deciding this year’s national champions.
This year’s matchups pair what appear to be some with three teams favored by double-digit spreads and twelve team favored by a touchdown or more. While Vegas is seeing a lot of mismatches, there appears to be some great upsets brewing. I am projecting right now seven underdogs achieving outright victories and sixteen underdogs covering the spread.
My biggest underdog covers include SMU, Boston College, Northwestern, East Carolina and Boise State. My biggest underdog outright victories are Texas A&M and Stanford.
Bowl
Matchup
Spread
Winner
Cover
New Mexico Bowl
Wyoming vs. Fresno State
Fresno State by 11
Fresno State
Fresno State
St. Petersburg Bowl
Central Florida vs. Rutgers
EVEN
Central Florida
Central Florida
New Orleans Bowl
Middle Tenn St vs.Southern Miss
Southern Miss by 4
Southern Miss
Middle Tenn St
Las Vegas Bowl
BYU vs. Oregon State
Oregon State by 3
BYU
BYU
Poinsettia Bowl
Utah vs. California
EVEN
Utah
Utah
Hawaii Bowl
SMU vs. Nevada
Nevada by 15
Nevada
SMU
Little Caesars Bowl
Ohio vs. Marshall
Ohio by 3
Ohio
Ohio
Meineke Care Bowl
North Carolina vs. Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh by 3
Pitt
North Carolina
Emerald Bowl
Boston College vs. USC
USC by 9
USC
BC
Music City Bowl
Kentucky vs. Clemson
Clemson by 7½
Clemson
Clemson
Independence Bowl
Texas A&M vs. Georgia
Georgia by 7
Texas A&M
Texas A&M
Eagle Bank Bowl
UCLA vs. Temple
EVEN
Temple
Temple
Champs Sports Bowl
Wisconsin vs. Miami
Miami by 3
Miami
Miami
Humanitarian Bowl
Bowling Green vs. Idaho
Bowling Green by 2
Bowling Green
Bowling Green
Holiday Bowl
Nebraska vs. Arizona
Arizona by 1½
Nebraska
Nebraska
Armed Forces Bowl
Air Force vs. Houston
Houston by 4½
Air Force
Air Force
Sun Bowl
Stanford vs. Oklahoma
Oklahoma by 8
Stanford
Stanford
Texas Bowl
Navy vs. Missouri
EVEN
Navy
Navy
Insight Bowl
Iowa State vs. Minnesota
Minnesota by 3
Minnesota
Minnesota
Chick Fil-A Bowl
Tennessee vs. Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech by 4½
Virginia Tech
Tennessee
Outback Bowl
Northwestern vs. Auburn
Auburn by 7½
Auburn
Northwestern
Capital One Bowl
LSU vs. Penn St.
Penn St. by 3
Penn State
Penn State
Gator Bowl
Florida State vs. West Virginia
West Virginia by 3
West Virginia
West Virginia
Rose Bowl
Ohio State vs. Oregon
Oregon by 3½
Oregon
Oregon
Sugar Bowl
Cincinnati vs. Florida
Florida by 11
Florida
Florida
International Bowl
Northern Illinois vs. South Florida
South Florida by 7
South Florida
South Florida
Papa John’s Bowl
Connecticut vs. South Carolina
South Carolina by 4½
Connecticut
Connecticut
Cotton Bowl
Mississippi vs. Oklahoma State
Mississippi by 3
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State
Liberty Bowl
Arkansas vs. East Carolina
Arkansas by 8
Arkansas
East Carolina
Alamo Bowl
Michigan State vs. Texas Tech
Texas Tech by 8
Texas Tech
Texas Tech
Fiesta Bowl
Boise State vs. TCU
TCU by 7
TCU
Boise State
Orange Bowl
Iowa vs. Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech by 4
Georgia Tech
Iowa
Gmac Bowl
Troy vs. Central Michigan
Central Michigan by 3
Central Michigan
Central Michigan
BCS Championship
Texas vs. Alabama
Alabama by 5
Alabama
Alabama
Looking at conference performance, here’s how I see it playing out:
Bowl
Matchup
Atlantic Coast
4-3
Big East
4-2
Big Ten
2-4
Big 12
4-4
C-USA
2-4
Mountain West
4-1
Pac-10
3-4
Southeastern
4-6
Western Athletic
2-2
The SEC might be the power conference, but they got some unfavorable matchup. I think the Big 12 and Big East are going to surprise some opponents. The Mountain West is going to do some damage and really stoke the argument that they deserve an automatic BCS invite.
As for the National Championship game, I am seeing a major blowout. Given Texas’ performance against ranked opponents and closing out its season on some very poor play, this just seems like a mismatch of grand proportion. TCU and Cincinnati were much more deserving of a spot in the Championship Game and Alabama is going to apply a major smackdown that will likely drop Colt McCoy’s NFL stock drop tremendously when he loses the game single-handedly.
Overall, this bowl season looks to be exciting. We have a lot of underdogs with solid shots at upsets which should make the next 20 days enjoyable for all to watch.
The College football bowl season kicks off Saturday with Fresno St. taking on Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl and Rutgers taking on Central Florida in the St Petersburg Bowl and ends with the BCS National Championship game between Texas and Alabama January 7. In between there are some intriguing match ups of teams and last games of individuals.
Can Mark Ingram end the bowl seson with a title?
While I am in favor of a College playoff system, I do appreciate the Bowl season because of how much I love college football. The teams always give their best effort, and there has been so many memorable games because of this.
One of the most intriguing match up of teams is in the Fiesta Bowl January 4 as it pits two unbeaten teams in Boise St. and TCU. I am glad the bowl committee went this way as it has two teams that are not among the elite facing each other and one stays unbeaten. These two teams could of easily been playing Alabama for the National Championship if they had a playoff. I think TCU would give Bama all they could handle in particular.
The greatest college football player ever will be playing his last game. Tim Tebow and his Florida Gators will be taking on Cincinnati January 1st in the Sugar Bowl. This your last chance to see the Great Gator quarterback ,and I am sure he will go out with a show to remember. Don’t miss it. How will Cincinnati play with the adversity of their head coach Brian Kelly deserting them and their unbeaten season is a great underlining story.
Bobby Bowden will be coaching his last college game for Florida St. on January 1st in the Gator Bowl against West Virginia. Can he go out a winner? It will be weird not to se him on the sidelines for the Seminoles.
As you can see, the Bowl season has a lot of interesting and intriguing match ups that will keep you tuned in from start to finish. It cumulates with the great match up for the title between Texas and Alabama. Let the Bowl Season Begin!
Notre Dame hired a new coach this week and his name is Brian Kelly. I think that they hired the right guy in their hopes of bringing a winning tradition back to the school. Kelly lead Cincinnati to a perfect 12-0 record this season and a impressive 34-6 over the last three years. Cincinnati is headed to the Sugar bowl against Florida. While I agree that he is the right man for the job, I am not happy that he will not be coaching his team in the game. This is his decision and whether it is not a sound moral decision, it does not take away from the fact that he is a solid coach that has what it takes to turn around things in South Bend.
Will Brian Kelly bring back winning to the Irish?
Kelly will inspire passion and purpose from his players and will get the most from them when the game is on the line. Cincinnati pulled out close victories against the likes of Connecticut 2, West Virginia 3, and the last minute victory by 1 over Pittsburgh to give them the Big East Championship and a perfect regular season. In contrast, Notre Dame lost a bunch of close games under Charlie Weis. They were defeated by 4 by Michigan, 7 by USC, 2 by Navy, 5 by Pitt and 7 by Stanford. All these games could have been wins.
Kelly will bring that toughness and will to win those close games when the victory is on the line.
Notre Dame is a dismal 16-21 over the last three seasons. Kelly will be looking to improve on that. He does have the cards stacked against him a bit, because Notre Dame loses its QB Jimmy Clausen and his top receiver Golden Tate. He rebuilt Cincinnati. I think he will do the same for the Irish and restore pride and winning back to the school with the golden dome.
The college bowl schedule kicks off today with two opening games on the schedule as Wyoming meets Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl and Central Florida hooks up with Rutgers in the St. Petersburg Bowl. College football fans will be treated to 34 games over 20 days culminating with Alabama and Texas deciding this year’s national champions.
