Austin
Duke found a way to
be Duke, even without a bench. They did
the unthinkable, and maneuvered their way
through the ACC Tourney, securing their
500th 1 seed, or so it seems. It won't be
easy, but they could get back to the Final
Four once again. Those pesky Devils! Lawrence
Roberts, a Sean May type in the middle for
Mississippi State, could cause problems
for the thin Blue Devils. Foul trouble would
certainly slow down Duke. As for the rest,
Syracuse is a title contender, and Kentucky
can always find ways to do damage, if they
can snake past their state rival, Eastern
Kentucky, in round 1. Michigan State has
been overrated all year, and if you look
closely, they don't have even one big win.
Vermont is a very good team at 13, and Oklahoma
is better than people think. Austin isn't
the toughest bracket, but it ain't a walk
in the park either. A possible Syracuse-Duke
match-up in the Sweet 16 can't be exciting
for either school, which means definite
excitement for us.
Games To Watch
RD1
Stanford vs. Mississippi
St.: This is a pretty good match-up,
though if Miss. State plays like they're
capable, I don't see the Cardinal putting
up much of a fight. Stanford took down UW
in their last regular season game of the
year, but then promptly lost to the same
Huskies in the first game of the Pac 10
Tourney. Stanford did manage to beat UW
and Arizona this year. This also means their
12 losses came against some questionable
foes. Lawrence Roberts is by far the best
player in this game.
Syracuse vs. Vermont:
Vermont is really good, despite their small
college persona and 13 seed. Some guys at
Dime magazine guaranteed they'd win more
than one game in the tournament. I'm not
about to do that, and maybe they'll take
it back when they see Vermont's opponent,
but this game is still worth watching. Syracuse
finally stepped up and won the Big East
Tourney, but it was the UConn Huskies who
stole a 2 seed while 'Cuse got dealt a 4.
Hakim Warrick is awesome. He's another option
for Player of the Tourney if Syracuse goes
deep.
Utah vs UTEP:
Utah didn't need a great showing to get
here. They didn't have one, losing their
last two games they played against New Mexico.
UTEP definitely did need some big wins down
the stretch, and got them all, winning their
conference tournament. Utah might have one
of the best players in the nation in Andrew
Bogut, who just happens to have a photo
on Sportingnews.com with a really ugly scrunched
up face and a nipple poking out. Despite
his photo crisis, he's a damn good basketball
player. Unfortunately, his teammates haven't
been able to capitalize on his constant
double teams. If just one more player steps
up big for Utah, this game won't be a problem.
Cincinnati vs. Iowa:
Cincinnati might graduate a couple players
in the next couple of years, so you can
tell their program has been struggling of
late. They still have this kid, James White,
who I witnessed putting the ball between
his legs and easily stuffing it on a free
throw line dunk. He's basically unreal.
Aside from the possibility of seeing him
posterize any number of Iowa boys, this
is a 7-10 game. Iowa might not be favored,
but Cincinnati should exit early.
Kentucky vs. Eastern
Kentucky: Basically, both these schools
have been moaning about having to play each
other in the first game. To be honest, I'm
not a big fan of Kentucky, so I like when
they are pissing and moaning about any game
they have to play. The fact that this is
a big rivalry, in state nonetheless, really
gets me excited about a possible huge-mungous
upset. But that's probably all hopes and
dreams. That's a good enough reason to watch
though.
RD2
Michigan St. vs.
Syracuse: I'm not overlooking Vermont
or even Old D, I'm just being hypothetical.
Syracuse has who I think is the best player
in the land in Warrick, and a good hard
nosed, game on the line, clutch like Larry,
point guard in McNamera. Michigan State
is overrated, which is why they pulled a
5 seed. They've won lots of games but against
whom? If you count Wisconsin (6) and Stanford
(8) big wins, then they have two. If you
don't count either of those as big wins,
1-you're thinking just like me, and 2-they
don't have a single big win. Syracuse on
the other hand has a couple. This game has
the makings of yet another black eye for
the Big 10.
Utah vs. Oklahoma:
Oklahoma has been touted the worst of the
3 seeds. Though that's not much to worry
about (even the worst 3 seed is still rated
higher than 47 other teams in the Dance).
I also think it's ludicrous. Oklahoma is
underrated, if anything. They won their
last 8 games before a loss to Texas Tech
in their conference tourney. Oklahoma has
big wins, and played tough against teams
like Duke and Washington. Bookout and Bogut
should have a nice dual in this game, but
it will be guys like Terrell Everett who
decide the winner.
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