The long road to Detroit and ultimately a national championship won’t be any easier this year. The tournament is loaded with teams that could blow up your bracket, if they actually show up.
The selection committee actually did a great job overall for once. If Wisconsin was out and St. Mary’s was in, I’d have no major problems.
With that said, it’s on to the bracket and bragging rights with your buddies.
First Round
BYU is a quality team. They lost by just a point to Arizona State on a neutral court and lost by seven to Wake Forest at home.
They have a problem which many teams have: They don’t have many quality road wins.
The only good one they had was against San Diego State, who just beat them on a neutral court. They took Utah to OT but didn’t get the win. They also beat Utah State, but that’s another team with no power to do anything on the road.
Texas A&M is a team, with two very talented players, which has underachieved. Guards Josh Carter and Donald Sloan, when on, can play with anyone in the nation. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened too often.
They did beat Arizona and LSU, but both of those games were at home. In a solid Big XII conference, they have no good road wins. At home, they beat Missouri and Texas.
In another toss-up game, I like the team which has been more consistent and has the better shooting. At least BYU beat who they were supposed to beat in conference on the road. They will advance.
Washington is an up-and-coming young team with some great starters but not a lot off the bench. They lost to Kansas on a neutral court but beat Cleveland State, Oklahoma State, Portland State, and Morgan State at home.
In the Pac-10, they swept USC but lost at Arizona, at UCLA, and were swept by California. They won at Arizona State but just lost to them in the conference tournament.
The note to be taken here is that against teams who have a lot of good shooters, they struggled.
When they’re on, Mississippi State can be Cal with the best shot blocker in SEC history in C Jarvis Varnado. The Bulldogs have some different pieces from a year ago, when they took Memphis to the brink. But they still have Varnado, and his defensive ability makes this team very dangerous.
The Bulldogs have several good three-point shooters who can make shots when they take smart shots and work inside-out with Varnado. They have a freshman PG in Dee Bost who takes very good care of the ball for a freshman.
I like what Mississippi State brings to the table, but I don’t like them in this matchup. The best way to go at a shot blocker is right through his body, and Huskies F Jon Brockman is basically the DeJuan Blair of the West Coast. They have guards who are athletic enough to defend the Bulldogs and clamp down on the three-pointers.
California is the best three-point shooting team in the nation and is one of the best overall shooting teams around. They score through their guards and are undersized but have some forwards with great hustle and toughness.
They lost by three on a neutral court to FSU and were blown out by Missouri. They swept Arizona and Washington but were swept by UCLA and lost twice to USC. They play fine against offensive teams and struggle at times against tough defense.
Maryland is by far the biggest head case in this tournament. They are ranked 200th or worse in field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, three-point percentage defense, and rebound margin.
Despite all these deficiencies, they managed to beat Michigan State, UNC, and Wake Forest. They’ve also lost to Morgan State and were decimated on a neutral court by Gonzaga and Georgetown.
In the end, Cal thrives against defenseless teams, and while Maryland can beat anyone (somehow) when they play well, they absolutely can’t be trusted.
First round winners: (1) Connecticut, (8) BYU, (5) Purdue, (4) Washington, (6) Marquette, (3) Missouri, (7) California, (2) Memphis
0 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete