USC: Will Mayo and His Team Live Up to the Hype?

Ian Solomon — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:45:42 -0400

As the brackets came out on Selection Sunday, bubble teams were wondering if they would get in or not, and other teams were awaiting their seed in the upcoming tournament.

Michael Beasley's Kansas State Wildcats got a No. 11 seed, and Beasley, the potential National Player of the Year, will take on USC.

The Trojans, in my opinion, the strongest Cinderella team, are led by another sensational freshman, OJ Mayo.

Mayo leads the team with roughly 21 points per game and has a supporting cast of fellow freshman Davon Jefferson and sophomore Taj Gibson.

USC, coached by Tim Floyd, have a very talented team as well as coach (Floyd previously coached in the NBA).

Although both Beasley and Mayo are sure to dart for the NBA, this game has the makings to go down in history. Should USC win this game, they will most likely take on Wisconsin, although being ranked the sixth team in the nation, received a No. 3 seed.

The Badgers however appear to be vulnerable. This is my reasoning for taking Mayo's squad to the Sweet 16, and further.

As the brackets came out on Selection Sunday, bubble teams were wondering if they would get in or not, and other teams were awaiting their seed in the upcoming tournament.

Michael Beasley's Kansas State Wildcats got a No. 11 seed, and Beasley, the potential National Player of the Year, will take on USC.

The Trojans, in my opinion, the strongest Cinderella team, are led by another sensational freshman, OJ Mayo.

Mayo leads the team with roughly 21 points per game and has a supporting cast of fellow freshman Davon Jefferson and sophomore Taj Gibson.

USC, coached by Tim Floyd, have a very talented team as well as coach (Floyd previously coached in the NBA).

The Badgers however appear to be vulnerable. This is my reasoning for taking Mayo's squad to the Sweet 16, and further.

Syracuse Orange Basketball: Contenders or Pretenders?

Ian Solomon — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 06:30:26 -0500

An inconsistent start, including two losses at home to Atlantic 10 teams, has made Syracuse Orange fans wonder:

Is this team destined for another disappointing season?

A win on the road at Virginia boosted the confidence of this young, but talented squad. Then, the team got even younger.

Junior captain Eric Devendorf was diagnosed with a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season. This has proved thus far to be a devastating loss. Without Devendorf, the Orange wrapped up their non-conference schedule with a few easy wins.

The Big East schedule opened up with a cake walk against South Florida, followed by a loss in Cincinnati to a mediocre Bearcats team.

An easy win against Rutgers gave the Orange a solid start to conference play. They then got dominated at West Virginia. On Saturday, foul trouble caused them to lose a lead at home against Villanova (they went on to lose by 10).

Then on Monday evening, Jermeiah Rivers, Georgetown's backup point guard, held Johnny Flynn to zero points in the last eight or so minutes of regulation. The Hoyas forced overtime after trailing the whole game, and dominated the Orange defensively in the extra session.

A game like that describes Syracuse's season to date quite well, as it has been back and forth and very inconsistent. They were thought of as a very strong, young team at the start of the season, however, right now they are on the outside looking in.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Ian Solomon

USC: Will Mayo and His Team Live Up to the Hype?

Syracuse Orange Basketball: Contenders or Pretenders?