NCAA Bracket 2011: Are the Georgetown Hoyas Running Towards Houston or Home?

As the first day of the First Round of March Madness has come to a close, and Georgetown's opponent soon to be determined, it's about time to predict where the Hoyas will be in a couple of weeks.

The Hoyas struggled horribly at the end of the season without Chris Wright running the show.  Jason Clark had a couple big games, which was nice to see, and Austin Freeman was solid. But no one was who they are without the point-man.

It became ever-more apparent that Georgetown has been a solid team all year.  Not just a collection of a few great players, but very good players who need each other to be great.  I don't want to take anything away from Freeman, but he needs Chris Wright to be successful.

The good news is that Wright is going to return.  The question is, how good will he be?  Answer this question and that will show you how far the Hoyas will go in tournament.

The simple fact of having Chris Wright back on the court will make a huge difference.  His leadership will take a load off of Freeman and Clark to allow them to be back into the rolls they are better suited for.  Having people fall back into their rolls will trickle down through the entire squad and in turn improve the team back to what they were mid-season in the Big East.

I can envision two ways; however, Wright's return will hurt the Hoyas.  One, his hand is not healed enough to dribble and pass sharply.  Two, he tries to do it all to make up for being gone.  I don't think that either of these will happen, but I know as a player I played through injuries that I shouldn't have, plus, Chris is a senior, so who knows.

Until we know who the Hoyas will face, it is hard to predict how they will do Friday night.  I know it sounds cliche, but I really don't think it matters as much who they play as much as how they play. 

With a healthy Wright, Georgetown is clearly superior to either USC or VCU. (I do think I am more worried about VCU for the record) I think with last year's humiliation in losing to Ohio and having to overcome late season adversity I think the Hoyas will be poised to win, it might be a struggle and closer than it should be, but they will move on. 

Looking further down the bracket, with the news of Purdue suspending a starting guard opens the door for Georgetown to move on to the Sweet 16 with a win over the Boilermakers, or St. Peter's if Purdue completely falls apart. 

If Georgetown can do that and move on and play next weekend, you could very well be looking at a team on a roll who can beat anyone in the country.  Let's hope that is the case.