Who's "The Team To Beat" heading into the NCAA Tournament?

[jdcord]

Or better yet, is there a "Team To Beat" heading into this year's NCAA Tourney?  Do any of the top teams not have a glaring weakness that could spell their doom?  Doesn't look that way.


UNC = not the greatest defensive team, that's for sure; lack depth at the guard position(s), and guard-play is probably THE key factor in the NCAA Tourney.

Duke = rely too much on 3-pointers; not strong enough in the low post.

Memphis = their best player has a tendency to disappear for long stretches during key games.

Tennessee = Final Four, Big-Stage experience?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Choke under pressure? (couldn't even last one game as the #1 ranked team).

UCLA = PAC-10 refs won't be officiating all of their Tournament games (*L*).


Will one of the second tier teams run their way to the title (Georgetown, Kansas, Pittsburgh, Stanford)?  Or will some unexpected team be cutting down the nets (Arkansas, Clemson, Kentucky, etc.)?


This Tourney has all the looks of the famed 2006 Tourney, where everyone's brackets quickly turned to scrap paper.  Wouldn't that be fun?

[jdcord]

OK.  The brackets are out.  The field is set.   


............ and UNC has a seriously hard row to hoe.       

I mean, what kind of a prize is that for being the #1 overall seed??  The first 7 seeds in that region are just NASTY.  Who wants to play teams like that so early on??  That's just plain ridiculous!

Sorry UNC fans, but I think the Selection Committee had it out for you guys.  That East region is downright brutal!


Meanwhile, out West, other than a possible match-up with Duke in the Regional Final, UCLA has a certifiable cakewalk to the Elite Eight (and that possible match-up with Duke), if not all the way to the Final Four. 

........ me-thinks that UCLA is clearly the real #1 overall seed in this Tourney, regardless of what the Committee may have stated publicly.  It certainly looks that way on paper, anyway.

[jdcord]

Egads!!




And I thought the East region looked bad.  Poor Kansas in the Midwest is doomed!

[JakeLeonard]

Ha ha.......

hey just wanted to give a notice to those GPers who reside in Illinois and Missouri that there is a nice little competition between the states in the NCAA tournament. You can check it out at http://apps.facebook.com/cbssports/groups/group/65177

[Sister_Mom]

I voted for UNC, not because of ability or any real reason that they'll make it, but solely based on my biased opinion of the state.  :grin:
I understand traffic around Charlotte was awful Sunday afternoon.   

[jdcord]

Wow.  Kansas went from having the worst chance of reaching the Final Four, to now having the best chance of doing so.  And all because of a few little upsets.  Go figure.

*L*


UNC and Memphis have the nastiest remaining roads to the Final Four. 

UNC gets a tough Washington State team, and if they survive that their "prize" will be a matchup with either Tennessee or Louisville.  .... Yikes!! ..... Meanwhile, .... Memphis faces a physically brutal Michigan State team, and should they survive that their "prize" will be to face either Stanford or Texas.

If either of those two make it to the Final Four, I'd be surprised if they have "anything left in the tank", as the saying goes.

[newkris]

what do you think of the wi badgers?  they looked good on saturday, but i don't know anything about the team they played.

and how about that kid who turned it up for davidson?  think they can take WI on friday?

[jdcord]

Well, ... Wisconsin is the better team "on paper".  But you know how that goes.  The kid from Davidson, Stephen Curry, is proving to be the best player in the tournament.  And the way he lit up Georgetown was just scary.

But again, "on paper" Wisconsin should be able to contain him, or even stop him, but that was the way the Georgetown match-up looked "on paper" as well, and you know how that went.

Curry will be the best player on the floor, and both teams already know that, but Wisconsin is the better team.  So what does that all mean?  I have no idea.  Flip a coin.

*L*

[jdcord]

Ummmmmmmm........., ... I have changed my vote.  Davidson is now the team to beat.

*L*


(seriously, I'm not kidding)

[DocStrange1]

Ummmmmmmm........., ... I have changed my vote.  Davidson is now the team to beat.

*L*


(seriously, I'm not kidding)

Provided Kansas plays consistent ball - they'll take Villanova and Davidson.   I made an early prediction that Kansas and Texas would go head-to-head for the national championship.  As of this post, 14-8 Jayhawks with 14:58 left in the first half.

[newkris]

Well, ... Wisconsin is the better team "on paper".  But you know how that goes.  The kid from Davidson, Stephen Curry, is proving to be the best player in the tournament.  And the way he lit up Georgetown was just scary.

But again, "on paper" Wisconsin should be able to contain him, or even stop him, but that was the way the Georgetown match-up looked "on paper" as well, and you know how that went.

Curry will be the best player on the floor, and both teams already know that, but Wisconsin is the better team.  So what does that all mean?  I have no idea.  Flip a coin.

*L*

so much for paper, hey?  wow.  that kid is good.

[DocStrange1]

So much for my early prediction for KU-Texas in the national title game.  Still, KU pulls it off.