Over the weekend, Norfolk State abused the Tigers of Missouri…uh, hooray? Duke’s bright NCAA lights burned out against Lehigh…great? But, all four teams are playing golf now. So, let’s discussed the stuff that ACTUALLY matters, other than a couple of lucky 15-seeds. There are 16-teams left. So, lets say a thing or two about the few teams that still have legitimate dreams of cutting down the nets in New Orleans.
I’m going to do this list in order of each team’s chances at advancing to the Championship game…So, sorry to all the Xavier/Ohio fans that stumbled upon this page.
1. Kentucky – After a tough battle against the Cyclones of Ames, Iowa, instead of the Final Four rematch with UConn that was almost inevitable according to the sporting world, the Wildcats are playing well enough to survive at this point. Teams get better as the tournament progresses and there isn’t much left lurking around for Kentucky until the Final 4, except Indiana---1 of the 2 teams to defeat the ‘Cats this year---but they’ll need to get their act together if they don’t want to be compared to the 2008 Memphis Tiger team after the Championship game. By the way, they’re in that game unless Izzo has something to say about it. At their worst, Kentucky is still a tough team for any opponent.
2. North Carolina –UNC may have the most interesting story of the tournament, thus far. Only a Duke fan would deny this team as capable of being in the Championship game at full strength. Even at partial strength, with 2 of their top-3 guards riding the bench with injuries, the Tarheels could’ve put up their 7th National Championship banner. But, Kendall Marshall took an injury to his non-shooting wrist in the Creighton game, which looked more like a Judo match in some television screens… So, what? It’s his non-shooting hand. Exactly…(While writing this my Dad just texted me saying, “All we can do is hope for the best, but expect the worst.” Good timin’ pops!) But, seriously…The truth will come out on the severity of the injury tonight on Williams' live radio show at 7 p.m., most likely. But here’s something for Tarheels fans to think about. (1) Roy Williams likes to build drama in March---Lawson, Hansborough, and May were hurt going into the tournament, most recently. (2) He played several minutes until he realized how bad it was hurt. He will have surgery and/or a cast from here on out. But, the heels will probable not need him until Sunday and he played well with it hurt. There’s a lot of time for him to make a lot of improvement. Stillman White is no reason to count them out of the Final Four, but he can’t take them the whole way. So, with hoping for the best, Tarheel fans, you have to realize that this has happened to UNC before while holding one of the best teams in a year (‘77/Walter Davis, ’87/Kenny Smith). Thus, expect the worst.
3. Kansas – The reason Kansas is a favorite over MSU to make it to the finals is because they’ll have to get by a hurt UNC vs. MSU who’ll have to get by a healthy UK. There are only 4 teams capable of winning it all right now, if the best teams are in it at the end. Kentucky, UNC, Kansas, and MSU are the ones that you should be betting on. And here’s why KU fans shouldn’t be concerned with chalk, unless it’s Rock Chalk, of course. You see, chalk would suggest UNC is traveling to St. Louis with the best chance, and ultimately, they are. But, it’s St. Louis. Two home-games for the Jayhawks. If Kendall Marshall is 90% after the Ohio game (which will be tough because he probable won’t be active), the Tarheels are still a 6-point favorite based on match-ups. But, that isn’t necessarily the case. It depends on Marshall. Kansas slipping past Purdue last night was terrible news in the Midwest Region for the other 3 teams. With Marshall hurt for the Heels and the next two games taking place in St. Louis, the Jayhawks might have just become the favorite for a Final Four run out of that Region.
4. Michigan State – Even though they slipped by St. Louis with just a 4-point win, Sparty is fine. One thing a few players on a team can’t change during tournament basketball is, experienced coaching will get you a couple free-bees. And, in this instance, I’m not talking about Izzo; though he is the example anyone would jump to. For anyone who has just begun watching basketball recently enough to think Florida is a (quote-unquote) “good-basketball school?” (uh, wha?), you probably don’t recognize the name, Rick Majerus, the St. Louis Skipper. Well, he’s made his ‘rounds’ through all the ‘rounds’ before. So, the win by 4 against St. Louis wasn’t a bad win, in the least. Sparty does have to look out below though. They have a (3), (4), and (7) seed in their way and probably the roughest road to the Championship of anyone left other than OSU.
5. OSU/Syracuse/Wisconsin – What a great Sweet 16 and Elite 8 this will be? We ruled Syracuse out last week, so if they make it out of next weekend, I vow to write a 3-page article on why they are ‘the favorite’... Right after I finish cleaning up the throw-up off my shirt. Looking at this region, Cinci wasn’t an underdog in the game against FSU. They’ve been playing with a lot of heart recently against a similar, yet streaky team in FSU. But, Ohio State is a good team. Dominant/Athletic… Unless there’s an upset, Wisconsin and Ohio State are the favorite teams to meet in the Elite -8. (Wisconin could lose to Syracuse, but in actuality, they should beat the Orange by 5, with-or-without Fab Melo.) The game between Wisconsin and Ohio State will be the best head-to-head matchup over the weekend. Ultimately, either of these teams will fall to a healthy UNC in the Final Four (at that point, they will have beaten Kansas, thus Marshall will be healthy enough to play). On the other hand, if KU can make it out of the Midwest, whoever wins here will have a decent chance. But, if you’re looking for great Big-10 basketball (i.e. great physical basketball that’ll come down to the last possession), check out the game between Bo Ryan’s club and Jerod Sullinger.
To the Xaviers and N.C. Staters, the Pitinos and Donovans… Congratulations on your victories over the weekend. The tournament can be fun. But it’s a hard tournament to win wearing Cinderella’s slippers. Good luck to all those playing in sneakers! And enjoy the tournament Sports-Partiers!
No comments:
Post a Comment