It’s the Madness, bebe…now that the field has been announced, now’s the chance to prep up for go time on Thursday..
So here’s a group of lists garnered off of first impressions to help decipher some of the potential plot twists that comprise what is the drama that surrounds…the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
Cinderellas at the Ball: These guys need everything to go right, plus a few lucky bounces to move through the tournament. Typically under-sized, it’s expected that the guards will go off, but if any one of these teams gets some interior play, they will scare the bejezus out of the high seeds.
Winthrop: A balanced-team with some strong interior players: will win when they out-rebound opponents. Experienced squad, so it’s just a matter the talent translates. First round match-up against a team (Notre Dame) that heavily relies on their backcourt could bode well for the first team brought in George Mason 07’ discussions.
Oral Roberts: The other sexy pick. Earlier in the season, went into Kansas and came out with a win. This is a team that has senior leadership, some scorers that can put up numbers and excels playing grind it out basketball. Upset or not, their first round opponent, WSU, promises to make for a conservatively played game of who can out-execute whom.
Georgia Tech: Athletic teams that gets on you on defense. Their fortunes rest in the hands of point, Javaris Crittenton – if he has an off game, this team is done. However, a favourable draw has them playing UNLV (less athletic team) and potentially Wisconsin (suspect backcourt).
VCU: Athletic, albeit undersized, team that plays Duke first. Should be good for the first round upset. See Duke, Wouldn’t Get Far…
Mid Seeds Looking To Do Damage: These tend to be teams with some very talented players, but an extremely thin bench and ultimately flawed roster…could make noise or just as quickly, bow out in the first round.
Vanderbilt: Watched them beat Florida into a messy pulp. A menace when they get hot from the outside, and an absolute pussy cat when they go cold: either way, not a good rebounding team. Derrick Byars is a swing player who’s the resident big-time talent (in terms of the Raptors, he’s an upgrade on Joey Graham). A great home team…which means absolutely jack in the tournament.
Tennessee: Impressive backcourt lead by Chris Lofton: when he’s on, this team is scary. Very thin in the frontcourt: lives and dies on the 3 pointer. Odds are against a prolonged run, but could take anyone out on any given day. The projected second round match up against Virginia would be a great game for the viewer, but first round game versus Long Beach State should be a track meet as well.
Virginia Tech: A wildly inconsistent team with an exciting, athletic starting five that will, literally, jump over opponents and a razor thin bench that will be exposed at the whiff of foul trouble. Great defensively, but poor on the boards. Point guard Zabian Dowdell and walking highlight reel Deron Washington could lead VTU past two Illinois schools (IU and what should be SIU) to potentially scare the hell out of Kansas in the Sweet 16.
Butler: Another strong, perimeter oriented group that absolutely needs to have the three fall with A.J. Graves being key here. An undersized team, but very strong defensively: been ranked in the top 25 throughout the year, so they won’t be sneaking up on anyone. Due to their struggles down the stretch, many have Butler as upset candidates but a very favourable bracket (including a potential second round contest with consistency-plagued Maryland) would make Sweet 16 a realistic goal.
Dangerous 3’s and 4’s: Teams with enough depth to pull off a prolonged run. Usually flawed in one sense, but under the right circumstances, anybody on this list could catch fire and take out a 1 seed.
Texas A&M: Extremely well put together team with one of the best backcourts in the country featuring one of the most clutch players in the nation, in point Acie Law. One of the few teams with decent frontcourt depth, A&M tends to struggle when it relies on Law to do everything. Had some great wins during its conference schedule, but come into the tournament having lost two of its last three games. Have drawn an extremely favourable bracket ( as this team is built to handle the athleticism of 2 seed, Memphis ) and many project the Aggies to make a run to at least the Elite 8.
Texas: A very young team that relies on Kevin Durant. Simply put, he is outstanding: take advantage of any chance you get to watch him. Also, possess a very good backcourt led by the dynamic D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams. This team has had their ups and downs during the season, as you would expect of any team that played in a tough conference while starting 4 freshmen and a sophomore. But they appear to be peaking at the right time, so look for the Texas bandwagon to swell uncontrollably with a couple of big games from Durant. The potential UNC Sweet 16 match-up could easily be the game of the tournament.
Oregon: On a roll coming into the NCAA’s as the Pac-10 tourney champs. Extremely undersized, so they will push the tempo at all costs: often feature a line-up with no one taller than 6’7’’. Aaron Brooks makes the offense go, but have a vast array of perimeter weapons and secondary scorers. A threat to go deep into the tournament as they have a very favourable bracket and could run teams that struggle to score (like Wisconsin) off the court. While former big-time recruit Malik Hairston is expected to play big for his size, it's when Bryce Taylor and Tajuan Porter start to heat up from the outside, the Ducks are a nightmare to stop.
Pitt: Certainly can’t be accused of peaking too early. Have all the tools to wreck havoc in the NCAA’s, but need to regroup after getting waxed by Georgetown in the Big East Tourney Finals. Can get rattled by teams that can apply the sort of defensive pressure they are known for. Need the perimeter game to open things up for Aaron Gray: Ronald Ramon, in particular, can be deadly when he heats up. I’m still on the fence with these guys, but if they get past the first week intact (especially that nerve-wracking first round game against Wright State), they’ll be a handful.
Wouldn’t Get Far: Mostly, the typical group of over-rated majors that typically take away at-large bids from the mid-majors. Playing in a power conference has its privileges, but they are, for the most part, wasted on this group. In WSU’s case, they drew the wrong first round match-up…
Duke: Maybe Satan is getting tired of upholding that agreement with Coach K. Talent here is very much lacking and the simple physics of it is that when you rely on deficient parts to pick up the slack, you will struggle. Limped into the tournament with a questionable 6 seed. Team sorely lacks a go-to-offensive presence and athleticism in general: I don’t know if you saw VCU’s reaction at drawing the Dukies, but let’s just say they weren’t not chomping at the bit…
Washington State: The surprise team of the Pac-10 and I almost hate to have them here (sorry Asif). But drawing prime Cinderella candidate Oral Roberts has everyone looking at a high seed upset. I’m more inclined to believe their precision-based, plodding, control-style play and pack-it-in defense threw their high octane Pac-10 rivals off kilter. But you just can’t expect teams to not make you pay from the 3 point line in the tournament.
Kentucky/Boston College: Basically the same team, having large conference pedigree with a couple of star talents surrounded by mediocrity. The skill level is just not high enough for either team to make a dent in this tournament and both face the prospect of an early exit (especially KU playing a potentially dangerous Villanova team). It’s particularly sad scenario for BC, who looked to be a legitimate contender before Sean Williams' expulsion from the team.
Stanford: A young team,with some freak show appeal (the Lopez brothers are twin 7 foot centers), but really shouldn’t be here (ask Syracuse and Drexel). Shown they can compete from their middling, morale-boosting season in the Pac-10, but picked up a bad draw in athletic Louisville, and will only have a chance if they can dictate play (highly unlikely). This team has next year written all over it.
Teams With Luke-Warm Pub: Teams with often excessive talent that have the media throwing away their rose-coloured glasses when viewing them. These teams are often accused of not playing impressively down the stretch, having a weak schedule, being addled with youth or incurring a key injury. Regardless, some teams on this list are legitimate contenders, and their respective bandwagons will soon swell up and overflow once again after a couple of tourney wins.
UNC: A young, but extraordinarily talented and deep team that has struggled with consistency: lost 3 of their last 5 conference games before slaying all comers en route to the ACC tourney title. Still, there is an air of skepticism following this squad. One reason to believe is point Ty Lawson, who has excelled as a freshman and is a big game player. This team can go one of two ways: they will underachieve if they expect masked-wonder Tyler Hansbrough to set the pace, but they will be nearly unbeatable if Brandan Wright steps up and takes over.
Wisconsin: All the luster has come off these guys. Other than Alando Tucker, nothing these guys do is particularly impressive, they just play solid team ball at a high level. Of course, the question of complementary scoring from the supporting cast is a valid concern, but the season-ending injury to Brian Butch, a semi-legitimate post presence, may not be as disastrous as portrayed if the guards step up. A lot of folks have the Badgers not making it past the first week, but these guys have yet to suffer a really bad beat. Unless you count the Big 10 final…which in that case, yikes!
Arizona: The anti-Wisconsin…great talent, but never put it together on the court. And can anyone blame people for downplaying Zona’s presence in the tourney. Sure, they could be really dangerous, if they play to their potential. But is now the time to start talking about tapping your potential? Even their best player, streak-shooting, swing man Marcus Williams possesses a certain volatility that could go either way. And this team is absolutely finished once the tempo is slowed.
Memphis: A scary athletic team that has not lost a game since December: so why the luke-warmness? The conference schedule was considerably lacking in bite and folks are wondering what will happen when their vaunted attacking defensive style is matched up against a higher caliber of talent (their last loss was against Arizona!). This team could make or break many brackets, but it’s generally acknowledged they will run out of steam by the time they face a highly anticipated 2 v. 3 match-up against Texas A&M.
Honourable Mention - Ohio State: Unbelievably, many college commentators have managed to run that fine line between loving off Greg Oden while subtly questioning the rest of the team, despite its end of season winning streak. This is non-sense, really, as OSU is an lock for the Elite 8 and it will take some incredible circumstance to see them not get to the Final Four. There is some actual depth on this squad and an array of outside shooters. The cliché is that they have to keep Oden involved offensively to be effective. Duh.
Critic’s Darlings: Expectations run high for these teams. They have the common thread of having ‘been there before’, coming in on a hot streak and, for the most part, possessing impressively talented rosters. Not to say that certain teams on this list might come into the tournament a little…uh, inflated, perhaps.
Florida: Defending champions. All the starters return. Nuff said. Took some bad beats this year when their outside shooting fell the ‘eff’ off, but recovered as tournament time approaches. Al Horford is a traditionally skilled post who is a necessary complement to the Chris Brown of the SEC, dancin’-ass Joakim Noah (guaranteed to anger white folks everywhere with his post game victory shuckin') : if he sees the ball regularly, the Gators will be difficult to beat. Point Taurean Green is the wild card: any let down starts with him and his, at times, eratic shot selection.
Georgetown: Going into the tournament on a tear (15 of its last 16 against comme-ci comme-ca Big East opponents) while playing fierce some defense has clearly made people forget about their suspect backcourt. An imposing frontcourt is anchored by 7-2 Roy Hibbert and clearly led by Jeff Green, who could single-handedly carry this team offensively. However, they will be destined to kill a lot of brackets if the guards don’t do their part, something that must rest heavy in the minds of GU and their faithful. But all is not dark skies for the Hoyas on this end: Syracuse is not around to expose them with their 2-3 zone…
UCLA: Ying to Wisconsin’s yang. Flopped in the Pac-10 tourney, yet the bandwagon still crowded. Experience, a good coach and a less than overwhelming bracket are the pluses. If they get done in, it will be because of their thin front court and good but not necessarily great backcourt getting outplayed. A potential 2 v. 3 Pitt match-up, that will have Ben Howland facing his former team team and assistant, looms large.
Kansas: Versatile team with athleticism and plays strong defense. Another very good team that can stink it up from the perimeter: but unlike past UK teams, this one has shown an ability to overcome in-game adversity. If a scorer steps up, they could breeze to the Final Four.
