12 Hours before the greatest four days in sports
Conor Nicholl
The greatest four days in sports begins tomorrow with the first round of the NCAA Tournament. I will be in New York City and will spend a lot of time in front of televisions, trying to catch every game I can.
Here's a few thoughts on March Madness and the Div. II tournament before Thursday morning:
March Madness: Scogs, our friend and collegue, delivered an outstanding post about the Missouri Valley Conference and their treatment from Billy Packer on Selection Sunday. Packer said the Missouri Valley Conference (4 bids) and the Colonial Athletic Association (2 bids) didn't deserve to be in the tournament.
I think those six teams from those conferences (only one of those teams is favored) will win two games tomorrow. One of those teams (I think Wichita State) will reach the Sweet 16. Hopefully, that should be enough to give the mid-majors some well-deserved credibility. I am a huge mid-major fan and would love to see them pull multiple upsets on the first few days.
With the mid-majors, Gonzaga, a No. 3 seed, needs to break through this year. Some have them reaching the Final Four, others have them falling in the first round to the A-10 tourney champion Xavier.
I am in three bracket pools, but am having a tough time picking a Final Four. There is a tremendous amount of good teams in the pool this year that have a chance to reaching the Final Four. Other than four No. 1s and No. 2s, here's my short list of squads that have a terrific shot: Gonzaga, North Carolina, Illnois, Boston College, Marquette, West Virginia, Michigan State, Georgetown. At least one of those teams will reach the Final Four.
To the readers: Who is your surprise team?
Other predictions: There will be one huge upset on the first two days. (like No. 14 Bucknell over No. 3 Kansas last season). It could be Kansas again this year- they play No. 13 Bradley (a MVC team) in the first round. Bradley was one of the hottest teams in the country down the stretch.
Villanova's Allan Ray, after suffering an eye injury in the Big East tournament, will play tomorrow for No. 1 ranked Nova. With Ray back, this team reminds me a lot of Illinois from last year. They are dominated by guard play, can shoot the three and rebound surprisingly well. I think they are a Final Four team, but their ball control is not as strong as the Illini's from last year. They have a lot fewer assists than the Illini and that could be a problem. Still, I love watching Nova play.
Can't wait to see a lot of teams play over the next few days.
Div. II Tourney:
Tarleton State University, the winners of the Lone Star Conference, advanced to the Elite Eight after defeating Central Missouri and Northwest Missouri at the buzzer. I thought, as well as many of my Index collegues, that Tarleton was not as strong as the MIAA teams because they came from a weaker conference. But they can play. I am especially interested with the win over Central Missouri- CMSU hadn't lost a game by six points or less the entire conference and postseason, compiling an 8-0 record.
CMSU also had the highest offensive efficiency of any team entering the South Central, scoring an average of 119 points per 100 possessions. (For more on off. efficiency, see kenpom.com) I thought the winner of CMSU and Truman was going to advance to the regional final, but Tarleton came on strong and played well in the clutch.
The greatest four days in sports begins tomorrow with the first round of the NCAA Tournament. I will be in New York City and will spend a lot of time in front of televisions, trying to catch every game I can.
Here's a few thoughts on March Madness and the Div. II tournament before Thursday morning:
March Madness: Scogs, our friend and collegue, delivered an outstanding post about the Missouri Valley Conference and their treatment from Billy Packer on Selection Sunday. Packer said the Missouri Valley Conference (4 bids) and the Colonial Athletic Association (2 bids) didn't deserve to be in the tournament.
I think those six teams from those conferences (only one of those teams is favored) will win two games tomorrow. One of those teams (I think Wichita State) will reach the Sweet 16. Hopefully, that should be enough to give the mid-majors some well-deserved credibility. I am a huge mid-major fan and would love to see them pull multiple upsets on the first few days.
With the mid-majors, Gonzaga, a No. 3 seed, needs to break through this year. Some have them reaching the Final Four, others have them falling in the first round to the A-10 tourney champion Xavier.
I am in three bracket pools, but am having a tough time picking a Final Four. There is a tremendous amount of good teams in the pool this year that have a chance to reaching the Final Four. Other than four No. 1s and No. 2s, here's my short list of squads that have a terrific shot: Gonzaga, North Carolina, Illnois, Boston College, Marquette, West Virginia, Michigan State, Georgetown. At least one of those teams will reach the Final Four.
To the readers: Who is your surprise team?
Other predictions: There will be one huge upset on the first two days. (like No. 14 Bucknell over No. 3 Kansas last season). It could be Kansas again this year- they play No. 13 Bradley (a MVC team) in the first round. Bradley was one of the hottest teams in the country down the stretch.
Villanova's Allan Ray, after suffering an eye injury in the Big East tournament, will play tomorrow for No. 1 ranked Nova. With Ray back, this team reminds me a lot of Illinois from last year. They are dominated by guard play, can shoot the three and rebound surprisingly well. I think they are a Final Four team, but their ball control is not as strong as the Illini's from last year. They have a lot fewer assists than the Illini and that could be a problem. Still, I love watching Nova play.
Can't wait to see a lot of teams play over the next few days.
Div. II Tourney:
Tarleton State University, the winners of the Lone Star Conference, advanced to the Elite Eight after defeating Central Missouri and Northwest Missouri at the buzzer. I thought, as well as many of my Index collegues, that Tarleton was not as strong as the MIAA teams because they came from a weaker conference. But they can play. I am especially interested with the win over Central Missouri- CMSU hadn't lost a game by six points or less the entire conference and postseason, compiling an 8-0 record.
CMSU also had the highest offensive efficiency of any team entering the South Central, scoring an average of 119 points per 100 possessions. (For more on off. efficiency, see kenpom.com) I thought the winner of CMSU and Truman was going to advance to the regional final, but Tarleton came on strong and played well in the clutch.
posted by Anonymous at Wednesday, March 15, 2006
1 Comments:
I don't remember who my final four is, but I say Zaga v. UCONN in the final with UCONN winning it all. Also, figures you would include UNC in the list of teams that have a shot of making it to the final four LOL.
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