College Hoops Thread '09-'10

[The Poet]

Originally Posted by jcruse64

Wow!!! UT makes it's 1st Elite Eight. They just kept hanging around, and then Chism and Prince took it over. Looked like some bad calls against UT, too (I say that as a UT hater ). Nice play by UT.

Baylor is just kicking the crap outta St. Mary's.

So let's get these two outta the way first:

Tennessee 76 - Ohio State 73 = I called this as being Buckeyes by a bucket, and it certainly had all the appearance of being just that. OSU had the late slim lead, and had the ball to boot. But with the chance to make me a prophet in their hands, they lost the handle and turned the ball over TWICE in the last minute. Even at that, they had the final shot with an opportunity to send the game into OT, yet they could not get it off, much less hit it. I won't call it a choke, as the Vols played a good game also, and deserve respect for the win. Considering all the stuff they had to play through this season, off the court and on, they earned it.

Baylor 72 - St. Mary's 49 = I had the fear that the Gaels would pucker up under the pressure of such a huge game, and they did just that. They did not play worth a puck. Yet give these guys some credit too. Prior to last week, the Gaels had not won an NCAA game since 1959. That is not meant to take anything away from the Bears, who did exactly what they needed to, and took control over the contest early and late, never giving St. Mary's a sniff. And they too had problems to play through this year, what with reduced scholarships, transfers out of the program, and the NCAA threatening to shut them down completely. Pre-season, they were predicted to be 10th in the Big 12. Now they have the chance to make the Final Four for their first time since 1950 . . . when there were only 8 teams in total competing.

Michigan State 59 - Northern Iowa 52 = Here was my "pick-'em" game, and it was pretty much just that. The magic for the Cinderella Panthers finally ran out, but they did not go easily. Their defense was as tough as ever, and had they hit a few freethrows they may have advanced. But they didn't, whereas the Spartans did hit the shots late they needed to once again advance. And although Izzo's path towards the Final Four is considerably easier than it was last year, he has still proven himself a near-master of March. Hey, you can't call him a TRUE master until he takes a few more trophies back to East Lansing.

Duke 70 - Purdue 57 = As I said, if the game was in the 70s up, Duke would win, and if it was in the 50s or 60s Purdue had a shot. Well, the Boilermakers did play in the 50s . . . thanks mainly to a few late "gimmes' by the Blue Devils D. Sadly for Purdue however, Dook made it to 70. So Coach K's squad avoids another early exit, and are in line to move on to their first FF since 2004. K said he'd rather be known as a "since" team than a "never" one, and because Baylor's sixty-year hiatus may as well be a "never", this will be an interesting matchup tomorrow.

But before tomorrow, we have tonight:

Kansas State vs. Butler = Didn't they just play this game? No, wait . . . that was Xavier, not Butler. Same diff. You can expect same game too. K-State has the edge in athletes, and Butler has a more polished team. Furthermore, these Wildcats are a middlin'-weak 2-seed, while Butler is a solid 5-seed with more experience . . . and even slightly moe success . . . in The Dance. I said before their last win that I'd give K-State one more W this season, but only one. However, that's when I expected them to face the Orange, not the Bulldogs. Yet fair is fair, so although my head is leaning towards K-State, I'll go with Butler in a squeeker.

Kentucky vs. West Virginia = Before Darryl Bryant went down this week (well, actually, on Selection Sunday, to be honest), I picked the Mountaineers to send Kentucky back to where damn few of their players hail from . . . namely, Kentucky. (To be fair, WVA has exactly as many players from West Virginia as does Kentucky . . . one. But that's another issue for another time.) Now? Now? What the hell, I'm gonna stick with that call. WVA has talent too, plus more experience, plus less of a tendency to fall asleep. Further, although I don't think either coach is truly a great teacher of the game, I do feel Huggins' screaming intensity is sometimes more effective than is Cal's laissez-faire "let 'em street-ball" attitude. WVA opens it up in the last 5 minutes, and knocks the 'Cats for a loop.

Then, to spark up your Palm Sunday afternoon, we have:

Tennessee vs. Michigan State = Here's a somewhat unlikely 5-6 matchup for a seat in Indy. And, to be totally frank about it, I don't know which way to go here. Both teams have played great games this season, and both teams have stunk the place up at times. Izzo has more experience in this type of contest, yet the Vols not only just beat another (and a better) Big Ten team but also have had bigger wins this year than have the Spartans. Hey, if you can beat both Kansas and Kentucky, you can beat anybody. OK, so I just convinced myself . . . Vols by a couple.

Duke vs. Baylor = Even were I not an ACC fan (see, not all Tar Heels hate the Pukes ), I'd have to go with the Blue Devils on this one. Dook has stumbled in recent times because they had a bad game, and were unable to do the things for 40 minutes which got them through the previous 30+ games. Well, they had that game last night, believe it or not, but since Purdue was even less effective than Duke, the Devils survived. Baylor has had an amazing run this season, and deserve kudos for their effort and success. That ends Sunday. It might be close, but Duke prevails.

I'll be back Monday afternoon to take my lumps. Until then, enjoy.