Uconn-Sweet 16—>Final Four

My Sweet 16 analysis has basically turned into my Final Four predictions.  You may have guessed it from the title but, I think Uconn is going to make the Final Four from the West Region.  And here’s why:

Uconn is coach by Jim Calhoun.  You cannot argue that Calhoun isn’t a great coach. He’s been in the tournament multiple times and has won a national championship.  The point is Calhoun knows how to coach in big games and in close games.  Plus it always helps to have one of the Player of the Year nominees on your squad.

Kemba is in contention for the Naismith Award (Player of the Year). His moves will be needed to lead the Huskies to a hopeful Final Four run.

I’ve said it all year that I like Kemba Walker.  Personally I can’t think of another player that I’ve ever seen.  He’s the all around player that can take over games and put the team on his back.  Kemba is 1st on his team in points (23.5) and assists (4.3) per game and second in rebounds per game (5.3).  To me that’s amazing.  It’s really good for a guard to be in the top 2 for points and assists but when you’re guard can also get up there in rebounds too your ball club will be given an advantage.  Walker has that uncanny ability to find the ball.  I remember watching the Pittsburgh vs. Uconn game on the Dec. 27th 2010 and even though Uconn lost I knew Uconn was going to be a Final Four team.  I just remember Kemba Walker making plays that no other player was making at the time (Jared Sullinger was making post player plays like none other, can’t compare the two).  Personally, I think Kemba is damn near impossible to stop and nobody can stop him besides himself at the college level.

Not only have the Huskies been through the brutal Big East schedule this season but they managed to win the Big East Tournament.  All 9 of Uconn’s losses came during Big East play (regular season obviously).  The Huskies are currently on a 7 game winning streak including 4 wins against teams ranked in the top 25! If that’s not being hot at the right time I’m not really sure what is.

I can’t forget to mention the fact that I don’t think San Diego State is very good.  Giving them a 2 seed was very very generous by the Selection Committee and they had a close game from a Temple Owls team I hadn’t heard too much about. I know it’s March and should expect close games but I thought they played sloppy against Temple.  I’m still not convinced SDSU is an Elite 8 or Final Four team.  I like Uconn in this match up, I think the Huskies will win big!

March Madness Baby!

Finally, March is here!  I know it’s been a long while since I’ve posted.  I spent my spring break in the Bahamas without internet access.  It was difficult not being able to keep up with all the scores and games but I can’t complain, I was in the Bahamas.

For this post I’m just going to post a few thoughts about Selection Sunday and some of the match ups.  This years tournament is crazy.  I strongly disagree with some of the seeding and with who got in and who didn’t.  I’m not going to get into all the numbers or reasons as to why I think a team should have or shouldn’t have gotten in.  But here are some teams I really thought should have gotten in.

1. I really thought Colorado should have gotten in.  Every one knows that it’s hard to beat a team 3 times in one season.  Colorado did that against Kansas State this year.  Yeah, KSU may have not had their expectations met but they’re still a good team.  Colorado took care of business against them.  They also have wins over Texas and Missouri.  Colorado had 21 wins this year.  Most of their losses came in the Big 12, a tough conference to play in.  I think Colorado deserved to get in…especially over Georgia or Illinois

2. Virginia Tech I thought should have been in as well.  VT’s resume isn’t as strong as some others but I do think the Hokies should’ve been given a chance.  I can easily pick a few teams that I don’t think should be in where VT would fit well (or more deserving).  Virginia Tech has wins over Florida State, Penn State, and Duke and some close losses to Purdue and North Carolina.  I think Malcolm Delaney could have made things interesting in this years tournament.

3. I’m not sure why but I’m a big fan of Missouri State this year.  They come out of the Missouri Valley Conference which has provided some very interesting games in the tournament in years past (including Northern Iowa’s upset over 1 seed Kansas in 2010 as a 9 seed).  The Bears don’t have many shocking wins but put up a very close game against Tennessee.  I still don’t agree with some of the teams that got in and I feel like it would have been fun to watch Missouri State make some noise in this years big dance.

A few teams that I think shouldn’t have made it are the following:

• UAB
• Clemson
• Georgia
• Illinois
• USC
• VCU

To me these teams lucked into the tournament.  These teams did not impress me during the season and I feel the Selection Committee could have chosen different teams that would have made the tournament more enjoyable to watch. Such as Alabama, Cleveland State, Saint Mary’s,even Harvard should have made it, and the fore mentioned teams above.

I’m also a little heated over some of the seedings that some teams received.  I was very surprised that Georgia (who was supposedly a bubble team) got a 10 seed.  I was really confused when I saw North Carolina receive a 2 seed as well as Florida.  Both the ACC and SEC were pretty weak conference this season and I don’t feel as if either team truly deserved a 2 seed.  San Diego State finally has an opportunity to prove me wrong.  I can’t believe they received a 2 seed over BYU who beat them twice.  Personally I have Penn State beating San Diego State.  That’s how much I disrespect SDSU, plus Talor Battle is on fire as of late.

I thought Texas and Louisville deserved a 2 seed.  I also think St. Johns should have been seeded higher.  Other than that I thought the seeds were distributed as they should have been.  This years tournament should be very interesting and I “CAN’T WAIT” (to quote the infamous Bart Scott) til Thursday when the tourney takes off on the road to crown 2011’s National Champion!