Time to take a stand and pick some teams -- The Midwest

by Truzenzuzex on Mar 19, 2008 1:52 PM EDT in Basketball Comment 6 comments

Continuing on with the bracket-picking today, I will move on to my choices for the Midwest region.

The Midwest region is headed up by Kansas and Georgetown, with Wisconsin and Vanderbilt getting the bottom two seeds of the top four.

Some interesting matchups in this bracket include O.J. Mayo's USC team against Michael Beasley's Kansas State. That should really provide some fireworks as two of the best freshmen in the land go at it.

The potential Vanderbilt-Clemson matchup in the second round also piques my interest. That should be a very fun game to watch. Here is how I see the Midwest:

Midwest:

First round:

Easy ones:

Kansas over Portland State -- Portland State is a good little team, but over their head here.
Georgetown over UMBC -- UMB - who? Tough spot for the first-time entrants.
Wisconsin over Cal St. Fullerton -- This one may be a bit closer than people think. CSF beat Portland State earlier this year, and they are a decent team. But I don't expect an upset.
Clemson over Villanova -- Clemson is hot, Nova is not. I'm still not convinced Nova should be in over Syracuse.

Tough ones:

Vanderbilt over Sienna -- I actually think this could be an upset, but I am sticking with Vandy on principle
USC over Kansas State -- I don't think Kansas State belongs in the field. USC should run over them. KState can't defend anybody, and USC can.
Gonzaga over Davidson -- The Zags look way better on paper, but Davidson has given some good teams trouble this year, even though they didn't beat any. Davidson finished the season on a major roll.

Upsets:

Kent State over UNLV -- Kent State has more success against better teams this year. I am not a believer in UNLV.

Second Round:

Kansas over Kent State -- This could be a tough matchup for the Jayhawks, but I think they are too good to lose to Kent
Vanderbilt over Clemson -- Color me unimpressed with the ACC. Vandy gets this one on size and Shan Foster.
Wisconsin over USC -- Wisconsin is just too disciplined and well coached to lose this one.
Georgetown over Gonzaga -- Hibbert is just too big, and the Hoyas too strong for the Zags. This one could be close, though ... too close.

Regional Semifinals:

Kansas over Vandy -- I'm not sure this will be a competitive game. Kansas is just better.
Wisconsin over Georgetown -- Bo Ryan > John Thompson III.

Regional Finals:

Wisconsin over Kansas -- Wisconsin is just so well coached and doesn't make a lot of mistakes. They can handle the Hoyas like maybe no other team in the tourney.

There we go. Comment away.

Update [2008-3-19 17:20:7 by Truzenzuzex]: Bad news on the Jodie Meeks front. Jerry Tipton quotes Gillispie as saying Meek's status is "Very, very doubtful ..."

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Clemson

I would bet I'm the resident expert on Clemson, since I've been to all but 2 home games and seen all the televised away games.

Clemson is a good team, more so now that they are completely healthy. James Mays, their senior forward, played the entire conference season with a broken wrist that required him to wear the equivalent of an oven mitt on his non-shooting hand. That really impacted his ability to control the ball which affected his ability rebound, catch passes, and finish near the rim. The bandages are off and he's back to being one the of best forwards in the ACC.

Cliff Hammonds is one of the best perimeter defenders you will see, and he will lock down Alex Gordon. With Mays, Trevor Booker, Raymond Sykes, and even Jarai Grant (nephew of Horace) they have plenty of skilled inside players to control Ogilvy. KC Rivers, Sam Perry, and David Potter are big enough and quick enough to defend Shan Foster. Actually, I wouldn't be totally surprised to see Cliff guarding Foster for much of the game, as he usually defends the opponent's best perimeter player.

If Clemson meets Vandy in the second round, it will be a good game, but Clemson has plenty to win. Oliver Purnell is one of the best coaches in the country and Clemson is playing their best ball of the year.

Looking for a rock to wind a piece of string around.

by JLeverenz on Mar 19, 2008 2:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

One more thing

Contrary to what the national media is telling everybody, Clemson does not require their press to score and defend. They are perfectly capable of moving the ball around and getting good shots in the half court offense, and their half court defense is pretty solid.

Looking for a rock to wind a piece of string around.

by JLeverenz on Mar 19, 2008 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wisconsin

I'm not nearly as high on the Badgers. They are well coached and play great D, but quick athletic teams gave them problems this year. Duke destroyed them early in the year, and our good friends at Marquette took them out as well. I like USC to make a good run in the tourney, possible to the elite 8.

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/register/joingroup ID: 10939 password: wildcats08

by TrickyD26 on Mar 19, 2008 2:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

UK game time

IF UK is fortunate enough to beat Marquette does anyone know what time they will play on Saturday. I have not been able to find it anywhere. I would guess the time is already set.

Thanks

by SevenRings on Mar 19, 2008 3:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs