March Madness Time - Amoo316's Blog

Amoo316's Blog

March Madness Time

Posted on March 17, 2010 at 12:29 AM.

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I'm very excited about March Madness this year, but again the Selection Committee was generous enough to put almost all of my sleeper teams on the same side of the bracket. This hasn't stopped me from picking a good number of upsets in this years tournament, but it has hampered just what I could do when it comes to teams going deeper than expected.

I have felt since about mid-season that Syracuse had the best team in the country and they haven't disappointed. I did choose them to win it all, however with the injury to their starting center, Arinze Onuaku, getting out of the first weekend may become a task greater then they can handle. With a game against Florida State, or the perennial big, little-guy Gonzaga looming in the second round, Syracuse is going to have their hands full. Luckily the rest of their bracket is relatively lack-luster and if they can get past the second round they should have clear sailing into the regional final where they have to face off against one of my sleeper teams.

Despite finishing the season ranked in the Top-10 Kansas State has continued to fly under the national radar as a legit championship contender. Everybody knows that the one thing you need to make a solid run deep into the tourney is good guard play and K-State certainly doesn't disappoint. Between Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen the Wildcats have one of the scariest back courts in the country and look to give anybody they run up against a run for their money. I don't think K-State has what it takes to knock off the Orange in a best of seven series, but in a one and done format anything can happen.

Another team I am very high on is Georgetown. The Hoyas have three projected NBA players in their starting five in Greg Monroe, Austin Freeman and Chris Wright. They are playing their best basketball at just the perfect time and gave the Mountaineers of West Virginia a run for their money in the Big East Championship game. A game I feel they looked clearly fatigued from the extra game they had to play due to their poor seeding going into the tournament. I did pick Georgetown to make it all the way out of the tough Midwest region and into the final four where they have would have to play a rematch against conference nemesis Syracuse, but that is where I have their road ending. Unfortunately the Hoyas road into the Final Four blocks the path of another one of my sleepers, Oklahoma State.

The Cowboys are led by Big 12 Player of the Year James Anderson who helped guide them to a 22-10 season which included wins over the top ranked Kansas Jayhawks and Kansas State. Oklahoma State plays a 3-point shooting style of basketball that matches up very favorably against any defense they would see. As much as their style of play helps them, it is also their biggest downfall. The bottom line is how many games can they string together in a row where their shooters are shooting well. I picked them to upset Ohio State, but I don't see them being able to come off of that win and have enough to get by Georgetown in the Sweet 16.

The last sleeper team I feel could make a deeper run than most expect this year is the 13 seed Sienna Saints. The committee finally did me a favor here and gave these guys a navigable path into the Sweet 16. With an opening round game against a struggling Purdue team that has not been the same since losing Robbie Hummel, Sienna should have an easy time dispatching the Boilermakers. This should set them up to play a Texas A&M team that most feel is very solid, but still a year away from being a legitimate contender. Unfortunately for the Saints this would most likely set them up to play Duke, but if Louisville finds a way to get by the Blue Devils, I like the way the Saints match-up against Louisville. I picked Duke to beat Louisville, but I would not be surprised if the situation played the way I described and the Saints sneak into the Elite 8.

This years' tournament is setting itself up to be one of the best we have seen in a long time. There are plenty of holes for more then one sleeper team to snag a victory. The parody in College Basketball has been pretty large this year and I wouldn't expect this years tournament to be any different. I know which team I think have legitimate shots to make some noise, now we just have to see what they do on the hardwood.