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2011 NCAA Tournament Picks:
Sweet 16 Redo | East | West | Southwest | Southeast | Final Four | Winning Tips | 2011 NCAA Tournament Home
2011 NCAA Tournament Bracket Breakdowns:
West | East | Southwest | Southeast | Final Four | Schedule
2011 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Breakdowns:
West | Southeast |
2011 NCAA Tournament Preview:
ACC | Atlantic 10 | Big 12 | Big East | Big Ten | Mid-Majors | Mountain West | Pac 10 | SEC
2010 NCAA Tournament: Bracket Breakdown – Midwest Bracket
Synopsis
The Midwest Regional is BRUTAL. Kansas earned the No. 1 overall seed, but pairing the Jayhawks with Big Ten Regular Season and Tournament champion Ohio State as a two seed seems rough. Add onto that the three seed being a Georgetown team that seems to be clicking heading into tourney, and Michigan State and Tennessee who are more talented than their respective five and six seeds suggest, and this is by far, the toughest of the four regionals.
Best Opening Round Game
#7 Oklahoma State vs. #10 Georgia Tech If the Yellow Jackets can contain Cowboy Big 12 Player of the Year James Anderson, they have a good chance of advancing. But if Anderson goes off like he has done time and time again this season, OSU will advance. G-Tech’s Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal form a dangerous duo inside and played well in the Jackets’ run to the ACC Tournament title game. If the Cowboys’ bigs can keep Favors and Lawal in check, I like their chances especially since Georgia Tech’s play has been inconsistent throughout the season as they are the only at-large team in the field to finish with a below five-hundred record in conference. But with their run in the ACC Tournament, they may have turned the corner.
Early Out
#6 Tennessee Given the mid-season issues the Vols went through with kicking Tyler Smith off the team and the suspension of three key players, Bruce Pearl has done a phenomenal job of keeping this team together. They upset both Kansas and Kentucky during the regular season and in my opinion, deserved higher than a six seed. With that being said, they meet an underrated San Diego State team in the opening round that is long, versatile and athletic like Tennessee, and winners of eight of their last nine. Even if the Volunteers survive the Aztecs, there is no way they get past Georgetown in the second round.
Sleeper
#10 Georgia Tech John Calipari said he would take skill over experience when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. Georgia Tech has a little bit of both. Sophomore Iman Schumpert, and freshmen Favors, Mfon Udofia, Maurice Miller and Glenn Rice Junior are all extremely talented while Lawal, D’Andre Bell and Zachery Peacock give them a nice sprinkle of experience. Their size up front could be tough for the four-guard lineup of Ohio State to match up with in the second round and enough to control Greg Monroe in a potential Sweet 16 battle with Georgetown. The question will be whether they can string it all together like the failed to do during ACC play.
Player to Watch
Aubrey Coleman, #13 Houston The nation’s leading scorer; Coleman led the Cougars to the Conference USA Tournament title as the seven seed. The senior shooting guard won’t light it from deep, but is deadly when attacking the basket. He will have to be on his game against fourth-seeded Maryland if Houston is to keep their post-season run alive. Don’t be fooled though, the Cougars proved they are more than a one-trick pony in the Conference USA Championship when they knocked off UTEP despite just 13 points on a 4-20 shooting performance from Coleman.
Regional Final
#1 Kansas vs. #2 Ohio State Bill Simmons’ tweet says it all; Kansas is like the smoke monster on Lost. If you are unfamiliar with ABC show, the smoke monster is the “security system” of the island that eliminates any threats. If you can destroy the monster, the island is yours. That is sort of like Kansas. This is their tournament to lose.
2011 NCAA Tournament Picks:
Sweet 16 Redo | East | West | Southwest | Southeast | Final Four | Winning Tips | 2011 NCAA Tournament Home
2011 NCAA Tournament Bracket Breakdowns:
West | East | Southwest | Southeast | Final Four | Schedule
2011 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Breakdowns:
West | Southeast |
2011 NCAA Tournament Preview:
ACC | Atlantic 10 | Big 12 | Big East | Big Ten | Mid-Majors | Mountain West | Pac 10 | SEC
Written by Paul Banks of the Washington Times, and David Kay of the The Sports Bank.
Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
All other e-mail, including advertising and link proposals, send to: [email protected]
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