A word of warning to my Ohio State friends: don't take me out to watch a Buckeye's tournament game. They're 0-3 now when that happens!
Two years ago, Stacey and I got to enjoy watching them fall to Siena in the first round while we were at the bar watching MSU win at the same time. Last year, we went to play pool while watching MSU beat Northern Iowa and something called Ali Farokhmanesh. Before our game started, OSU lost to Tennessee. Last night, with Stacey out of town, I decided to go out to dinner with some work friends. Since the only teams I hate more than OSU are Duke and Kentucky, I was rooting for them. Towards the end of the game, I remembered my history of bars and OSU games and told my friends about it. I'm sorry.
It's been a very weird tournament. I got three of the Elite 8 teams right. But I had just as many losing in the first round (VCU, Butler, and Arizona). At this point, it would appear that three of the four games could be complete blow outs leading to an "anyone's guess" Final Four.
Rank order of who I'm rooting for:
Butler
VCU
UConn
Arizona
Florida
Kansas
North Carolina
Kentucky
(The last three are really close in earning my hatred)
Rank order of likelihood to win it all:
Three who could win it
Kansas - have been the only team to blow out every opponent. They seem to have the best talent and lead the nation in a lot of categories. But they've made a lot of deep tournament runs in the past decade and have only won it once.
UConn - best player left, but they can't depend on scoring from two players to win every game, can they?
Florida - I really like their defense and they're getting production out of a lot of players
Everyone else
Arizona - have faced strong tournament teams every round and are probably playing some of the best basketball right now of any team. But I just don't see it happening, which means they will win it all.
Kentucky - great talent, but that didn't get it done last year. I wasn't blown away by their performance last night.
Butler - every game has been close until they and and they have pulled it out in crunch time. That composure is due to their experience. But they haven't faced a team that's strong in the tournament yet.
North Carolina - they're young and benefitted from playing the weakest Sweet 16 opponent of the bunch. I think they've advanced further than they should have and I don't think there's any chance they can make the National Championship game.
VCU - To be honest, I didn't even have them beating USC. I can't believe a play-in game team made it to the Sweet 16. They're the only team left that I haven't really watched. Kansas is on a whole different level than any of the teams they faced, so expect a blowout.
4 comments:
Whoa whoa, Butler has faced Old Dominion, Pittsburgh, and Wisconsin. Yes, their tournament resumes may not be historically strong, but those are some legit teams. Butler has proven themselves. If anything, Kansas has yet to prove themselves against a real team. A #16, #9, and a #12? And yet they will probably coast into the Final Four as they get a #11.
I'm rooting for VCU 1, Butler 2. Weird how we're rooting for Butler, especially after they knocked us out last year. Oh well. And I hope Brad Stevens is Tom Izzo's replacement one day. I like that guy.
There are no teams in the elite 8 that I would say I'm rooting for. In fact, VCU and Arizona are the only ones I don't actively root against.
As for who is most likely to win, I have to agree with Adam and say Kansas. They have had the easiest road so far, and they still have the easiest road to the National Championship.
Butler has faced some tough teams, but their games have been close in the end. Kansas has blown everyone out. And while they haven't had to prove themselves much in the tournament, they have gone 10-2 this season against tournament teams.
I am rooting for Butler because A: my cousin is a Butler cheerleader. B: I would love to see a mid-major champion. C: Shelvin Mack was ridiculous against Pitt. D: Brad Stevens is a likeable guy. But there's no way he can replace Izzo because he won't be available in 2 years.
I know, I know...but he'd definitely be an ideal fit. I would much rather have him than one of Izzo's old assistants. I love that guy's style.
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