| 20 March 2009
As for the action on Friday, as I write this, I'm one for three on my early predictions and looking to improve that to five for seven after the second session of the day. I really screwed up with the BYU-Texas A&M pick because I clearly forgot about all of the deleted scenes from Varsity Blues in which James Van Der Beek inspired the school's basketball team to win the state title. Had I remembered that, I would have taken the bigger and better school. Somewhere, DeAndre Jordan is rolling over in his grave.
UPDATE: For the first day of the tournament, I ended up with a 12-4 record, which isn't bad. I missed both of the 8-9 match-ups and had a couple of upsets (VCU, Mississippi State) not come through. But overall, I'm pretty happy with my day.
Without further ado, let's get to Friday's games.
3. Syracuse vs 14. Stephen F. Austin -- South Bracket
On paper this seems like an absolute slaughtering that's waiting to happen. And on the court, it will probably play out that way as well. Syracuse is absolutely loaded with talented players that never seem to put together a good stretch of games in which the entire team is playing well. It seems like either Paul Harris or Eric Devendorf or Andy Rautins is having an off game. Part of that may lay in Jonny Flynn's hands in the fact that is he looking for his shot too much instead of dishing out to teammates? Will it matter against Stephen F. Austin? 99% that it won't. Will we ever know what the "F" stands for? Frank? Francis? Ferdinand? We may never know
Prediction: Syracuse wins
8. Oklahoma State vs 9. Tennessee -- East Bracket
I've watched far too many Toronto Raptors games over the past over the past two seasons and I've come to the conclusion that Joey Graham perfectly encompasses what an OK State player actually is -- extremely athletic but not a good decision maker. Does that apply to this OK State team? Probably not. But I love the teams and the philosophy that Bruce Pearl has implanted into the Tennessee program. They have the perfect playing style to make a run in the tournament and should be in prime position for the "upset." I want to see Bruce Pearl advance for the sound bytes and some blatant flirting in-game with Erin Andrews.
Prediction: Tennessee wins
6. Marquette vs. 11. Utah State -- West Bracket
If Dominic James was still healthy, I'd have this team going very deep into the tournament and I'd have a big problem deciding to pick Memphis over them in the Elite Eight. He won't be this good at the pro level but in this tournament setting, he could have easily had a Dwyane Wade-type of impact on this Marquette team. Just like Bill Simmons, I love the fact that Utah State has a 26-year old center. I always loved Chris Weinke's "poise and composure" at Florida State because he was 28 years old. Gary Wilkinson is going to be lauded for his ability to outplay opposing centers if Utah State makes a run and it will be the equivalent of me going back to high school to play on the basketball team. I could definitely have the veteran wherewithal to outsmart some 17-year old kid.
Prediction: Utah State wins
3. Kansas vs 14. North Dakota State -- Midwest Bracket
There are two things that are extremely intriguing about this North Dakota State team. First, this is their first year in Division 1 and they made the GD tournament. Second, in order to get this placement in Division 1, they had to abandon any revenue from tournament success for this season. So they could win the whole damn NCAA Tournament in the biggest upset/Cinderella in sports history and they wouldn't see one extra cent from this success. So I'm kind of pulling for them to do so. But they're going against a Kansas team that has survived without their stars from the title run last year. Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich will be too much for this ND State team, ultimately. It could be a very close game but I don't smell the upset here.
Prediction: Kansas wins
6. Arizona State vs 11. Temple -- South Bracket
I think this could be the launch of the James Harden star player campaign. Clearly, he's one of the best players in the country. But this guy is so good, I think he can be an Eric Gordon type of rookie in the NBA next year. I'm not sure how good or legitimate this Temple to actually could be in this tournament, especially with the tough match-up that they face here. I DO like the possibility that Temple could have Eddie Jones watching from the sideline so it makes me think that the basketball gods could want him shown on television for a couple of rounds. But James Harden is beginning his assault on the Top 5 spots in this summer's NBA Draft and it begins by destroying this Temple team.
Prediction: Arizona State wins
1. Pittsburgh vs 16. East Tennessee State -- East Bracket
East Tennessee State has one player that is listed over 225 pounds. His name is Seth Coy. He's a freshman player that's listed at 6'11" and 240 lbs. He will probably need to play to help battle the 265 lbs of DeJuan Blair. DeJuan Blair is 265 lbs of anger, toughness, and muscle. He's going to Clubber Lane this player.
Prediction: Pittsburgh wins
3. Missouri vs 14. Cornell -- West Bracket
I went to Cornell. Ever heard of it? Missouri seems like an impossibly offensive team for such a small school like Cornell. I can't see this being a game by any means.
Prediction: Missouri wins
6. West Virginia vs 11. Dayton -- Midwest Bracket
You can have your Kevin Pittsnogles. You can have your Joe Alexanders. I'll take Da'Sean Butler and Alex Ruoff any day of the week for my favorite Mountaineers of the past couple of tournaments. Not only does Da'Sean Butler seem like a prime candidate for the Amare Stoudemire type movement of the apostrophe in his name but this guy can score with anybody. Ruoff can stroke it from three-point range and seems like he could hava a meteoric rise in perception much like Joe Alexander did last year. West Virginia is my sleeper to go far in this tournament.
Prediction: West Virginia wins
1. Louisville vs 16. Morehead State -- Midwest Bracket
I picked Louisville to win the whole damn thing. So it's probably safe to say that I'm taking the Cardinals here over Morehead State as thousands of guys in their 20s make the "we all want Morehead" joke.
Prediction: Louisville wins
5. Utah vs 12. Arizona -- Midwest Bracket
I'm so confused by this Arizona team. They have extreme talent that could absolutely win this tournament and if Lute Olsen was still coaching this team, they'd probably have ended up as a #4 seed. They have Nic Wise, Chase Budinger, and Jordan Hill. These are all guys that could be lottery picks in any given draft. These are really good basketball players who can all take over games at the collegiate level. And yet, there's something sorely lacking with this team. Perhaps, it's the coaching. Maybe the players simply don't have the fire and intensity to sustain a good run against good competition. Whatever it is about them that seems to be missing, it scares me enough to take Utah here because I trust this Wildcats team about as much as I trust Sebastian Telfair's jumper.
Prediction: Utah wins
7. Boston College vs 10. USC -- Midwest Bracket
I don't know how I feel about this Boston College team who is one of the 37 Big East teams to make the tourney. But I know how I feel about this USC team. I think they absolutely have the talent to pull off an upset or too with the potential star power that they possess. But it will be up to Tim Floyd to properly direct those players. I don't know about you but I get a very strong Sling Blade vibe from Tim Floyd when his team is down 10 after four minutes. But I'm still taking them.
Prediction: USC wins
4. Xavier vs 13. Portland State -- East Bracket
I have no clue why but this feels like an upset in the making. Xavier doesn't have David West walking through that door. Brian Grant isn't walking through that door. James Posey isn't walking through that door. Um... Torraye Braggs isn't walking through that door? Actually if Torraye walked through that door, I'm not sure it would matter. But anyway, this Xavier team seems extremely vulnerable to me. I can see Portland State shocking the world and pulling off the upset. So am I going to pick them? Nope. In the words of Bill Rafftery, "I don't have the ONIONS!"
Prediction: Xavier wins
8. Ohio State vs 9. Siena -- Midwest Bracket
This is another game that on paper seems like the big school should win and probably will. The Buckeyes have Evan Turner playing great ball right now and a top freshman big man in B.J. Mullens who probably should dominate against smaller schools. But again, there's something about this Siena school that makes me believe they can pull off the upset. They were a really good team this year. But that's not what makes me believe in them. It's the name. Siena. Doesn't that just sound like your typical March Madness small school name that will advance to the Sweet Sixteen? Sometimes that's enough to sway me. This is one of those times.
Prediction: Siena wins
4. Wake Forest vs 13. Cleveland State -- Midwest Bracket
Wake may be the best team that no one is giving a chance to win this whole thing. Sure they were bumped up by higher expectations than the ACC could deliver early on. But this team is completely legit and should go far in a pretty easy lower Midwest bracket.
Prediction: Wake Forest wins
2. Michigan State vs 15. Robert Morris -- Midwest Bracket
I don't have Michigan State going far at all in this tournament. I think the winner of the BC-USC game will upset them to move onto the Sweet Sixteen. But they aren't losing to Bobby Morris.
Prediction: Michigan State wins
5. Florida State vs. 12. Wisconsin -- East Bracket
I'm worried about this game for Florida State. There's the dreaded 5-12 match-up that seems to bring about so much drama every year. There's the fact that this FSU team kind of came out of nowhere thanks to a strong ACC tourney run that catapulted them into everyone's conversation. This leads to expectations that they might not be able to match. There's the fact that they might not take Wisconsin completely seriously because it's a Big Ten team who probably would finish .500 playing the ACC schedule every year. And there's the excruciatingly slow pace of a Wisconsin game that the Badgers hope ends up in the 38-37 final score range. But Florida State's athleticism will prove to be a little too much for the Badgers. I think they can break 45 points for the game and pull out the win.
Prediction: Florida State wins
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