College Basketball

Will Rautins bring the Syracuse white-boy magic to MSG?

Montana State makes a comeback to win on Weber State’s court, Quinnipiac can’t win on their home court and South Florida is coached by Stan Heath; all of these things combined to make a perfect storm for an 0-fer day for me yesterday, but I shall bounce back. 14 ranked games in action today so I’ll give one reason per game why that team will win.

Game One: No. 1 Kansas v. Texas Tech – 12:30 p.m.: Sherron Collins, Xavier Henry, Cole Aldrich, Morris Twins; thats why they win, Kansas 74-65.

Game Two: No. 22 G-Town vs. No. 3 Syracuse – 12 p.m.: The Cuse rarely loses early in the Garden during Big East Tourney especially with white guards; see Gerry McNamara, Eric Devendorf. I’m looking at you, Andy Rautins, Cuse wins 76-64.

Game Three: No. 10 Villanova v. Marquette – 2 p.m.: Scottie Reynolds won’t let Nova drop this one despite Nova finishing the season 4-5, Nova 73-70.

Game Four: No. 8 New Mexico v. Air Force – 3 p.m.: New Mexico has won more consecutive games (14) than Air Force has won all seaosn (10). I’ll take the Lobos, 81-65.

Game Five: Nebraska vs. No. 24 Texas A&M – 3p.m.: The Cornhuskers pulled off their March Madness yesterday by beating Mizzuo and today is where it ends, Texas A&M: 67-56.

Game Six: No. 13 Tennessee v. LSU - 3:15 p.m.: LSU has been horrendous this year and the Vols have been pretty good after the Tyler Smith debacle, Vols 70-62.

Game Seven: Notre Dame v. No. 16 Pittsburgh – 7 p.m.: The Golden Domers have been playing great since Harangody got hurt and have slowly been integrating him back into the offense. The power forward played great last night and will do the same again against Pitt. Notre Dame, 68-60.

Game Eight: Oklahoma State v. No. 9 Kansas State – 7 p.m.: James Anderson went off for 30 last time against KSU in a win. He will have to do the same again if the Cowboys want to upset the Wildcats. I say he doesn’t and K-State wins  76-68.

Game Nine: No. 15 BYU v. TCU - 9 p.m.: In a battle of the abbreviations, BYU should beat TCU like they did by 30 five days ago. They’ll beat the Horned Frogs again by only by 13, BYU 82-69.

Game Ten: Cincy v. No. 6 West Virginia – 9 p.m.: If WVU wins the Big East they could get the final one seed and since Cincy got lucky to face an inconsistent Louisville team last night they won’t have the same outcome tonight against a solid Mountaineer squad. WVU 76-64.

Game Eleven: No. 20 Baylor v. Texas – 9 p.m.: Baylor has beaten Texas twice already this season and I see it happening again as Texas’ last quality win came on Feb. 24th against Oklahoma State. Baylor 66-60.

Game Twelve: No. 21 UTEP v. UCF - 10 p.m.: The day’s nightcap features the #21 Miners who have a bid wrapped up and are playing for a 5-seed or 6-seed, IMO. They should roll in this game easily, UTEP 84-61.

Today is the beginning of a very busy four-day weekend in the world of college hoops. For fans of the Atlantic Coast Conference, only one conference tournament matters, and it will start at noon today in Greensboro, N.C.

Here is a preview of each game today.

Game 1: (8) Boston College vs. (9) Virginia, 12:00 p.m.

No team fell harder during the season in the ACC than the Virginia Cavaliers. They held first place for the first few games of the conference schedule, and while very few people believed it to be more than an early surge, a top-4 finish seemed plausible in what was being called a down year for the conference. Now, they will play for a .500 season and a spot in the NIT, unless they plan on winning the ACC Tournament.

My prediction: BC 77, UVA 67

Game 2: (5) Wake Forest vs. (12) Miami, 2:00 p.m.

Expect to see many media members taking an early dinner break, because the outcome of this one will never be in question. Miami has a nasty habit of failing to show up for the ACC Tournament when their season is already a wash. The Hurricanes were rolled 65-47 last season by a hungry Virginia Tech team in the opening round of the ACC Tournament, and expect this season’s tilt with Wake to be much of the same.

As for Wake, it would appear they are in the NCAA Tournament projected field, but a loss to the ‘Canes could spell disaster. The Deacons have lost four of their last five games, which isn’t a good strategy for a team trying to impress the committee. A win today will certainly help, but a loss would be inexcusable.

My prediction: Wake 82, Miami 58

Game 3: (7) Georgia Tech vs. (10) North Carolina, 7:00 p.m.

Georgia Tech has the ACC Freshman of the Year in Derrick Favors. They have three players who average at least 10 points per game (Gani Lawal — 13.6 ppg, Favors — 11.9 ppg, Iman Shumpert — 10.0 ppg). They have beaten UNC twice this season already. But what they don’t have is any room for error in this ACC Tournament.

Both teams must win multiple games in order to punch their ticket. The Jackets won’t have to win the whole tournament, but UNC will, as they only have a shot at an automatic bid after a disasterous 16-15 season with a pitiful 5-11 record in ACC play. I don’t see any way the Tar Heels can pull this one out against a desperate GT team, but keep in mind that UNC has won two of their last three games, with their only loss in that stretch being a 32-point drubbing at Duke on Senior Night for the Blue Devils.

My prediction: GT 68, UNC 62

Game 4: (6) Clemson vs. (11) NC State, 9:00 p.m.

This game has the potential to be an upset, but only if NC State can shoot well from the perimeter. The Wolfpack have a young team, and these kids made it quite clear that they came to campus to play for head coach Sidney Lowe. However, Lowe is yet again on the hot seat, and the Wolfpack faithful won’t allow for mediocrity to rule the program much longer. So they may be playing to save his job, and we all know a desperate team is the most dangerous.

As for Clemson, there is little left to prove before the NCAA Tournament begins. They are already in the Big Dance, so they may show up ready to play third-seeded Florida State in the second round. But if the Tigers look past NC State, they might not make it to that matchup. I’m sure senior forward Trevor Booker will keep the team focused and the Tigers will have a good chance to win for the sixth time in their last eight games.

I have to pick an upset somewhere, so I might as well do it here!

My prediction: NC State 77, Clemson 76

Bracket Notes

The last 4 teams in are Mississippi, Arizona State, UAB, and San Diego State.

Seton Hall and South Florida are only in the mix in case the other bubble teams horribly fail in the next few days.

Maryland and Texas A&M have flipped seeds in order to conform with bracket rules.

The worst part of Day 1 of the Pac-10 Conference Championship is exactly that number: 1

There is only one game during Wednesday’s opening round at Staples Center. As soon as you are getting settled in, the ushers are telling you it’s time to go. There should have been two games Wednesday, but USC just had to have a conscience, didn’t it? How selfish of them! Screw doing what’s right! What about the fans?!

At least that one game was entertaining. Hardly anyone was there to watch it and it was hard to watch at times. But in the end, Oregon won in overtime, 82-80, with the help of a true buzzer-beater at the end of regulation. Truthfully, the Ducks sucked a little less than the Cougars. Here is my take through words and some (way-too-small) photos.

The game was a 8 p.m., so we got there at 6. Yeah, we got there a little early. I just couldn't wait to see the worst team take on the second-worst team in a horribly disappointing conference. And really, not many more seats were filled by tip-off time

• I live on the West Coast and love following college basketball, but I’d be lying if I said I was really knowledgeable about the Pac-10. I would be if it was as good as usual. But it’s not even close. I did some research prior to the game and saw that Oregon bases its defense out of the 1-3-1 zone. When I got to the game, I saw one of the big reasons why Oregon is terrible this year: They can’t play in it.  They couldn’t stop anything out of that zone and fell behind quickly, 11-5.

But I give Ernie Kent some credit because after those first few minutes, Oregon mixed up its defenses — displaying some man-to-man and a few different zones — which seemed to really confuse Washington St.

• To further display my lack of Pac-10 awareness. I didn’t know Kyle Singler’s brother, E.J., plays for Oregon. He scored the Ducks’ first five points … and then completely vanished from the court. Metaphorically at first. He returned briefly, just in time to record the overtime-forcing basket, and then honestly vanished from the court when he fouled out during overtime. He’s only a freshman, but I’m sure that Singler family is well aware of which horse to bet on.

• Washington State had the ball, trailing by two with 16 seconds left in the OT. Supposedly, here is the play they set up during the timeout: Reggie Moore brings it in and holds it. He’s 2 for 8 from the field, but he holds it. He should try to find Klay Thompson, but he holds. And holds it. HOLDS IT! With five seconds left, he makes his move. Two steps in, two steps back and the fall-away 17-footer bounces off the rim as the ultimate horn sounds.

So in case you were wondering, Reggie Moore is not Kobe Bryant. It cost his team’s season to prove it.

• Read the rest of this entry »

Samhan had an unrequited case for being the WCC’s player of the year; on Monday, he was the tournament’s Most Valuable Jackass, hands down.

“That’s who he is, I guess,” shrugged Gray.

After Sunday’s semifinal, Gray mused on Gonzaga’s mission here — and the pressure inherent in it.

“Sometimes you don’t realize how special what we’ve accomplished as a program is,” he said. ” … You want to say you left it all out on the floor. That’s the staple of why this program is so successful. They get players to play as hard as they can and refuse to let themselves be outplayed.”

http://www.contracostatimes.com/stmarys-gaels/ci_14644765?source=rss&nclick_check=1

The 2010 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament kicks off in less than 12 hours. Will Kentucky add a tournament championship to its regular-season championship? Will Mississippi State repeat? Will another team make it four games in four days for the third year in a row?

First Round

(E5) South Carolina vs. (W4) Alabama – The eastern division utterly dominated the west this season. I expect that trend to continue in the tournament. This game could be the rare exception. South Carolina goes how Devan Downey goes. When he is on, the Gamecocks can hang with any team in the conference, as evident by their win over Kentucky. Alabama will bring that defensive toughness that can get you far in the tourney. Will the Tide be able to slow down Downey? Winner: Alabama

(W6) LSU vs. (E3) Tennessee – LSU was the worst team in the SEC this season. Bruce Pearl will turn up the defense in an attempt to put the game out of reach early. Trent Johnson will work a slow, methodical pace to hide his lack of depth. In the end, Tennessee wins easily. Winner: Tennessee

(W5) Auburn vs. (E4) Florida – Auburn’s play is a bit unpredictable at times. It is a mystery which team will show up. Florida is not quite on the bubble, but they can’t afford to give the selection committee a reason to not put the Gators in the field of 65. Winner: Florida

(E6) Georgia vs. (W3) Arkansas – Arkansas got off to a slow start but came around when Courtney Fortson joined the team. Georgia is the best 6-seed in the history of the tournament, even better than the 2008 team that won it all. They’ve beaten Tennessee, Illinois, and Georgia Tech. Arkansas cannot afford to bring anything less than 100%. Winner: Arkansas

Quarterfinals

(W4) Alabama vs. (E1) Kentucky – Kentucky is head-and-shoulders better than everyone on its side of the bracket except for Tennessee. John Calipari is in unfamiliar territory. The SEC tournament is a different kind of beast. He was able to dominate the Conference USA tournaments. He will get Alabama’s best shot but should be able to win convincingly if he keeps his freshman-laden team focused. Winner: Kentucky

(E3) Tennessee vs. (W2) Ole Miss – Andy Kennedy has proven he can put talented teams on the court. He has not proven he can win when it counts, in conference play and in the conference tournament. Ole Miss has the talent to knock off Tennessee, but the Rebels lack the clutch in the coaching department to make a run for the tournament crown. Winner: Tennessee

(E4) Florida vs. (W1) Mississippi State – Mississippi State showed it can play with every team in the SEC until the debacle on Senior Day against Tennessee. The Bulldogs lost to Florida by 9 in Gainesville. On a neutral site, MSU should be able to close that scoring gap and come away with a win. Winner: Mississippi State

(W3) Arkansas vs. (E2) Vanderbilt – Kevin Stallings, 2010 SEC Coach of the Year, has done a masterful job with a Vanderbilt team that did not make the NCAA Tournament last season. He took the same squad, and in one year’s time, turned them into a true threat to make a deep run in the Big Dance. Arkansas can score, but will they be able to be as efficient as Vandy? Winner: Vanderbilt

Semifinals

(E3) Tennessee vs. (E1) Kentucky – Kentucky will be looking to get some revenge from their last meeting, which Tennessee won. Each team won on its home floor. In a neutral-site game, I go with the team with more talent. That team is Kentucky. In addition to having more talent, UK will only have one game of fatigue on them as compared to UT’s two games. Winner: Kentucky

(E2) Vanderbilt vs. (W1) Mississippi State – In their previous meeting, Mississippi State shot the ball horrendously from three, but still found a way to be in the game and lose by only three points. Barring foul troule and another poor shooting night, MSU should be able to come out on the winning end. Winner: Mississippi State

Finals

(W1) Mississippi State vs. (E1) Kentucky – It took overtime and some very questionable officiating for Kentucky to leave the Humphrey Coliseum with a win February 16. Neither team played their absolute best on that evening, but Kentucky was able to utilize its height and length advantage to out-block MSU. Kentucky is the better team overall, but the winner will be the better team for those 40 minutes. Winner: Kentucky

It keeps getting worse for Virginia. Not only is their leading scorer Sylven Landesberg (32 min./& 17 points/game) out for the season, but they announced Senior (G) Calvin Baker is also now out for the season, further depleting the Cav’s at the guard position.  Thats 21 points and 32 minutes per game they have to find.  Virginia has lost 9 in a row in the conference and was defeated by this Boston College squad by 13 points a week ago.  BC has a few quality wins in the conference this year but they are an up and down squad.  Virginia is just a down squad, although they fought Maryland tough after getting blown out early; as much Maryland falling asleep and letting them back in the game.

I live in Boston and BC plays up to the opponent and in this situation the opponent is The Big East Tourney in NYC.  Depth, a better offense, and their ability to play tough in the right situation has me on BC here.  After a loss to NC State last outing Coach Al Skinner said, “We did a terrible job defensively.”  Have to think he will use that to get the BC squad in the right frame of mind in the opening round.  BC is a decent FT team down the stretch and you have to think up the tempo game will get Virginia in foul trouble furthering their depth problems. Virginia is a beaten team and if BC gets their average 70 points we will coast to another winning ticket.  Virginia is going nowhere, early wake up call to lose 10th in a row.  BC still has a heart beat.  Pick: BC -5

The 2010 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament kicks off in less than 24 hours. Will Kentucky add a tournament championship to its regular-season championship? Will Mississippi State repeat? Will another team make it four games in four days for the third year in a row?

First Round

(E5) South Carolina vs. (W4) Alabama – The eastern division utterly dominated the west this season. I expect that trend to continue in the tournament. This game could be the rare exception. South Carolina goes how Devan Downey goes. When he is on, the Gamecocks can hang with any team in the conference, as evident by their win over Kentucky. Alabama will bring that defensive toughness that can get you far in the tourney. Will the Tide be able to slow down Downey? Winner: Alabama

(W6) LSU vs. (E3) Tennessee – LSU was the worst team in the SEC this season. Bruce Pearl will turn up the defense in an attempt to put the game out of reach early. Trent Johnson will work a slow, methodical pace to hide his lack of depth. In the end, Tennessee wins easily. Winner: Tennessee

(W5) Auburn vs. (E4) Florida – Auburn’s play is a bit unpredictable at times. It is a mystery which team will show up. Florida is not quite on the bubble, but they can’t afford to give the selection committee a reason to not put the Gators in the field of 65. Winner: Florida

(E6) Georgia vs. (W3) Arkansas – Arkansas got off to a slow start but came around when Courtney Fortson joined the team. Georgia is the best 6-seed in the history of the tournament, even better than the 2008 team that won it all. They’ve beaten Tennessee, Illinois, and Georgia Tech. Arkansas cannot afford to bring anything less than 100%. Winner: Arkansas

Quarterfinals

(W4) Alabama vs. (E1) Kentucky – Kentucky is head-and-shoulders better than everyone on its side of the bracket except for Tennessee. John Calipari is in unfamiliar territory. The SEC tournament is a different kind of beast. He was able to dominate the Conference USA tournaments. He will get Alabama’s best shot but should be able to win convincingly if he keeps his freshman-laden team focused. Winner: Kentucky

(E3) Tennessee vs. (W2) Ole Miss – Andy Kennedy has proven he can put talented teams on the court. He has not proven he can win when it counts, in conference play and in the conference tournament. Ole Miss has the talent to knock off Tennessee, but the Rebels lack the clutch in the coaching department to make a run for the tournament crown. Winner: Tennessee

(E4) Florida vs. (W1) Mississippi State – Mississippi State showed it can play with every team in the SEC until the debacle on Senior Day against Tennessee. The Bulldogs lost to Florida by 9 in Gainesville. On a neutral site, MSU should be able to close that scoring gap and come away with a win. Winner: Mississippi State

(W3) Arkansas vs. (E2) Vanderbilt – Kevin Stallings, 2010 SEC Coach of the Year, has done a masterful job with a Vanderbilt team that did not make the NCAA Tournament last season. He took the same squad, and in one year’s time, turned them into a true threat to make a deep run in the Big Dance. Arkansas can score, but will they be able to be as efficient as Vandy? Winner: Vanderbilt

Semifinals

(E3) Tennessee vs. (E1) Kentucky – Kentucky will be looking to get some revenge from their last meeting, which Tennessee won. Each team won on its home floor. In a neutral-site game, I go with the team with more talent. That team is Kentucky. In addition to having more talent, UK will only have one game of fatigue on them as compared to UT’s two games. Winner: Kentucky

(E2) Vanderbilt vs. (W1) Mississippi State – In their previous meeting, Mississippi State shot the ball horrendously from three, but still found a way to be in the game and lose by only three points. Barring foul troule and another poor shooting night, MSU should be able to come out on the winning end. Winner: Mississippi State

Finals

(W1) Mississippi State vs. (E1) Kentucky – It took overtime and some very questionable officiating for Kentucky to leave the Humphrey Coliseum with a win February 16. Neither team played their absolute best on that evening, but Kentucky was able to utilize its height and length advantage to out-block MSU. Kentucky is the better team overall, but the winner will be the better team for those 40 minutes. Winner: Kentucky