NCAA Survivor 2/11/06
I'm not going to beat around the bush. Syracuse is out. They were out a couple weeks ago, when they couldn't get a win against UConn, Pitt, or Nova. Right now, I think they deserve to be in the tournament, based on the brutal schedule they've played (6 of 8 losses to teams in the top 13). But I also think they should not be in the tournament based on how they're playing. The talent is there, but they're just out of sync. It's frustrating. We'll see if Jim can put it together in the next month.
Anyway, here's where we left off three weeks ago:
Cream
UConn
Duke
Top Two Tiers
Gonzaga
Michigan St
Villanova
Memphis
Illinois
Washington
Florida
------
Maryland
West Virginia
Pitt
Wake
The SU Tier
SU
The Thad Matta Tier
Ohio State
Ohio State (17-3): Just another masterful job by Thad the other night in Ann Arbor. The Game Flow really tells the story. Michigan came out sharp, primed for the big home scalp. The Buckeyes were down 21-8, but in 4 minutes, they had the game knotted at 29. They took a little lead into the first few minutes of the 2nd half before Michigan once more stormed back to keep it close for a while. But Ohio State weathered that storm and was just too good for them, winning by 9 in a road shootout. Intense atmosphere, tough opponent, early storm weathered, strong finish...that's March basketball. That's Thad Matta.
West Virginia (17-4): I just wanted to point out that I had the Mountaineers on my list before they were ranked, and now Kevin Pittsnogle's having babies, and Andy Katz would love to be doing the same with Mike Gansey if one or the other was a woman.
Maryland (15-7): When the ACC is more powerful, you've got to keep half a dozen of its teams in mind when you're looking at who can win it all. But this year, the ACC is a little down. And I'm the last one to underrate the ACC. I've been arguing with Fyall for them as the strongest conference ever since they started trading championships with the Big East. Anyway, I'm just saying that when I say the ACC is down, it's down. OK? OK?? Thank you.
I think you know what I'm getting at. Maryland is just not good enough this year. They might have sweet-16 talent, but nothing more. Plus, they lost to Temple, who lost to St. Joe's, who lost to Davidson, who lost to W. Carolina, who lost to Radfor, who lost to Texas Arlington. And we all know how bad they are. Maryland is out.
Wake Forest (12-11): I stuck with Gray and Williams for a long time. Since the last time I posted, they've lost all 6 games they've played and are in dead last in the ACC. I don't even think they'll make the tournament. So I'm just going to say "Geheyeheyeheyeheyeheye!", grab my collar, and move on.
Texas (20-3): I took the Longhorns off at the end of December, after back to back blowout losses to Duke and Tennessee. Since then, Texas has lost only one game, and Tennessee doesn't look as bad as they used to. I'm going to put them back on for now, even though I'm not sold on their talent. Plus, there is a good chance the Big 12 sucks. I think they're a year away. If they don't dominate the rest of the way, I might bump them off.
Three off, one on...and this is what we have left:
Cream
UConn
Duke
The Thad Matta Tier
Ohio State
The Everybody Else Tier
Gonzaga
Michigan St
Villanova
West Virginia
Memphis
Illinois
Florida
Washington
Pitt
Texas
Anyway, here's where we left off three weeks ago:
Cream
UConn
Duke
Top Two Tiers
Gonzaga
Michigan St
Villanova
Memphis
Illinois
Washington
Florida
------
Maryland
West Virginia
Pitt
Wake
The SU Tier
SU
The Thad Matta Tier
Ohio State
Ohio State (17-3): Just another masterful job by Thad the other night in Ann Arbor. The Game Flow really tells the story. Michigan came out sharp, primed for the big home scalp. The Buckeyes were down 21-8, but in 4 minutes, they had the game knotted at 29. They took a little lead into the first few minutes of the 2nd half before Michigan once more stormed back to keep it close for a while. But Ohio State weathered that storm and was just too good for them, winning by 9 in a road shootout. Intense atmosphere, tough opponent, early storm weathered, strong finish...that's March basketball. That's Thad Matta.
West Virginia (17-4): I just wanted to point out that I had the Mountaineers on my list before they were ranked, and now Kevin Pittsnogle's having babies, and Andy Katz would love to be doing the same with Mike Gansey if one or the other was a woman.
Maryland (15-7): When the ACC is more powerful, you've got to keep half a dozen of its teams in mind when you're looking at who can win it all. But this year, the ACC is a little down. And I'm the last one to underrate the ACC. I've been arguing with Fyall for them as the strongest conference ever since they started trading championships with the Big East. Anyway, I'm just saying that when I say the ACC is down, it's down. OK? OK?? Thank you.
I think you know what I'm getting at. Maryland is just not good enough this year. They might have sweet-16 talent, but nothing more. Plus, they lost to Temple, who lost to St. Joe's, who lost to Davidson, who lost to W. Carolina, who lost to Radfor, who lost to Texas Arlington. And we all know how bad they are. Maryland is out.
Wake Forest (12-11): I stuck with Gray and Williams for a long time. Since the last time I posted, they've lost all 6 games they've played and are in dead last in the ACC. I don't even think they'll make the tournament. So I'm just going to say "Geheyeheyeheyeheyeheye!", grab my collar, and move on.
Texas (20-3): I took the Longhorns off at the end of December, after back to back blowout losses to Duke and Tennessee. Since then, Texas has lost only one game, and Tennessee doesn't look as bad as they used to. I'm going to put them back on for now, even though I'm not sold on their talent. Plus, there is a good chance the Big 12 sucks. I think they're a year away. If they don't dominate the rest of the way, I might bump them off.
Three off, one on...and this is what we have left:
Cream
UConn
Duke
The Thad Matta Tier
Ohio State
The Everybody Else Tier
Gonzaga
Michigan St
Villanova
West Virginia
Memphis
Illinois
Florida
Washington
Pitt
Texas
posted by Prof. A at 2:52 p.m.
1 Comments:
Tenessee? Any chance that the hottest non-Duke team south of the Mason-Dixon wins the championship? Could you stick them on the Thad Matta tier, maybe?
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