Oh…how I love the Madness! Even though I’m usually too busy to watch most of the games (seeing as how I’m stationed in Birmingham this year, at least I’ll get to see Louisville, Butler & Tennessee!), I always look forward to seeing which teams seeded higher get knocked off and who can actually carry out what they are supposed to accomplish. That being said, here are my thoughts on what COULD happen in the tournament, even though I admittedly don’t know a lot about teams such as South Alabama or UMBC (?).
Underdog That Shouldn’t Be: Davidson. It might be wishful thinking, but I got em blowing by Gonzaga and then knocking off Goliath Georgetown to get to the Sweet 16 before running into Wisconsin. Wisconsin is on a roll right now…but so are the Wildcats! Winners of 22 straight, I’m thinking they knock off the Badgers and then give Kansas a handful.
Top Ranked Team That Deserves It: Actually…I think North Carolina & Kansas both deserve their ranking. Memphis I have a problem with only because they’re in Conference USA which is a crappy conference ever since everyone fled to the Big East. And UCLA? Eh…we’ll see, I guess.
Biggest Upset?: Other than Davidson, I got Cornell (14 seed) sneaking past Stanford (3 seed). Don’t know why…just got a feeling. They’ve been beaten by such powerhouse teams as Duke and Ohio (Yay Bobcats!), but I’m thinking they may be underestimated…which is a problem for some of the west coast teams who may not be paying attention.
Who Got In That Shouldn’t Have?: Kentucky. Although they went on a good run, losing to Georgia in the SEC tourney was enough to show me that they really aren’t ready for this competition. They could easily compete for the NIT though. Marquette should make easy work of them.
Is Xavier Overrated?: I don’t think so. The only problem I see with Xavier is they don’t have a truly dominant big guy. But a bunch of them can score and I hope they can get through the first weekend, beating Georgia & Purdue…but I don’t know if I would put money on that.
SEC Teams…Overrated?: Yeah…I think so. They have a bunch of teams in the tourney, but really only Tennessee and Vanderbilt are deserving. Mississippi State, Arkansas, Georgia & Kentucky should go out pretty quickly.
Any Big Ten Teams In The Final Four?: Nope. Wisconsin will be the only team close. But I’m thinking that even if Davidson doesn’t beat Georgetown, no way the Badgers are getting by the Hoyas.
Just my opinions…so let the MADNESS begin!!!! Yahoo!
