Wednesday, March 14, 2007

South Region

Alright the final region and then the picks of George and I…

The #1 seed OSU is a good team but there are a few teams in this bracket that could up-end them…

1) Memphis – These guys are big, strong, and athletic…translation they play good defense. They also score nearly 80 points a game, and have a ton of size. They have one starter under 6’5”. Here in lies the rub, they played only 3 teams in the top 50 RPI and none between 51-100 in the RPI. They only have two guys in double figures in scoring but they go pretty deep and with some serious size. Dorsey averages 8 points and 9 boards a game. Their last loss was before Christmas, but they only beat one ranked team all year, Kansas. The catch with this team, they have one, ONE! Guys shooting above 70% from the free throw line As a team they shoot 61% from the line.

2) Tennessee – They have maybe the best shooter in the country in Chris Lofton, as he goes this team goes. He shoots 41% from downtown and 48% from the field. Since his return the Vols have gone 7-2 and he is back to averaging his normal 20 ppg. This team hammered Florida and were 8-6 against top 50 RPI. They don’t play great defense allowing 74 ppg, the highest I have seen so far. The key is the Vols have the Smiths, Jajuan and Ramar who average 25 points between them. They will need all their points to upset OSU, but Lofton is the type of shooter who could carry a team past the first weekend.

3) Texas A&M – Another team who had a great year and were rewarded with a 3 seed. Acie Law IV (why isn’t he called “the numeral” yet?) is clutch, it’s what he does. This team flat out does not get blown out, of their six loses only one was by more than two points. That can tell you two things, they keep close, and they cant quite finish. You decide. Here is some help, they won two games by 2 points. Meaning maybe they cant quite finish close games off…

OSU vs. CC State – Too much firepower. OSU wins.

BYU vs. Xavier – I know nothing about BYU. They are pretty solid, they beat Air Force twice, beat UNLV once. They score 78 points a game, and they have some dudes who are a little older due to mission work through BYU. They have nine guys who play 10+ minutes; Danny Ainge’s kid is running the show (hopefully better than he is running the Celtics right now). Keena Young scores 17 points a game. Xavier I know nothing about either. They shoot 39% from three point land, and play ok defense. They beat up on 51-100 RPI team going 9-3. They have a little size and some depth, they play efficient offense, No. five in the country.

Sleeper:

Louisville, Creighton

Alright I have grown tired of this lets move onto George’s picks…

East first round winner picked by a coin…

UNC, Marquette, USC, New Mexico State, GW (haha, George picked his own school…will I don the same thing?), Wash, ST., BC, Georgetown

South first round winners picked by a coin….

OSU, BYU, Long Beach, Albany, Louisville, Texas A&M, Nevada, Memphis

George’s sweet sixteen…

Florida, Butler, Miami, OH, Georgia Tech, Nova, Holy Cross, Duke, UCLA, Marquette, New Mexico, Wash. St., Georgetown

George’s Elite Eight…

Florida, Miami, OH, Holy Cross, UCLA, New Mexico, Goergetown, Long Beach St.

George’s Final Four…

Miami OH, UCLA, New Mexico, Long Beach

George’s National Final…

UCLA vs. Long Beach St.

George’s National Champ…

Long Beach St.

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