My pick for the NC next week is.....

[TMA62]

Wisky. Of the 4 teams, I think they have the most depth and discipline. I think they weather runs by other teams well and they make effective adjustments on court. Yes, you can say the other teams do that too but I think Wisky does it the best....

...but, what the hell do I know? I'm pouring another glass of Bourbon. ;-)

This post was edited on 3/29 8:52 PM by TMA62

 

[CRBoiler]

I'm for Wisky as well. Unfortunately, they (even more than Michigan St.) are the outsider at the FF. In the Elite 8 games, did anyone else feel just a little bias toward the blue bloods from the officials. Both Gonzaga and ND got two questionable fouls early in the first half on a key big, and it DID affect them. I'm not saying the zebras necessarily do this on purpose, but damn it sure does seem like you need to play well enough to beat a blue blood team by 5 to 8 points in order to actually win by 1 or 2. Maybe I'm seeing things, but ...

 

[punaj]

I feel like Kentucky matches up more favorably with Wisco than they did agains ND. ND is the most efficient offensive team (I know Wisco probably isn't far behind) in the country. They were making unbelievable shots, played a low scoring game, and still lost. I think Kentucky's height and speed will bother Decker who might not have seen something like that this year. And Kentucky might have just had their wake-up call. That said, Wisco has been great all year. They could pull it off but my money is on Kentucky.

Would be cool to have an all Big Ten finals though. I love that 50% of the teams there are B1G! Suck it ESPN and the national media.

 

[BBG]

I'm in for the badgers as well. I have this feeling though that no matter who wins the UK/UW game .. they will go on and win the National Title.

 

[PaBoiler78]

if I were a betting man, I'd have to go w/ Ken. but rooting for Wisky, still baffles me how MSU has gotten this far.

 

[SIBoiler2]

Originally posted by PaBoiler78:
if I were a betting man, I'd have to go w/ Ken. but rooting for Wisky, still baffles me how MSU has gotten this far.

Who says screwing your face up and crying like a baby doesn't pay off for an adult male???

 

[TyHay822]

Originally posted by TMA62:
Wisky. Of the 4 teams, I think they have the most depth and discipline. I think they weather runs by other teams well and they make effective adjustments on court. Yes, you can say the other teams do that too but I think Wisky does it the best....

...but, what the hell do I know? I'm pouring another glass of Bourbon. ;-)

This post was edited on 3/29 8:52 PM by TMA62

Honestly, you lost me at "They have the most depth", Kentucky goes 10 deep. Wisconsin barely plays 8 guys. It was 7 until Jackson came back from his injury to play this past weekend. Sure, Showalter actually got some decent time this weekend so they played 9 guys, but that was only due to foul calls (unlike the Big Ten season where they get every call in the world).

My fear against Kentucky is Wisconsin has no front court depth at all. If Hayes and Kaminsky have any foul trouble at all, there is no one on the bench to replace them (and even with that, Hayes is barely 6'7"). If Vito Brown has to play significant minutes for Wisconsin, they're in big trouble.

I'm not saying they don't have a chance though. I really think Wisconsin's style will frustrate Kentucky like it did last year. If they hit some outside shots and don't give up too many offensive rebounds, a Wisconsin victory wouldn't be as big a shock as everyone at ESPN would want you to believe

 

[BoilerFan#35]

I'm going for Izzo. I still think the champ will be Kentucky over Duke in a tight one.

 

[TyHay822]

Originally posted by BoilerFan#35:
I'm going for Izzo. I still think the champ will be Kentucky over Duke in a tight one.

Unfortunately I agree. I think it's great for the Big Ten to have two teams there, but I think they both lose on Saturday night and then I'll probably cheer for Duke as the lesser of two evils on Monday night. I just can't, in my right mind, cheer for Cal to be successful at Kentucky when I know he's been a dirty cheater everywhere else he's ever coached

 

[jwardelt]

Originally posted by punaj:
I feel like Kentucky matches up more favorably with Wisco than they did agains ND. ND is the most efficient offensive team (I know Wisco probably isn't far behind) in the country. They were making unbelievable shots, played a low scoring game, and still lost. I think Kentucky's height and speed will bother Decker who might not have seen something like that this year. And Kentucky might have just had their wake-up call. That said, Wisco has been great all year. They could pull it off but my money is on Kentucky.

Would be cool to have an all Big Ten finals though. I love that 50% of the teams there are B1G! Suck it ESPN and the national media.

This isn't true. UW is the most efficient offense in the country and its not really even close.

 

[Boiler Buck]

Originally posted by jwardelt:

Originally posted by punaj:
I feel like Kentucky matches up more favorably with Wisco than they did agains ND. ND is the most efficient offensive team (I know Wisco probably isn't far behind) in the country. They were making unbelievable shots, played a low scoring game, and still lost. I think Kentucky's height and speed will bother Decker who might not have seen something like that this year. And Kentucky might have just had their wake-up call. That said, Wisco has been great all year. They could pull it off but my money is on Kentucky.

Would be cool to have an all Big Ten finals though. I love that 50% of the teams there are B1G! Suck it ESPN and the national media.

This isn't true. UW is the most efficient offense in the country and its not really even close.

Aren't the two teams 1 & 2 in the country in offensive efficiency? Thus given all the teams nationwide, isn't it a misleading (and maybe perhaps even ignorant) to say they are not really close?

 

[BoilerFan#35]

Wisconsin doesn't have the guard play to compete with Kentucky. I could see Dekker being a one man team for Wisky.

 

[purdue4sure]

Originally posted by BoilerFan#35:
Wisconsin doesn't have the guard play to compete with Kentucky. I could see Dekker being a one man team for Wisky.

Dekker was Hummel-esque in the game against Arizona. He was in the right place at the right time when his team needed him.

 

[Tony79]

As I noted on KHC, if, and these are big ifs, it's Wisky and Duke and Wisky wins and the total final game score is in a range of 141-149, I win a NCAA pool were first is $9,600.

 

[BoilerJS]

Hard to bet against UK. I think MSU gets handled by Duke. Duke has to much size all over the court for MSU. Ditto UK against UW. I think a rematch with Duke and UW would be a whale of a game. Just don't see it unless UK lays an egg.
Agree probably Duke UK final. Should be a good game.